Selma - God's Helmet

Hello again, it's me, your Poet. I've taken a temporary break in the writing of my short story in order to tell you a little something about it and above all in order to motivate myself to go on. Progress, as always, is slow; especially when you spend so much time procrastinating even though the chore in question is indeed not only necessary but also entertaining. If you're sensitive to spoilers, it might be best if you don't go on reading.

The story tells of teenage girl Selma, a descendant to survivors of the nuclear war in 2011, who now, in 2033, lives underground with other survivors. Selma is the only resident in the underground system of bunkers and tunnels who is immune to the effects of radiation. After her sister, Viveka, dies from radiation sickness, Selma decides to make a journey to the Surface to honor her memory. On her way to the Surface, Selma travels through five rooms, and it is her progress through these rooms that are depicted in the short story. In the first room she is forced to meet with her old guardian Samara, who is now suffering from the same disease that took the life from Viveka. In the second room Selma meets with underground inhabitants Checkered Hat Man and Tobacco Man, faces Checkered Hat Man in a game of dice and finally wins, enabling her to go on to the third room. In the third room Selma confronts the memory of her sister and has an unpleasant insight about her own mortality. The fourth room is where we find her now, and I'm slightly reluctant to keep telling the tale; mainly because the only notes I left for myself about the fourth room was "mission revealed, you are condemned" and that does have quite the alarming feel to it. The fifth room is the last before, or possibly the same as, the Surface, and is the final part of the story. Here Selma will unveil who her sister really is; the big twist of the story.

That's the main parts of it but not, at all, what the story is actually about. In fact it is framed by another story, one told by Viveka. When you get the chance to read it, this will become clear to you. As usual, if I don't have any success in the contest this story is written for, I will translate it into English and make it available to English-speaking readers.

That was actually enough to inspire me to go on writing. See you mid-war,
POET IN THE JAR