Friday, March 7th, 2014

December 21, 2012 passed without any memorable occurrence, save the palpable fear and excitement surrounding the date. Even now, the beginning cannot be positively linked to the specific day. By the 23rd, however, some were starting to notice the change.

Of course, it was small things, at first. Things that were easily explained by the day to day stress in people’s lives. People were becoming confused in the middle of a sentence, or getting into fender benders more commonly. Tempers flared frequently and there seemed to be a lack of self control that was escalating daily.

In the second week of January, 2013, the reports about the animals and plants started to surface. They were changing, too. Long known facts about their biology, physiology, and sociology were no longer true. Many were growing to previously unheard of sizes. While looking for ecological explanations, it was reported that the Earth’s atmosphere was also changing. It was becoming more oxygen rich and our beloved ozone layer was apparently repairing itself. Still there was more curiosity than concern.

On March 18th, 2013, the first nuclear reactor shut itself down in emergency mode. By the time it was determined to be human error that nearly caused devastation, six others had followed the same path. Operating rooms had become slaughterhouses of mistakes, airplanes were crashing both on the ground and in the sky, communication satellites were lost, and the legal system had bogged to a halt. Extreme survivalists took this as their cue to leave the populated areas.

On the Monday following Easter, the heads of government met with scientists. There was an emergency announcement, that afternoon, broadcast on all channels still available. With little proof to back up their claims, the population of Earth was told it was regressing. It was explained that higher cognitive abilities were deteriorating quickly and unexplainably. We were asked to not report to work if our responsibilities included operating advanced machinery or put other lives in danger. A request for volunteers in a world civilian police force was made. That night there were riots.

The human race would not hear from their elected officials again. Many were killed, more were in hiding. There were, however, a few brave journalists that tried to alert the public of current events. Crimes of violence were at an all time high, globally. The newly recruited police were just as violent in handing out justice. There was no economy to speak of, and the people fed themselves by preparedness, hunting, theft, and occasional cannibalism. The lights went out.

Six months later, there were carcasses in the streets of animals that had been forgotten. A half horse, half zebra, called the Quagga, was the first to appear. It had been cataloged as extinct in 1883. Humans had become more aggressive, larger, and some had lost the ability to speak coherently. Guns had been thrown away when the ability to operate and reload them had left. They now had to contend with creatures from antiquity along with their own stick and stone wielding species. Few chose community and a home, rather than a lone, nomadic lifestyle.

Now, just over a year later, we begin again. Speech, sanitation, and cooperation are uncommon luxuries. The relics of technology are but a part of this strange landscape, one more thing to hide behind. Memory of the past is slippery at best. The Earth is only two years into its twenty six thousand year cycle. I wonder if we can make it any further this time.

Another excellent contribution.

Thank you for this my friend, I had not even considered the possibility of regression. It's a scary thought though.

I hope you do well in the contest,

wupy

Thank you, mrwupy. I don't know if regression or de-evolving is even possible, but your right, it would be terrifying! This idea just kind of struck a chord with me because of the cyclonic nature of starting over again every so often. I suppose that if it were to happen this way, it could be a good thing. Not for us, of course, but for the human race to have a clean slate!

A highly unusual story. 'Creeping devolution' is a concept that I've not ever read before and as a global reaction in all species, I think it's highly creative of you to envision it.

Kudos.

You've put a new spin on things.