ONE MORE DESTINY -- Chapter Seven In the Southern Hemisphere days get longer after Summer Solstice, so there was still plenty of daylight for Matt and Billy to spend time examining the little general store, so full of everything anyone might need. On a chair near the back door they found a small stack of old newspapers, the latest dated June 6th, 2009. But El Recado Colombiano(a) had no headline about the virus. The big story was the negotiated peace settlement between the left-wing guerrillas and the government and right-wing militias. Billy knew nothing about the history of South America, so Matt gave a short description of a nation suffering 40 long years of civil war. "Try to imagine if America's Civil War between North and South had gone on that long." "Our school was abandoned before I got to American history." "Oh. Sorry." So he started to tell him about that too, then stopped because it reminded them both of just how lonely and lost they were. The U.S.A. no longer existed, and they might be the last two human beings on Earth. So they concentrated on gathering the things they would need for the next day's exploration.

More extensive research was necessary before going on with this story, in order that I portray a reasonably accurate background for these fictional events and thus show respect for the nation and people of Colombia. However long or short a time that may require, the message of this little novel is clear: The human race is fully capable of blundering into self-extinction. While in the process of searching Amazon and Alibris for books about Colombia I noticed an ad for a novel by Cormac McCarthy, "The Road". From the ad's description, it obviously has a somewhat similar storyline as this little work of mine. So, of course I ordered it, and read it, unable to put it down till the terrible end which left me weeping, as it must for anyone with children. Even now, days later, I can't think about it without tears for the boy and his father and the unbearable knowledge that it is now already beginning to happen to this relentlessly growing human population that has gone mad with greed for unlimited wealth and power. They must read that book. I feel sure Mr. McCarthy wrote from his own experience to reverse and correct in a story the unbearable loss of his son, so I will try to persuade as many as I can to read it. Perhaps then the death of biosphere Earth will also become unbearable, since all our children live here on the same planet.

Back to Chapter 6 Back to Contents John Talbot Ross