Power Outage

Chapter 4

            “Lucky me, that it’s here.”

            “Just be sure not to go too often.”

            “I know…” he shudders

            “Something wrong?”

            “Nothing… just remembering the video I saw on obesity.”

            “Finally found you guys,” says Alex, walking over from a couple of booths down, “This area’s like one of those bazaars from before the 2112 incident.”

            Carol, who never bothered to pay attention to history, asked, “What happened 2112?”

            “In 2112, there was a predicted meteor storm by the end of that year. To prevent the destruction of all life on Earth, scientists proposed to move as many species as possible to a colony on Mars, now known as S.O.T., an acronym for ‘servo orbis terrarum’, meaning ‘Protect the Earth’ in Latin. In order for the Earth to recover after the nuclear winter that would follow the storm, the scientists managed to recreate the protozoans that resided during the Earth’s first formation. Also, at the time, the cure for A.I.D.S. had mutated into an airborne and genetic virus that lowered life expectancy to around sixty with a side effect of a seemingly random power... and no one’s listening.”

            Carol wandered off to a nearby booth and Damian is arranging flowers in his stand. Damian says politely, “I’m listening, but that is 4th grade history and science.”

            “That’s true. Speaking of the past, how did you save Carol when she was little?”

            “She mentioned that to you, huh?”

            “Why, you didn’t?” Alex questioned, leaning forward on the counter.

            Damian, finished arranging the flowers, “It’s a true story, but not as exciting as Carol probably made it out to be.”

            “That’s fine, I’m curious,” she says, resting her head on her hands to show genuine interest.

            “I swatted away a spider.”

            “How big was the spider?”

            “Umm… I think this big,” say Damian as he gestures by cupping his hands, then spreading them apart to the size of an average steering wheel.

            Taken aback, Alex stood upright and stammered, “That’s, that’s huge!”

            “Really? Before I moved back to the States, I saw a bunch as big as a door.”

            “Were you in a jungle or something!?!?”

            “Yeah, how’d you know?”

            Alex slouches over the counter, to the point of her head being on it, and answers, “Lucky guess… let’s just eat…”

            Damian whistles in a pattern and Carol comes back shortly after, with her dog ears and tail out, wagging. Carol asks, “Is it time to eat now?”

            “Neat trick,” Alex whispers to Damian, before getting up again to grab a burger from the take-out bag.

            “I can hear you, y’know,” says Carol glaring at Alex.

            “I know,” Alex retorted as she took a bite.

            Carol rolls her eyes and gets her share. Damian doesn’t understand the tension, so he just starts to eat as well.