“What is it?”

“I’m not sure,” Jofu held the clear cylinder to his nose and sniffed at it. “It doesn’t smell like anything.” His fingers squeezed and it crinkled. The other children moved in closer. Eyes wide with awe.

“There’s something in it,” Haiga reached and grabbed it from her brother. She shook it, bent down and grabbed a rock and beat the tip with it.

“Hey,” Kipper yelled at Haiga, “What if you break it? The grownies might want to see it.” Haiga frowned, but stopped beating their treasure. She sighed and tossed it back to Jofu who caught it carefully. He stuffed it into his pack. “Let’s go, the sun is getting dim.”
-
The five children wove their way through the fallen cinder blocks. Steel beams jutted in the distance reaching to the sky as if in a last cry for help. The children had found a plastic bottle, the first they’d seen in their lifetimes.

Civilization had been long gone by the time they were born, the Third World War had seen to that. All that was left to do was pick up the pieces.