The Year is 2224

By Jane Goodhew

 

No-one thought this year would come because back in 2024 the world was in a deeply sorry state. Most countries were at war blaming religion when usually it was greed for more land, oil, minerals, or plain power. Those that were not at war had to let in the refugees who poured in like water through a sieve, but resources were becoming short as were the locals’ tempers. There seemed to be no end to the grief as those that just wanted to have a better life flocked like sheep across the sea heading towards Europe and the soft centred or guilt-ridden UK. They were not all from war torn countries some just jumped on the band wagon hoping to better themselves and escape a life of poverty. In the UK the weather was changing and winters were now milder than records had ever known and that meant rain and floods as greed had allowed people to build on flood plains and too close to rivers or streams so they could have scenic views instead of overcrowding and being overlooked like those in the city.  Over the years the government and local councils had stopped draining the rivers or cleaning out the ditches, drains over filled with debris, leaves, and obstacles that should never have been put into the system. Meetings took place throughout the world with each leader promising this that and the other as they discussed global warming and ways to combat it but still the winds grew stronger, and the USA had more snow than they had ever seen, the UK was blasted with gales and heavy rain that caused more flooding and destruction.

The councils kept on building more even on green belt and uprooting woodlands to make room for homes to keep the refugees from living in tents and shanty towns and to house those who could no longer live in their beautiful homes for fear of more floods or insurance companies refusing to cover them. Certain areas were becoming overcrowded and civil war broke out between the have and have nots. Looting was commonplace and homes were more like fortresses with bars at the windows and so many locks and bolts that Fort Knox would have been easier to enter.

People were becoming ill with flu like symptoms that went on for months; mothers were giving birth to deformed children as Zika adapted itself to live happily in the mosquito and therefore spread rapidly throughout South America and beyond. Young women were asked not to get pregnant but Brazil where the latest outbreak had been found were mostly Catholic so were you going to tell the Pope not to pray? Pharmaceutical companies desperately raced against time to produce vaccines but none were found and soon it became a pandemic and it looked as if the world would come to an end if they could not find a cure as the babies being born would not be able to look after themselves as their brains were too small and many would die soon after birth.  Those that lived were dependent on others to survive but worse was to come as all childhood illnesses returned with a vengeance.  Diseases that they thought had been wiped out began to reappear but this time there was no getting rid of them, measles, typhoid, smallpox, diphtheria, polio, even the bubonic plague. Those that did not die often wished they had as gigantic size rats roamed the streets living off rotting corpses as the undertakers could not keep up with the demand.  The crematorium was stock piling bodies and working 24/7 trying to cope with the ever-increasing flow. There was extraordinarily little land now as everything had become a concrete jungle of roads and houses or offices, the rivers were polluted, the air filled with smog and people who had to venture out gasped and struggled to breath

The government sent out warnings for those with health problems to stay indoors but by now that was the majority.  Death suddenly seemed preferable to life and as if in answer to their prayer the earth was hit by a meteorite which set off a tsunami that destroyed everything and everyone in its path.  Volcanoes that had lain dormant for centuries began to erupt;  earthquakes killed thousands as the land shook and buildings that had stood for centuries toppled, nature was finishing off what humans had begun.

Total annihilation of planet Earth or so it would appear but as I am writing this in the year 2224 there were a few that had survived and began again.  Life is simpler now, we no longer have all the utilities that you all took for granted, no labour saving devices to help keep the house clean or cooking easier.  We own small holdings and grow our own fruit and vegetables and keep a few animals for milk and eggs.  We work by bartering with the neighbour for what we want and have done such as building or making clothes, each putting their own skills to good use.  People seem to be happier now that the stress of modern living is gone and unlikely to return as much of the earth is uninhabitable now and travel virtually a thing of the past.  No aeroplanes certainly no space ships.  We thought that by now instead of holidays in the Caribbean we would be zooming off to Venus or Mars and robots would be doing all the work whilst we just swanned around enjoying our freedom of the planets.  So much for progress and futuristic dreams of living like the Jetsons or even going to the Caribbean.

 

Copyright Jane Goodhew