December 20, 2012, California

Gina and Andrew surveyed the aftereffects of their 2012 party and each were wondering which one would volunteer to clean. Their friends and fellow revelers left a bit disappointed after no earth shattering events occurred at the stroke of midnight. What were they expecting exactly? It certainly brought back memories of their Y2K party many years ago as college students. Nothing happened of course except a curt visit from the police asking for the volume to be turned down.

“I say we just hold off on all this til the morning.”

“You go ahead...I’m gonna stay up a while.”

Gina grabbed her half empty beer and headed to the outside deck. Planting herself in her teak chair, she gazed at the ocean horizon. Perhaps I’m getting too old for all this. She had always been interested in topics that resided outside the realms of normal conversation and felt the 2012 subject that had gripped the world was something of a substantiation that there was “something to it”. The excitement and a bit of fear was palpable globally. Perhaps they were all just trying too hard to grasp at something special. Something to indeed change. She guessed, in the end, it was all hype.

The last sip of beer slid down easily and she contemplated sleeping in her clothes since it would require additional energy to change into pajamas. Strangely, her body and her head felt weighted.

“Too much beer....”


Darfur

For the first time in a long time, Kendi had a full belly. She shifted on her mat to allow her bony structure to achieve a more comfortable position. Her head felt pressure filled. At that moment, between her eyes, something happened. She stifled a scream as a moment of slight pain sliced from the center of her forehead and radiated to her temples. And then it was gone.

Poland

Avner sat surrounded by weathered photos on his bed. His mother, father and little brother. All gone now. He had last seen them on the platform at Majdanek. The cries of his mother as they wrenched his hand from her grasp would sear on his brain and taunt him in dreams. Why didn’t he cry? At age 86, he still could not answer that question. He rubbed the tattooed numbers on his arm. The ink blurred by years of breathing and surviving. A kind doctor in residence had offered to remove the mark for free. He refused.

He rubbed his head and eyes as they felt weighted....heavy. Sleep must be coming upon him as it does often nowadays. He welcomes it like a friend most times. He feels a popping, clicking sensation between his eyes. Pressure. Pain. He squeezes his eyes to repel what he believes is a stroke. It was not.

France

In the sparse one room flat, a young mother nurses her infant and breathes in the scent wafting from her warm head. She had never smelled anything more mysterious and wonderful. A pang of guilt wells in her chest as she recalls the debate she waged with herself eight months earlier. To have the child or not? At the time, addiction gripped her, molded her and threatened to devour her. No money. No family. The baby saved her and steeled her will to be the kind of mother hers chose not to be.

Pain, pressure between her eyes. She instinctively lays the child on the couch so that she doesn’t drop her. She grips the bridge of her nose and notices the child is squeezing her eyes tightly too.


Earth

.........and they all felt the pain at the exact same moment as their dna shifted, conformed and opened it’s true potential. They all awoke. Some committed suicide after the change. Unable to cope with being able to communicate telepathically. To know another’s true thoughts and feelings without the crutch of dishonesty in any form shook the world to it’s core. We’re all still trying to adjust to this day. As expected, the politician’s did not fare very well. The agendas whispered and collaborated in small rooms which effected the lives of millions are no longer. True men and women with honest intentions were put in place to guide the masses. At the moment, many governments are simply in shambles. Debates have been waged about the pros and cons about what has happened to us. Many have moved away from populated areas. In my opinion, this transparency of the soul we have gained can only continue to bless us.

Mega S+F for you! This is one of the best posts i've seen in a while, a retrospective narrative of the future - EXACTLY as i personally think it will be!
Kudos.

Peace

A really good story my friend. I hope you do well in the contest.

wupy

The pain... the pain is like the concept of a psychic virus
I like the ending, hopeful, good work on the story

Thanks for the kind words.....there are so many jewels in this particular contest. Kind of feel sorry for the judges.

Most of the stories I write on here are weaved with a bit of my own personal present and past experiences. Surprisingly, this is one of those stories. Probably deserves it's own thread in "Gray Area" but I'm too hesitant to post it because it just sounds "crazy" what I've been experiencing since last summer. Hard to explain....even to myself.

Wonderful. Very well written, as a reader though I would enjoy a bit more substance behind the characters, it comes across as impersonal to me which makes it difficult to relate to for a reader. The introductory paragraph introduces names which to me suggests the particular character will play a role in the development of the story; I did like the piece about Gina, and from my personal viewpoint I would have liked you to have descriptors of each character that were as personal as Gina's or had each character going through different phases of the evolution. Just some constructive criticism if you care for it.

Great concept for a story and I loved the 'World War Z' style of writing from different areas of the planet.

Entirely understandable. I am in no way detracting from the praise you deserve, just some outside insight from a reader.

If only Spongebob had hour long episodes...

You wrote a great story. I love your originality in approaching the 2012 scenario. So many of us assume a doomsday event, but there's no reason to think it couldn't be something positive - a transformation of some kind that might elevate humanity, anything's possible. Thanks for the story!

Telepathy, universal and complete... oh, what havoc it would wreak upon we crafty, shifty, devious humans!

No doubt many could not survive long, once their dark brooding thoughts were revealed.

Very well stated, sdp333.

[edit on 8/5/09 by masqua]