05/28/2022
THE NEXT ONES
Written by E.A. Smyer
Illustration by Angela Maxson WithLoveInMind
There had been a change.
Conditions were harsh. Sweet became sour. Food that was once filling had become poison. The ground below melted into mud. The sky opened and began to rain, and rain, and rain, and rain. Many stood by and watched their everything float away to new unknown destinations. Great mountains chipped away to the oceans below. Other places with dry fields of grass spontaneously combusted into the next great wild fire. Claiming casualties in the wake. Terrain carefully mapped on geographic diagrams were no longer accurate. New land masses arose in distant oceans – uninhabited, new, different. Everything, every place, and everyone was different. All things had changed.
Some noted warning signs early. They did their best to stage an intervention. Life was becoming unsustainable. They panicked. They recruited others to panic alongside them. They decided the best course of action was to eject themselves from the surface in search of a new home amongst the stares. Teams were assembled. Crafts were built. They were boarded by an exclusive few. Then launched into the atmosphere. Never to be seen again.
Those left behind were in pursuit of other solutions. Operation Survival was paramount. Sectors of civilization broke into focus groups. Everyone from grade school through ages of degeneration were encouraged to participate. There was no bad idea. A viable solution would take a collective effort from everyone on the planet if they were to survive. A diagnosis was determined. A cure was sought. They believed the world’s death could be reversed. They tried, and tried, and tried again, until the end.
Others feared the Gods were angry. The wrath of holy fury was upon them. They dropped to their knees and began to pray. Subverting themselves into a life of penance and punishment. Driven by faith, they sought forgiveness for they knew not what they’d done.
They great many however, chose to deny. Desperate to hold on to parts of life that no longer mattered. They towed the line of the status quo. It was not until the unforgiving elements were inescapable when they decided to act. But what arrangements could they make on such short notice? It could not be changed with gentle compromise or brute force. Their last-minute efforts were futile.
The world continued like this, barriers collapsing, land masses changing, people succumbing, until the end. Except the lucky ones. Adaptors. Their genetics were savvy enough to evolve with the world. As the biosphere changed so did they. They incubated in the chaos. Born into an environment that suited them just fine. They were in their element. Part human part something else. In this life they were King. They were the beginning. []
© E.A. Smyer – May 23, 2022 – All rights reserved by the author
- [] Fiction
