I find it ironic how much we humans stick to our “routines” and “daily lives” in all kinds of weird situations. Maybe we don’t care about them, or maybe it’s just that when something happens way beyond our control, it maxes out our panic and we get reset back to our daily lives for us to keep some sanity. So in a way, normalcy is probably a way to keep ourselves sane.
But that doesn’t mean it always makes sense though. Take what I’m doing right now as an example. I’m doing my homework. 10th Grade Geography Homework. And it makes no sense to have homework now. Heck, it doesn’t make sense to even go to school anymore. What with the end of the world and stuff. Sure, it’s not like it’s literally going to end now. And not everyone is going to die. I’m pretty sure 10-20% of our population would survive somehow. But does it make sense to go to school anymore when just a week ago, a couple more cities and a few more million people around the world broke again?
It seems that people have gone numb to the situation. And me to the nonsense of doing homework. It’s been more than a year since all this started, after all. After centuries of breakdown, the earth finally called quits on us. The first major earthquake happened at the California San Andreas fault. And it caused a major shift in all the major tectonic plates, causing what you shouldn’t call an “earthquake” anymore. The media quickly gave fancy names, calling it “The Fracturing” or more commonly “EarthFract”. A cool name to call a devastating phenomenon of nature. The first one changed the map of the North American continent.
And the second one changed the future of this world. Scientists were just about finding all the details and the impact. There were leaks across the world of this causing more chain reactions. And there was panic and riots everywhere. The doomsday cult was causing trouble. And while everyone was still reeling from the first “fracturing”, the second one occurred at an even bigger scale. The Himalayas literally broke open. And northern and eastern India, Bangladesh, Nepal, Tibet, etc. were extinguished within a few days. This was so big that it silenced the world. There was no panic anymore. The next day, there were announcements from all countries in the world with actual explanations that this would continue to occur across the world. And there was nothing they could do.
What was happening was a chain reaction in our plate tectonics and this was going to completely change our continents in the course of something as small as 5-10 years. Something which occurred in our past over the course of millions of years was happening over a decade this time. You can imagine what that would do to the population. Over the next few months, lots of coastal areas were flooded across the planet. Small island nations were no more. More fractures happened in various places. Some places like eastern Greenland, Alaska, and southern India say they could even feel the land shifting.
I became numb. The scientists were probably having fun with tons of new data about the earth. There has been an attempt to move people to “safe” places. But it’s pretty difficult to move millions, billions of people to the “safe” places. The economy was barely maintained by the combined governments. In fact, now that it’s been a year since this began, it’s a completely new world. Different demographics. Different politics. Different geography, which is still changing. Borders, countries, governments, armies. The meaning has changed for everything. If you take a look at it from a different angle, “we were moving towards world peace”. Though no one knows how it would look in the end.
I’ve digressed. So, back to the topic, do you now understand why school and homework don’t make sense? Oh, and I’m probably living in one of the “?” places. Which no one is sure of. And the homework I have is “Geography.” It’s pretty funny if you think about it. Ah well, I’ll just read up something on the net. I’m alone at home anyways.
I grab some snacks and my device and head to the terrace. It’s a pleasant evening and looks great considering everything else at the moment. Hmm, it seems there are new findings on “fracturing”. While I’m reading, the building starts to shake and I can hear loud warning sounds from the city centre’s early warning system. Though it’s already late, it seems, and it wouldn’t have done much even if it was early. 50% of the remaining people around are panicking or running around, but it doesn’t matter when it’s a “fracturing”. The building starts to shake more. A few buildings fall where I can see. I can hear the cacophony of cries. And for some strange reason, I grab my device and start recording. Yeah, my friends have said I was strange, and I probably get what they mean. But at this stage, there’s just nothing else you could do.
Ah!! The 100-floor building a few kilometres from here seems to be falling. The building I’m on is short some walls in a few places. Weird. The fracturing seems weird. All the high buildings have already fallen down. My two-story house is still somewhat safe though. And this should mean I’m safe. But something’s strange. The shaking is still increasing. Ah, some beams in my house seem to be broken, and it has started leaning a bit. I can see a crease in the ground some distance away. And it’s increasing.? No! It’s not a crease. It’s literally a gaping line.? A real visible fracture.?
It’s been an hour already. And the shaking has not stopped. But all the major action seems to be done, it seems. At least for all the people around me. The fracture size is increasing. We can see the distance opening up slowly between me and my school (Just one way to look at it). There are helicopters coming in now. And some troops coming down with equipment. And since I’m still safe. And I’m still recording, it should be my obligation to record to the end. I walk a bit closer to the “Gap.” Not too close though. There seems to be a fallen building here. As I climb the rubble, I can see the fracture more clearly. There are even places where it seems like some muddy lava is visible.
I’m witnessing the part of the formation of a new continent from existing ones. The part of history for future generations. And recording everything was just the icing on the cake of being alive. Though I can hear someone behind me shouting that I’m crazy. Ignore him. What should I do now though? Not immediately, I mean, as that would include helping with the cleanup of the place. Which is still shaking though. I walk over to some of the cordoned-off equipment. And can’t identify anything except a few. Maybe I should look them up. Or rather, I should just go back to my geography homework. Not now. Eventually.
The year 2051. From the united earth archives: Essays written by the Father of Modern Geophysics and Paleogeography.
Scribbled Words 