2070: A nuclear war wipes out civilization on Earth. 2121: In the region of Quebec, survivors attempt to rebuild society from the ruins of the old one. But things are not so simple...
On one side, traditionalist Catholics have seized control of Old...
Finding the sledgehammer hadn't been simple, but they eventually located one in the garage of a neighboring residence. Clothaire had just delivered a blow to the wall and was observing the result. Despite the force of the impact, which had reverberated throughout the house, only the corner of a stone was broken.
"Step back," he said. "It's going to take more than that to bring down this wall. Grandmother, you and Philibert better head back upstairs; I don't want to injure you with flying rock fragments."
He lifted the sledgehammer and let it fall onto the wall, then again, and again. With each strike, the stone crumbled a little more. After a while, a half-square-meter surface collapsed, creating a cloud of dust. Once it settled, Clothaire brushed off a portion of the wall with his sleeve and gave it a few light blows to probe the structure.
"It's metal underneath," he said. "And it's solid. I don't think the sledgehammer will be enough. Maybe with a crowbar..."
"Young people," Aliénor shouted, "make yourself useful. Find me a crowbar for Clothaire and bring it here."
Immediately, Philibert and his family scattered in all directions. His cousin Chilpéric returned quickly, far too quickly to have had time to search properly.
"What's a crowbar?" he asked.
"No idea! Wait a moment..."
They hurried back to Clothaire, and Chilpéric asked him again.
"A nail bar, if you prefer."
"Oh!" said the other, and they rushed off once more.
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This is the translation of my novel published in French on Wattpad, under the title "La République des Miracles". For this translation, I used Google and Chat GPT (among others). I don't claim to be perfectly bilingual, so any suggestions are welcome to improve it. THANKS.
*** All the illustrations that accompany this novel were created using Artificial Intelligence on the NightCafe Studio website.
