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 Total Urbanization  (27 ratings)by Douglas Bell Page 1 of 1 I awoke with a start. The small amount of light that made it this
deep into the city made me squint. An absolutely horrid smell assaulted my
nostrils. The smell of death and decay, which was exactly what the city was,
dead, and decaying. The newspapers I had been sleeping on were damp and cold
and I quickly stood up to relieve the discomfort. As I did, I began itching the
fleabites that I had received during the night. However, this was a welcome
evil compared to the fact that I may not have survived the night. As my eyes
adjusted, I looked up at more than two hundred and fifty stories of skyscraper
towering over me. It was still an impressive sight, even after more than twenty
years down here.
Following its so-called 'destiny', mankind had continually spread itself over the entire globe, consuming everything in its path. Soon the entire globe was urbanized. The world was one giant city. Food was produced in massive hydroponics plants, which could grow plants without soil. However, mankind's population growth continued its exponential increase and soon there was no room left. Society collapsed following the abolition of the democratic governments that grew increasingly petty. Thus, the upper class people lived on majestic balconies on top of the huge skyscrapers that covered the globe, The middle class were confined to rooms only big enough for a bed, and the poor were condemned to walk the streets. What made matters worse was the continued 'advances' of science. Scientific research became less and less about the advance of the human race, and more and more about the advance of a greedy scientist without discipline. Technology grew, but the human maturity level didn't. Which basically meant that we evolved better ways to make ourselves lazy and to kill each other, and that is what led to the situation that many people, like myself, found themselves in. A yell interrupted my daydreams. As an instinct, I shifted my weight, ready for a fight. "HEY YOU!" the voice said again, "What the heck are you doing there?" I whirled around towards the source of the sound, and I smiled. "Jimmy? That you?" I asked. "In the flesh," Jim smiled back. "Why the heck did you scare me like that?" Jim just laughed. "Why you little..." I mimed punching him. "Ok. Ok, I'm sorry, but it was really funny the way you reacted," Jim laughed again. "Yeah? Remember that when I sneak up on you and take twenty years off your life like that." "Jeez, lighten up. You're too uptight." "I'm a victim of the environment," I sighed. "Yeah, I hear ya," Jim said slowly, becoming serious for a moment (which wasn't very normal for him). "Wanna go get some food?" The rumbling in my stomach at the sound of 'food' almost overwhelmed me. I tried valiantly to remember the last time I had eaten. "Where we gonna get some food?" Jim smiled and pulled something from his pocket. It glinted in the small amount of light that bathed everything down here in an unearthly glow. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in a long time. It was a quarter. I remembered reading stories when I was young. Storied about the past, and how almost every man, woman, and child was rich. Almost everyone on the planet had at least one decent meal every day. A quarter now could get Jim and I enough food to last us a week if we spent it right. I soon became cautious, a trait I particularly resented, but it was subliminal. "Where in god's name did you get that?" "Found it," was Jim's evasive reply. I rolled my eyes, "Yeah, and I got a dollar in my back pocket." "I swear it on my mother's grave." "B.S." "Fine, I guess you don't want any food." I admitted defeat. "Hey, hey, let's not get carried away." "Then forget about it, let's go eat." I had never tasted anything better in my life, and we still had two dimes left. My stomach ached a bit, as it wasn't used to that much food, but I didn't mind. I sat there, talking with Jim, laughing and just forgetting my plight for the moment. That was the last time I'll ever forget my predicament again. Gangs were abundant on the streets of the lower levels, and gang wars even more so. On the majestic balconies above, there was practically no crime at all. Up there was almost a utopian society, mostly because they had the money to pay for it. Money made the world go 'round, and the lack thereof was a sure route to an early demise. "Say, Jim," I began, "have you ever wondered what it would be like to live up there?" "Not really," he replied. It was a futile question to ask him anyway. He made the best of the life he had, while I was a dreamer, and a quite imaginative and intelligent dreamer at that. "I like the way I am right now," he continued, "and I wouldn't change it for the world." "Yeah, but don't you ever wish you did something more before you left? Something you could be remember for?" "Not really. I will be remembered for what people want to remember me for. Come on, don't try to be a great man, just be a man, and let history determine the rest." I nodded, not entirely in agreement, and stood up to leave. "Where we want to go now?" I asked. The words were barely out of my mouth when Jim ducked underneath the table and yelled "GET DOWN!" The window behind me shattered and something threw me to the table. I felt an odd stinging sensation in my back, and I knew then what had happened. Warm liquid spread across my back as I lay on my stomach on the table. The noises ceased and Jim was standing over me asking me if I was all right. I knew I wasn't, but I couldn't move my mouth to tell him. The pain spread like wildfire throughout my body and I imagined that I could feel my body shutting down. I closed my eyes and readied myself for my final destination. I saw my life before my eyes, but only the parts which held significance for me. I began to regret some of the decisions I had made, even though I knew I could do nothing about them. During my last few minutes I began to think about what Jim had said. I wondered what history would think of me, if anything. I began chastising myself for not making the most of life while I could, and now it was too late. I was still contemplating Jim's words when the final curtain was drawn.
Copyright © 1999, 2000, 2001 Douglas Bell, sffworld.com. All rights reserved. No part of this may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the author. The author has submitted the work in accordance with and in agreement with the following Submission Guidelines. |
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