[ WP ] Long after our civilization has declined , a nomad chopping away at a tree stumbles across spry technologies embedded in nature by a long gone society .

As usual, I woke with an aching belly. Food had been scarce recently, and I was in no shape to try to tangle with one of the creatures roaming this forest. I looked above and saw that I'd slept beneath an apple tree, but even the lowest hanging fruit was far too high and too dangerous to climb. On the bright side, it seemed that the trunk had grown weak; I pushed gently at eye level and felt a slight give beneath the bark. 
 
 It took the better part of an hour, but I managed to fell the tree, narrowly jumping out of the way as a gust of wind tilted it back to my side. It landed with a horrible crash that, I was sure, echoed through the forest. I hoped no creature heard the noise and came to investigate; I had to act quickly in case they did. 
 
 Walking along the dead tree, I noticed a hole covered by some kind of boards nailed into the tree. After a few minutes, I was able to stick the corner of my ax underneath the nails enough to pry them loose. It seemed that someone had covered this knothole for a reason; indeed, after I pulled the board loose, I saw a message written on some kind of white parchment separated by a series of blue lines. 
 
 `` If you're reading this, then we're all gone. I've managed to record humanity's last message to... whatever replaces us on this iPod.'' 
 
 If it was supposed to impart some special wisdom to me, then it failed. I had no more idea what an iPod was than what had happened to the humans. But it was true that there was something else inside the knothole: a small plastic rectangle with a darker square inside. Raised plastic shapes were underneath the smaller square -- concentric circles, with shapes above, below and to the sides of the smaller circle. It eventually occurred to me to push the small circle. 
 
 I immediately regretted it; some strange noise, heavy beats followed by higher pitched ones, began to emanate from the rectangle. I dropped it in surprise, but the noises continued, and were eventually joined by a man with a deep voice speaking in a strange manner, as if he were trying to speak like the noises sounded: 
 
 `` We're no strangers to love... you know the rules and so do I... 
 A full commitment's what I'm thinking of... you would n't get this from any other guy... 
 I just wan na tell you how I'm feeling... got ta make you understand... 
 Never gon na give you up...'' 
 
 I picked up the rectangle and threw it as far as I could. Whatever happened to the humans, if that was the kind of message they wanted to give us, they'd deserved whatever fate had befallen them.
