Ferdie and The Seven: Book three: Fractals
Page 24
SINGULAR
PROLOGUE
New Year’s Eve, 2037. It was either the beginning or the end, depending on how you look at it, but to me, I guess it was kind of both.
We were late, speeding through the stormy streets of Riverside, California, on our way to meet dad for our three-person New Year’s Eve party; just mom, dad, and me. That’s how it had been since… well, as long as I could remember, all of my eight years. Mom was telling me that, years ago, before the Great Pacific Tsunami of 2028, it hardly ever rained in Southern California, but all that had changed. It now rained often, although it was generally hot enough that the rain quickly evaporated, keeping everything perpetually moist and uncomfortable with humidity.
“See, there was lots of disagreement back in those days over global warming, but after the Tsunami, well, that pretty much ended the disagreements, although even after that disaster, there are still some people who deny. Hard to understand… anyway, almost all of the polar ice had melted, and the sea level was rising each year, and finally the extra weight of the water triggered a cascade of under-sea earthquakes in the Pacific Ocean. It was way before you were born, but there used to be land and millions and millions of people 20 miles further out from where the coast is now, but the tsunami wiped it all out.”
“Mom, what’s a cascade?”
Mom laughed, and said, “That’s the question you have after all that? You’re funny, buddy boy.”
I didn’t really understand what was so funny, but I kept quiet so mom would keep talking. “Anyway, all the coastal areas of the Pacific Ocean were completely destroyed, and a lot of land is now under water. There used to be a very powerful country called Japan, but except for some mountain areas it’s all under water, along with most of the Philippines, the Hawaiian islands, all the Pacific rim countries, and more than… well, let’s just say lots and lots of people too.”
A kid from a normal family would probably be wondering why his mom would be telling him such a horrible story, but I was quite used to it, even as an eight-year-old. To say my parents were nerds would be… well, nerds think of my parents as nerds. My mom, a PhD in Astrophysics, seemed to know everything, and wanted to make sure I got exposed to everything, or at least the things that she found important or interesting, which was quite a lot, by the way. My dad, a PhD in Conceptual Physics and Nano-Engineering, was working on a project that he couldn’t talk about, which of course made mom and me crazy.
Anyway, we continued down the dark, wet streets toward dad’s lab, and as we reached the freeway, mom took her hands off the wheel and allowed the mag-strips in the asphalt to steer and propel the car. She programmed the car to take the correct turn-off, and then turned to me to continue her story. “Take out your phone and check for video of the tsunami. You’ll be amazed. We were lucky, dad and me, that we were able to get out in time and get up here into the hills. We probably would have…” And that was the last time I heard my mom’s voice. In fact, it was the last time I heard anything for quite a while.
Chapter One
The lights are very bright; I’m blinking furiously but can’t seem to get my eyes to clear. Lots of people around; don’t recognize most of them, but my dad is here. They’re all standing over me; I can’t quite understand why they are all looking at me in this way. Then I notice that some of them are wearing the “scrubs” that nurses and doctors wear; am I in the hospital or something? My eyes are still blurry, but I can see that my dad looks really tired, and has a worried look on his face. What’s going on here? Did I get hurt or something? And where’s mom? I try to talk, but I realize my throat really hurts and I can’t make any words come out; it sounds strange to my ears, like dull grunting and squeaking. That’s weird…did I get my tonsils out or something? I can’t remember anything about getting sick or…
Then, in a flash, it all came back to me. Chatting happily with mom, driving along, then an ear-shattering sound, flipping over and over, and then… nothing. I look around again, and all the people assembled around me have very concerned expressions. I try to feel my body by moving different extremities, but realize I am not having much luck; nothing seems to be moving. I am starting to feel scared, and suddenly I notice dad’s face close to mine. “Luke, Lukey, can you hear me? It’s me, dad.”
I looked at dad like he was crazy, and tried to say, “Of course I can hear you”, but again only grunts came out. This is really frustrating! What the heck is going on here?
I looked up at dad’s face, and I noticed that he looked even thinner than the last time I had seen him, and his hair was much longer and messy, like he hadn’t been taking care of himself. How could his hair be longer? I just saw him yesterday! Would somebody please tell me what is going on?
Dad was looking deeply into my eyes, and although he was smiling, he had the saddest expression I have ever seen. “Lukey, you can hear me, can’t you? I can see it in your eyes. I didn’t think this day would ever come.” Then a big tear rolled down his cheek, landing on the bed covers just below my chin. I had never seen my dad cry before, and it made me want to cry too. What is wrong? What is going on with everyone? I don’t get it…
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Larry Buenafe has been writing seriously for several years; before that, he was writing in a frivolous and immature manner. He is an avid reader of science and science fiction of all kinds. He works as a school administrator and musician when not writing, although he would like to discontinue one of those three activities to concentrate more fully on the other two. Guess which one? This book is dedicated to his amazing wife, Sara, his two awesome daughters, Cheyenne and Mikayla, his fantastic son in law, Jordan, his little grandson, Elliot, who is simply perfect, and to his sister in law, the real life Aunt Martha. It is also dedicated to the following friends, all of whom have been helpful in a way that cannot be repaid: Cindy, Sherry, Jordan, Jim, Carla, Berkeley, Ginette, the real-life Nixya, the real-life Denise, the real-life Terry, the real-life Aida, the real-life Fernando, Mike, and so many others. He says there are many more novels coming down the pike, so stay tuned.
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