torn from the journal of Prudence M. Carper, survivor aged 23
"Do you ever think about cauliflower? I do. It’s been . . . jesus. It’s been three years since I’ve had a piece of cauliflower.
I find corn. I find beans. I find meat that forms to the shape of the can around it, but cauliflower? When’s the last time you had cauliflower?
It’s funny, right, the things that you miss? I don’t miss people at all. I haven’t even seen another living human in years, and I almost never think about them.
But cauliflower? A hot shower? Fucking tampons?
And that’s my point. You wouldn’t think that such simple things, that were so readily available, would be what I agonize over. The things I long for are not the touch of another human, or for civilization to return, or for my mother to still be alive, or my dog, or my girlfriend. No.
It’s cauliflower."