7/26/2019 Tales From a Bleak Future
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Tales from a Bleak Future
Francesco Berrett
YEAR 2250
I walk in the haze that is our world. hite smoke wis!s solemnl"#
li$htl" kissin$ the
$round. %" warm &acket kee!s me cozier than some of the
others. The e'!ensi(e fur had cost
me almost a "ear)s worth of currenc"# *ut I $reatl" a!!reciated
it. It was much warmer than m"
old &acket. As I walk !ast the rich houses# I ho!e that one
da" !eo!le are considered e+ual to one
another. Their *eautiful acres of land had eaten u! what was
once lands of others# like me. e
were now all homeless# findin$ shelter in stran$e !laces. ,ife
for me seemed sad and sometimes
worthless.
YEAR 2500
%achiner" hums as I look towards the horizon. The sun will *e
risin$ soon# *ut it doesn)t
matter. ,i$ht !ollution makes the cit" seem like noon at
midni$ht. The new# -hi$htech/ li$hts*end awa" from the sun and
slowl" dim as it rises. The transition was so smooth that I
couldn)t
e(en tell when the li$hts turned off and the sun was in the air.
The automo*iles whizz !ast me#
whi!!in$ m" hair around m" head. E(er"thin$ &ust mo(es too
fast.
YEAR 000
e don)t know what is ha!!enin$. 1o man" thin$s at once are $oin$
wron$. The !lanet
has fallen out of ali$nment and is s!innin$ towards doom. The
ice ca!s are meltin$. The Arctic is
!racticall" none'istent. 1o man" s!ecies ha(e died. Fresh water
is e'tremel" rare. The skies are
so !olluted that !eo!le die of inhalin$ air. Electricit" doesn)t
e(en e'ist an"more. There is no
wa" thin$s could $et worse.
YEAR 250
1outh America is su*mer$ed. 3orthern Euro!e# most of Russia# and
4anada are all fri$id.
un$les near the e+uator are so hot that d"in$ of deh"dration is
more likel" than of the dan$erous
*easts. Africa is !la$ued *" mos+uitoes. The !lanet is so off of
its access that Australia has
hours of sunli$ht and no summer. E(en in the midst of all of
that# sur(i(in$ countries are at war
for the few remainin$ resources. The !o!ulation has dro!!ed
*elow 6 *illion. e will all die
e(entuall". ust when7
YEAR 5000
The wasteland that is our world is no lon$er worth li(in$ in.
There are few !eo!le left
ali(e. An" food is scarce# and water is scarcer. %uch of the
world is so com!letel" inhos!ita*le
that enterin$ almost insures death. I realize that the world
that has *ecome this is so horri*le.
There must *e somethin$ we can do.
I was witnessin$ the end of the world.
