Shorts: The First

 “I can’t go to sleep, Dad. Tell me a story. Tell me of the war.”

“I’m tired, Son. Go to sleep.”

“But please, Dad. Just a short bit. Tell me what you did in the war, and what happened thereafter. Just a little? “

“Oh all right. Get comfortable. Here, put your head on my lap. It was a long time ago, when I was not much older than you are now. It happened in the year 2027……”

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The bombs were launched a little after midnight, and balls of fire poured down from the heavens over New York, Washington and all major cities in the North-East. They said it was the North Koreans, but we’d never know the truth, even to this day. There were rumours that it was the Americans themselves whom that war started that day.

The skyscrapers, parks, national monuments and hundreds of suburbs were wiped out in an instant. Hundreds of thousands died in the first few seconds, and many more wished they did. The economy crumbled as Wall Street was destroyed, and started the domino effect that crashed every developed nation’s economy. Amidst the chaos that ensued, local militias in the south, the South American armies and drug cartels, terrorist cells and gangs of all ethnicities began their quick descent on the meek and the weak. The government forces in their compromised state were spread thin across their own nation. The entire country fell into anarchy.

As such, the United Nations relocated to our tiny island, here in the southernmost tip of the Eurasian continent. They saw a vibrant community with an excellent infrastructure and spotless governance over its people. By 2030, the world was back on its feet, minus the misbegotten empire that was The United States of America. Only the British, in their misguided attempt to cling to worlds past, tried in vain to help the once proud nation.

The tiny island grew in power and stature, and it wasn’t long before it was deemed unnecessary to think of itself as separate from the United Nations, which was giving the entire nation its economy by gravitating multinational corporations and itself requiring an army of industry to feed its voracious appetites. The island gave up its national identity and assimilated itself into the global association. Its armies, treasuries, influence and people were united in this action, and in essence became servants to the global community.

The S.E.A. war began in 2038. The demand on the lands on the island was just not sustainable. The surrounding nations, in fear of being invaded, decided to attack first, to attain first blood. Naturally they were pushed back, and then the real invasion plans were put into action, since the island, and the United Nations now had the reasons to. It lasted only 1 year. With surgical precision and minimal global involvement, the island became a region.

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“I was a mere tank commander, supporting the troops to gain footholds in villages and cities that had been their defenses pulverized by our warships and air might. It was relatively easy. The people were welcoming. It was the governments that tried to hold on.

Are you still listening, son? Son? Huh, guess not. These old stories are as interesting as a stray cat. Ah. How I miss my glory days. Before the Amalgams came to the fore.”