The Photocalypse [Original Short Story]

in #scifi5 years ago (edited)

A short apocalyptic story inspired by recent news about GMO and photosynthesis.

The Photocalypse

"Why can't I rest a little Daddy? I'm so tired."

"I'm sorry Monique, if I could, I would carry you, but we really need to get this fuel back to camp before the sun rises. Look at the stars up there, it is going to be a sunny day."

"Can't you just carry me Dad? We'll leave the canisters in a safe place and come back to pick them up tonight?"

"Did you forget Monique? This part of the forest is all tobacco. We wouldn't be able to find the canisters back if it was the mid of winter and today would be all clouds in the middle of an all-tobacco region, and even if by chance we could find some of them back, the chances of them not being crushed or pierced by the tobacco would be close to zero. No darling, you are going to need to keep climbing through the forest yourself dear. We were really lucky to find this fuel intact in the first place. With the sunny weather lately, our oil reserves have been running low as the pressers can not fully keep up with the night burns in this weather."

"I know Dad, I know. I really hate the forests, Dad. Those horrid scientists, it's all their fault we lost our house. I wish we could burn scientists instead of oil."

"No Monique! Don't talk like that. You don't know what you are saying. Don't listen to your big brother, he is just angry at the world, and anyhow, chances are all scientists are long dead already. Scientists weren't evil, they just were very short-sighted and naive about GMO. They are a lesson for every one of us, never to let hubris and ambition cloud our judgment. "

"My foot Dad. Scientists are evil. Everybody knows that!"

"Monique?!"

"You know what I mean Dad. Look around Dad! Look at our feet.
Look up. Tobacco everywhere. Not corn, not olives, not fruit or anything edible, if they aren't evil Dad, if they really wanted to safe the planet, why would they start with a plant that nobody eats? Dad my legs are tired, could we rest for five minutes?"

"Well, I guess a two minutes rest wouldn't hurt. Just take care not to sit close to any gaps in the roughage. There is no telling what little nasties might be crawling in the darkness below. But darling, I know you are just a kid, and you don't remember the big climate scare, but at the time many people used to think cow farts and airplanes would end up killing the planet. I know it is hard to understand knowing what we know now about the Photocalype and how GMO caused it, but at the time everyone, not just scientists were afraid of a global warming disaster with floods droughts, war and hunger. I can't explain why they thought testing out H.E.P.S. genes on tobacco plants was a good idea, but these were different times darling."

"Ron told me they are daemons from hell, that they are pure evil, that scientists steal babies and feed them to the forest bugs."

"Your brother is just messing with you darling. Scientists weren't daemons, and they weren't monsters. Scientists were just normal humans like you and me. Arrogant, stupid and negligent, yes, but not evil. And if any of them survived till today, there aren't any scientists left in the lowlands. All scientists were deported even before the last city fell to the forests.
It is a dark page in our history Monique. We were the monsters back then. Most of the scientists didn't even work in biotech and our people just put them on a huge boat. There are rumors of unspeakable things darling, things you are too young to hear about. Scientists were a politicians scapegoat when the forests came, and nobody stood up for them back in the day, nobody. Their blood is on our hands, all of our hands. No not you dear, you were just a baby and Ron was just a toddler back then. But yes, me and your mom, neither of us said as much as a word when they came for our neighbor. So be careful who you call daemons and monsters dear. It's not that simple. Maybe when you are older you will understand."

"You are not a monster Dad! And mom wasn't a monster either. Ron said scientists killed mom, they are the monsters."

"Let's just forget about scientists darling. Scientists didn't kill mom, the day-forest did. And look at the bright stars up there. If we don't get going again now, the sun might catch up with us as well.
We need to get moving, dear. "


This is the second in a series of flashfiction stories. If you liked this story, you might also like:

Sort:  

This post has been selected for curation by @sunravelme. It has been upvoted and will be featured in this week's Working Title post. It will also be considered for the official @minnowsupport curation post and if selected will be resteemed from the main account. Feel free to join us on Discord!

Coin Marketplace

STEEM 0.36
TRX 0.12
JST 0.040
BTC 70846.59
ETH 3567.69
USDT 1.00
SBD 4.79