INPESTATION [PAN2014] (Non-Writer status)

INPESTATION

"All Sorted!" shouted Alison, as she rushed into the holiday cabin, all excited...
"I managed to get him a couple of those "unbleached" natural cotton T-Shirts - cheap too!"

"I'm sure he'll love them" replied Dave, "He's turning into a bit of a hippy - Isn't he."

"Wonder where he gets that from!" came the slightly sarcastic response as she ruffled his hair.


It was Gregs' 13th birthday, and although his parents didn't have much money to spend, they were determined to make it a birthday to remember.
So, along with a few close friends, they had decided to take him away for the weekend, down near the Mexican border.

Dave glanced down at the new T-Shirts, and he had to admit they looked just great!
A natural pale cream colour, with a tiny black fleck through it, and a swirly green logo with a rainbow over a silhouetted tree.

"Made in MEXICO - I might have known! Especially at that price" he mused.

Alison had skipped upstairs to the bedroom and was admiring her own new purchase of luxurious Egyptian cotton bedsheets...
"Just Lovely! Now we can get down to the serious business of organising the party!" she thought aloud.

The kitchen was chock-full of shopping bags, boxes, tubs and trays full of home-made goodies for Gregs' party,
and Alison made short work of arranging the contents neatly onto plastic serving platters, ready for the afternoon guests to arrive.
Dave lazily and half-heartedly offered to help, as he yawned, scratched his head and clicked on the TV, but Alison just gave him "The Look!"
and smiled to herself, resigned to the knowledge that she'd seen this a thousand times before.

The TV had some news item about farmers' protests and pesticides on it, and a man was loudly shouting in Spanish whilst brandishing a poorly made placard which read something like "distribuidor muerte - NOMSANTOS!"

Nomsantos was a huge agri-pharma conglomerate, and it looked like they had been upsetting the farmers down south of the border again.

Dave's' mind drifted as he remembered a couple of years back, when Nomsantos were forcing farmers to use their "special" pest-resistant Maize, Corn and Cotton. Some of them had nearly been bankrupted, because the crops turned out to be high-yield but of nearly unusable poor quality, and it turned out that they weren't actually very pest resistant either.
The cotton in particular had a very persistent Boll-Weevil type of pest which didn't seem to mind the "special" anti-pest chemicals they had put in the crop.
"I wonder what happened with all that?" Dave pondered...
"What? Did you say something Dave?" asked Alison, who by this time was arranging pretty paper napkins and plastic cups.
"nah, just something on TV, not important. Want me to get Greg up out of his bed yet?"
"yeah - go for it! I know he was up late, but this is turning into the longest lie-in in history" came her excited reply.

"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!" was the enthusiastic shout that greeted a rather fuzzy-headed and bemused teen, as he ambled downstairs and into the living area.
A big smile spread across his lips when he saw the party food and presents arranged before him.
"Thanks Mom! you guys are just awesome, can I open my presents now?" he said as he enthusiastically ripped into the first package.

Co-incidentally, the man on the TV was ripping open his shirt, and showing the reporter a strange mazy pattern of scars on his body, still shouting loudly in Spanish.
A caption appeared with an unusual picture of a little insect, next to a diagram of a strange wasp-like creature which appeared to be assuming an "attack" posture towards the insect.
"That's weird" thought Dave, "It looks like they're using a bug to get the bugs now!"

He didn't yet imagine that it was much, MUCH worse than that...

Nomsantos' own technical team had known that the cotton Boll-Weevil was resistant to all of their poisons,
and had developed an indestructible GM superbug specifically to target and eradicate the Boll-Weevils in their cotton crops, and that was what was now appearing on the news.

The superbugs had been a success. A huge success.
So much so, that they quickly killed off the entire Boll-Weevil problem.

"GREAT!! New sneakers!" squealed Greg "Thanks Mom, thanks Dad!"

The problem is... now that their intended prey had been eradicated, they were supposed to die off, but...
The wasp which Nomsantos had modified was capable of going into a state of hibernation or suspended animation, to help get it through periods of hardship/cold/famine etc.

"T-Shirts!! Cool!! and they're Natural, unbleached and Environmentally friendly too!!!" Greg beamed as he pulled on one of his new Tees.

...and, if the gathering and processing of the crop wasn't too intensive, the superbugs could survive!

Dave scratched at his head again, as the man on TV came back on... crying. He was shaking all over and pointing towards a bundle on the back of the trailer behind him.

Alison was still busy, scrubbing at her hands in the kitchen. "Must have got something on my hands" she cried, "my skin feels like it's burning!"

