SABIS the SURVIVOR

Chapter 4: When the Earth Moved

Chapter 4: When the Earth Moved

Forani

Saving the world from devastating hunger, disease, and the magnetic imbalance was Forani's life work. At least that is what he told himself day after day.

He stood atop his stone perch just one kilometer to the west of the Aviation Center and orated to the gathered masses below.

"I live for the day when humans will thrive outside in the glory of the sun and not have to hide indoors, away from the natural splendour that the almighty sun cultivates.

This is the time that the sun begins His new reign of power. This is when we will start to bask in His glory. Fellow humans, I give you the mighty and awe-inspiring God of the sky... for I am your Messiah!"

On his remote control's touchpad, he tapped lightly three times in rapid succession. High in the heavens, orbiting earth with a watchful eye, stuck in its centrifugal loop that would continue indefinitely if it were not for Forani's quick taps of his finger, were the instruments of the next Ice Age. No one, not even Forani could have predicted the series of events that the detonation of these two spatial thermonuclear bombs would cause. The second law of thermodynamics states that everything will tend towards randomness. This randomness, or entropy, highlights the endless variables and possibilities in the universe. Not even Forani's supermind or his supercomputers could accurately predict the disastrous outcome.

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CENTRAL UNITED STATES: SEAN

Just as watching a kettle does not make the water inside it boil any faster, neither does watching the Earth's horizon cause the sun to set earlier. This is what I was thinking that late Thursday afternoon on that fateful day─the day the Earth moved.

We were all gathered at the local drive-in. It was the only one for miles and miles in this land called Big Country. And we were munching on popcorn, waiting for the coming attractions to come on the oversized screen, not wondering about anything that will be or has been. We were simply waiting for the movie to begin.

Carol and Joyce were chatting in the back seat while I adjusted the speaker volume.

"Turn it up to the maximum!" Carol hollered into my right ear. "Give it more juice," she added for good measure.

I looked over at my good friend and running mate for Class President, Greg. He and I go way back. We go so far back that I cannot ever remember not knowing him and all of his idiosyncrasies. He would sneeze after he got out of the pool. He wiped his apples on his hair before eating them. He liked to talk when he was doing his business in the toilet. You get the picture.

"So Greg, I hear that this movie features that new movie star Blake Palance. He is the grandson of that actor Jack Palance. The one who used to star in those old 20th century Westerns."

"Yeah Sean. That guy Blake definitely knows his way around that genre of films. But can he pull off this comedy? Do you need help with the speaker?"

"No thanks. I just have to step out of the car to adjust it to my door frame. These old-style drive-ins are a bit of a pain. But it's fun to come here anyhow."

That is when I saw it. Who could miss it? In the southern part of the sky, I saw what looked like a brilliant light blue flash. Then the color changed to orange, red and then a light pink. My head and eyes seemed drawn into this visual splendour just as a moth would be attracted to a street light. It was a beautiful and scary sight at the same time.

Just as I was about to turn to Greg and the girls to ask, "Did you see that?" the ground moved. The best way I can describe it is that it felt as if the land hiccupped. I managed to keep my balance and fortunately the land did not move up and down after that. But moments later, the wind came rushing towards us. We saw a giant dust storm approach so we stayed inside my car, closed the windows and braced for the storm.