A Canticle For Leibowitz
By Walter M. Miller
-Entry 1 (Brother Francis)-
After being sent on a vigil, I've decided to bring a journal to record how this is going. The desert is brutal so I decided to make a shelter. Using my hands I dug a trench and covered it with leaves so the wolves out here wouldn't find me. For a while it worked but more wolves have been lurking around here. So I decided to surround this trench with stones. While building the ring an old man took me be surprise when he suggested to use a different stone for my shelter that might be hard to find. He offered to give me a stone for some food. Instead I tell him he can get food and water at the Abbey. Then he walked away and I went back to my shelter.
Ten minutes passed and I heard him hollered that he had found a stone. After he passed me I headed toward the spot to get the finally part of my shelter. Because I wasn't looking a tripped over a stake that the old man used as a marker. I looked up to see marks and symbols on the stone.
After I moved the stone I noticed a small black hole. I grabbed a stick and swung it in the hole and found nothing. I smacked the stick on the ground and waited for anything to slither out. I decided not to venture into it now and to finish my shelter. Once I got the rock back it was time to see what was in the hole.
I walked in and I encountered some rubble. Once again using my hands I started to clear the rubble. After I cleared the rubble I found stairwell. Wait I stairwell in a cave? Is this some secret society? Then I noticed a sign. It read: Fallout Survival Shelter, Maximum Occupancy 15. There were other words but they were illegible. I hoped I'd never see a fallout. I thought fallout was as a salamander monster. I grabbed my holy water as I got ready to go in.
-Entry 2-
I can't believe what I just found. These are relics written by my order's founder Saint Leibowtiz. I found theme inside a shelf that took some strength to open. Also there was a letter to someone called Carl. The letter was about trying to get someone into the shelter, but anything after that I could read. I went through some more shelves until I found one more document. It seemed to be blueprints for something. I turned it over and couldn't believe what I saw: Circuit Design By : Leibowitz I.E.. I had to get them back to the Abbey so people can see what I discovered. After I left the cave I went back to my shelter for rest.
When I woke I heard wolves and decided to hide before they found me.
-Entry 3-
Several years have passed since I got back to the Abbey with the relics. The reason I haven't written was because I had to go back to the desert because they did not find the wanderer and Father Arkos didn't believe me. Over the past years I become close to the wolves and learned their calls.
One day as I was back in the Abbey scrubbing the kitchen, a messenger approached me. The news was great. He said that some of the higher powers believed that the documents I found in the cave were authentic.
-Entry 4-
Two weeks have passed since the news and I had a new occupation. I became a apprentice copier to a monk named Horner. He told me that copier is an easy job and most copiers do side projects that interest them. I asked him if I could make copiers of the Leibowitz blueprints I found. After some convincing I was allowed to work on the blueprint copies. But he told me to make sure Father Arkos doesn't notice my work.
-Entry 5-
After a few months I finished copying the blueprints and I was sent to New Rome to present to original blueprints to the pope and offer the copied ones as a gift. I also took this journal with me
On my way there I ran into a man. What I didn't know is that he was a thief. I tried to hide my documents but he found them and took the copy. He took the copied blueprints and thought it was worth more than the original. I still needed the copy as a gift. So we offered the copy back for two heklos of gold. I had no choice but to leave without the copy.
When I arrived in New Rome, I went to see the pope in the basilica. After everyone kneeled before him he approached me and I presented the blueprint. Somehow he knew that a robber stole my copy I made for the pope as a gift. I told him about the ransom and as a gift he gave me two helkos of gold. Just enough to get the copy back. I left the basilica and got back on the trail where I encountered the robber. He said…
-Entry 6-
To anyone reading this, I found Francis dead with a arrow through his head. So this is the last entry. I'll make sure to bring this to anyone who knew Francis before he was murdered.