"Adaptation" (StoryADay Challenge/Day 19)

The Prompt: (by Seanan McGuire, who was the winner of the 2010 John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, and her novel Feed (as Mira Grant) was named as one of Publishers Weekly’s Best Books of 2010.)

When the square-cube law is rescinded, internal combustion becomes impossible.  How is travel impacted?  How are daily lives changed?

(e. g. What if cars and other engines couldn’t exist? – JD)

*

“Adaptation”

Everyone remembers where they stood when the rug was pulled out from beneath them. Breaking News interrupted every airwave across the nation with an urgent message:  The square-cube law has been rescinded. EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY. 

I was visiting my seventy-year-old neighbor Carter, a retired history professor, when we heard the news. The news interrupted a 1987 documentary on space exploration.

“Do you know what this news means?” Carter asked.

“Not exactly,” I said. 

Carter’s wife of fifty years, Sienna, passed away three years ago and they never had any children. Initially, I was just trying to look out for him because of his age. But over time, he’s almost become something of a mentor, he’s essentially family at this point. I bring his mail to him. He lets me borrow any blu-ray DVDs from his  library, as long as I return it. If he orders takeout, he orders me a plate just in case I drop by. If I don’t he just puts it in the fridge for the next time I come.

“It means life as you know it is over,” Carter said.

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“You’ll see soon enough.”

I didn’t know what he meant by that. Since I’ve known him, Carter has had a head-full of theories, concepts and calculated assumptions. But slowly, the layers started to peel away. And I began to understand what Carter was leaning towards.

After the square-cube law was rescinded, internal combustion engines were no longer the reality I had known my entire life. An internal combustion engine can be found in most of the things modern civilization relies on: vehicles, boats, ships, airplanes, and trains.

“What’s going to happen?” I asked.

“First, civil unrest,” Carter said.

Strict laws were enforced swiftly. If you were caught driving a vehicle you already owned before the news, you would be heavily fined or arrested, depending on your temperament. Special Weapons and Tactics (S.W.A.T) teams patrolled neighborhoods, walking in groups of twelve, with both hands fondling their weapons. Riots broke out. Many upstanding citizens were detained or hospitalized due to excessive force. 

The country became a ghost town. Parked cars with dead batteries and flat tires lined the streets. Cars were broken into and emptied of any valuables. The sounds of broken glass beneath your every step in the street was nauseating. Airports were empty. Grounded 747s covered in bird feces grew rusted on the exteriors. The white-colored planes became buttermilk. Expiring passports weren’t renewed. Cruise Liners were vacant luxuries. Train stations became shelter hubs for the less fortunate and homeless. It provided a haven against the rain and inclimate weather. Graffiti began experiencing a vital resurgence. Walls were tagged and with multi-colored spray paints. Graffiti artists honed their craft and explored new ideas. Law enforcement would try to detain some of the artists. Sometimes they would catch one, two, or several. But they could never catch them all. 

“Everything we strongly depend on can destroy us,” Carter said. 

“What do you think will happen then?” I asked.

“The same thing that always happens,” Carter said. “We will all adapt.” 

Carter got up out of his seat and walked over toward the door that led to the backyard. He unlocked the deadbolt and stepped out the door. When he returned he was guiding a burgundy brand-new bicycle inside.

“Going for a ride Carter?”

Carter chuckled. “No,” he said. “You are.” 

I was confused. “What?”

“Caleb, you take this bike and you go for a ride. Take in all the sights and sounds. Protect yourself, but never be afraid. If all my history teaching has taught me anything it's that humanity has a knack for survival. Don’t despair, even when things may look, or even feel bleak. Life swings on a pendulum between beauty and darkness. But we get to choose what we look forward to. Take the bike, son.”

The End.

**This is a work of fiction. Names. characters, places, and incidents are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.