The reporter followed the man as he beckoned him over to the trailer and pulled back the bundle of cloth to reveal the still, lifeless body of a young boy of about 13.
He was covered in scar tissue, which looked strangely like crazy-paving in a garden path or the pattern on a giraffes body, with random squiggly lines going off in all directions.
Dave was struggling to take it in, he stared at the images, trying to make sense of them, trying to put it all together.

Alison rubbed at her forearms now, "Have we got any antiseptic cream with us? this is really starting to itch!"
Dave was unresponsive, fixatedly staring at the TV as he found himself rubbing at his neck, suddenly he glanced up to see what his wife was complaining about, flicked back to the TV and quickly felt the colour drain from his face as the realisation dawned.
He looked over at his son Greg, just in time to see him scratch at his belly, as he happily reached out for his next present, whilst sporting his new T-Shirt with the little black flecks...

The reporter on the TV was sobbing now, as a computer graphic came up on screen showing a map of Mexico and the Southern States.
A row of large red arrows marked pandemia de insectos depredadores was spreading out over the map, up towards the Mid-west and out towards the East and West Coasts and beyond...

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Oh no! You'd better write a part two where they find a cure!
That was brilliant Gordi, very clever, I loved it

a reply to: beansidhe

Thanks Beans,
Part two? LOL

A cure??

I will try.... b ut we may not ha ve t he t i m e .. . . .

***thud***

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Nice!

And I agree with Bean...a part II is required. Either to kill us all off or find a cure.

originally posted by: TDawgRex
a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Nice!

And I agree with Bean...a part II is required. Either to kill us all off or find a cure.

LOL Thanks Dawg!

It was actually going to be a longer story originally...
and the reference to the "Egyptian Cotton" bedsheets was going to be the link into the 2nd part...
Nomsantos had realised their mistakes in Mexico, and so had used a completely different Superbug in their Middle East crops...

After we've sorted out the Mexican problem, using UV lights to fry the bugs...
Alison notices a tiny black fleck moving on her new "anti-fade UV resistant" Egyptian Cotton bedsheets..... LOL

Thanks for taking the trouble to read/comment - much appreciated!

G

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Great story! Love the creative aspect of it!

originally posted by: beezzer
a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Great story! Love the creative aspect of it!

Aww thanks Beez... but "creative"???
It's a TRUE story dammit!! (Only the names have been changed to protect the GUILTY!!!) LOL

cheeers!
G

Forgot to say - If you think the story is scary...
look up Monsanto, cotton, Morgellons and Boll Weevil on the interwebz....

My skin is crawling just thinking about it.
G

Wow! Very much enjoyed your story. The back-and-forth between the birthday party and the tv broadcast was great!

Well done!

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Very Good Gordy!! A Fine Job Indeed!!! I love the Title Too!

This Story is just what I expected from You, More Fantastic Writing!!!

Go Gordi. I love it. More more. We want more.

Stars and Flag for you. Can't wait for more.

a reply to: argentus

Thank you very much Argentus, I am so grateful that you guys have even bothered to read it, never mind take the time & trouble to post nice comments. it is very much appreciated!

G

a reply to: SyxPak

Hey Syx!
Nice to see you popping by.

Thank you so much for your kind comments!
I am feeling a bit... humbled by all the attention tbh!!
But I do really appreciate you taking all the trouble!!!

Thanks buddy!

See you on the boards,
G

originally posted by: crappiekat
Go Gordi. I love it. More more. We want more.

Stars and Flag for you. Can't wait for more.

LOL Hi Kat!! ***waves***

We were joking about a "part 2" earlier!!! Will they take over the whole world????? Will we manage to find a solution???
Watch this space.... Duh Duuhh DUHHHHNNNNN!!!! LOL

Thanks for stopping by!!
G

Eeeeek. what happened next! S & F

Good stuff Gordi!! I thought I commented in here already. Good thing I checked back in.

Yikes!!

Great. Now I'm scared and its time for bed. My bad for reading pandemic stories this late!
Really appreciated your entry and would love to see part II if you get around to it...sounds creepily fun...poor kid though...


Well. I guess I can sleep tomorrow...

- AB

a reply to: AboveBoard

Thanks AB!
(Always leave 'em wanting more!!! LOL)

G

a reply to: Gordi The Drummer

Dude....

Fantastic style of writing. It suits the theme perfectly! Its very punchy and impactful, and I like the way the situation on the television is juxtaposed with the events in the lives of the named characters. Very neat!

a reply to: TrueBrit

Thanks True,
I really appreciate that, given that I've witnessed some of your own brilliant writing on the boards!
Very, very much appreciated my friend.

G