| In the year 2500 CE, there lived on a
small island in the Minnesota Lake District a few strange people known
as the "Old Believers." They were the last to believe in the ancient religion
called Christianity (which long ago had been officially outlawed) and they
were also the last to be able to speak and read the old language called
English.
The Old Believers were hard pressed, the life of their community was threatened. The old people were ill and without proper medical care. The younger people wondered if it was worth bearing all the hardships of a harsh, deprived life-style just to preserve the old ways. Some began to drift away from the community and join the twenty-sixth century. All the members of the community knew that it was only a matter of time before the old ways were abandoned and, then, forgotten totally. But there were those who wondered if, someday in the distant future, someone would discover the remains of their community and try to decipher the old books in the old language - Shakespeare, the Bible… Or would no one be able to find the key? |