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DOOMED BY PROGRESS: A SCIENCE FICTION SHORT STORY, PART VIII

June 19, 2024 at 1:45 pm Leave a comment

                                           DOOMED BY PROGRESS

Due to technical difficulties, I will need to postpone my posting of The Ultimate Experiment. So, for now, I will begin posting my short story, Doomed by Progress. This story was published by Aphelion in May 2010.

With the increased demand of the migrating population needing electricity, the electric grid of Alaska collapsed. Normally, the residents calmly waited for a return of power. But now, when the electricity was renewed it lasted for seconds, then was gone for good.

                                                  * * *

David asked Lisa, “When was the last you saw a blue sky? It’s always grey and at times there is so much smog you can hardly see anything around you.

“I think it’s time we move farther north. If these conditions keep up there will no place to go. It’s like a science fiction movie but we’re living it. Conditions must be better up north.”

This time Lisa was in full agreement with her husband.

David and Lisa moved as far north as they could. But they came to a point where they lacked the energy to go on. 

Weak from lack of oxygen and extreme heat, David said, “I don’t think we can go farther,” and fell to the ground, his breathing labored and then stopped.

Lisa surveyed the scene around her. In the distance she could see solitary figures, walking, stumbling and then falling. Lisa knew she would not survive long in this heat. All the predictions she had read came true, although much sooner than anyone could anticipate.

Lisa lay down, and with the rest of humanity, ceased to exist.

                                                       The End

Entry filed under: free science fiction and horror stories, free stories, READER'S OPPORTUNITIES, UNPUBLISHED WORKS, Walt Trizna, Walt Trizna's Stories. Tags: climate change, environment, fiction, global warming, science fiction, Walt Trizna.