Mrs. Sigurson opened the canary's cage to do it's housekeeping when an odd thought struck her.
    "Whatever happened to that war, Mrs. McGinty?"
    "What war was that?"
    "You know, they were going on about it something terrible in the newspapers last year. I remember lining the canary's cage with them but I haven't heard a word about it since. Come to think of it, we haven't had a newspaper since then. But this one is holding up pretty well. Where is the canary anyway, why isn't he in his cage?"
    "He's been dead for five years, that's why he isn't in his cage!"
    "Oh! No wonder he's been so quiet lately. But what about that war?"
    "Oh yes, the war! Well, they went off didn't they?"
    "Who?"
    "Well, some of the young men and women went off to fight and the rest went to work in those new underground factories."
    "What? And leave us behind?"
    "They said we were too old and feeble. They said we'd just take up room in the underground bunkers."
    "Oh, I suppose so. We do have a lot of nice things, don't we? I wonder what happened to them."
    "All dead, I expect."
    "Dead? Dead from what?"
    "The Borer."
    "What's a Borer?"
    "It's a weapon system I designed for the Pentagon. It bores through the Earth's crust, senses underground machinery and bomb shelters and such, then destroys them and anybody in them. The other side has them too, of course. We never were much good at keeping secrets."
    "I didn't know you worked for the Pentagon."
    "Just for a while when I was going through menopause. They recruit women going through the change, you know. They say it channels homicidal impulses in a wonderful way."
    "Didn't you mention this Borer thing to the young people before they shut themselves up underground?"
    "It must of slipped my mind. You know how forgetful I am."
    "True. It's a shame, though. They were expecting to live a lot longer than us. It puts me in mind of what they said to us when they left us here."
    "What was that?"
    "Um...survival of the fittest! Yes, that was it."
    "Oh yes, now I remember. Oh, it's tea time! Doesn't time fly when your chatting? What do you say we go to see the boys today?"
    "All right, they're still pretty spry for octogenarians."
    "And so are we!"