And Then We Woke Up [2013]

Today is December 21, 2013. At least, that is what the little calendar on my checkbook register says. I'm not sure why I'm even keeping track anymore. One days blends into the next as one long, strange nightmare.

It was just last year on this date that half the people in the western world were joking about "the end of the world", and the other half were waiting tensely for the impending planetary doom. I have to admit, I was a fence-sitter when it cames to doomsday. I sort of knew that things wouldn't end on that date, but I had seen so many documentaries about it that part of me was expecting to feel some kind of cosmic electrical shock. By the end of December 21, 2012, everybody was in a jovial mood.

The poles didn't suddenly shift. The tectonic plates didn't suddenly move thousands of miles out of position. Nibiru didn't show up and cause the earth to shake and vomit out lava and ash. The human race didn't ascend into sublime consciousness. I remember standing outside and waiting for....something. But I felt nothing. No vibrations, no sudden awareness.

People all breathed a collective sigh of relief and though that we were all safe. I shake my head at it now, wondering how we could have been so wrong.

I remember the day it happened. My husband, who used to daytrade stocks, had noticed some very weird activity in the market. It appeared to be a massive sell-off from investors all over the world. Oh, our government and the federal reserve covered it well enough, by buying up what was being sold to artificially buoy up the market so as not to cause a panic. It was a Friday, I believe. We both thought things were looking strange, but since we went bearish and bought heavy into the VIX, which is a panic index, we made a lot of money that lovely spring day.

We had a very nice weekend, feeling smug and comfortable. We went to church that Sunday, praising the Lord for our good fortune. I think back to that day and realize that was the last day of the American Empire. We must have been asleep not to see it.

Monday morning came. I had planned to sleep in, but my husband woke me up. I was cranky and said that, whatever he wanted to tell me could wait until I was done sleeping. He said, "I don't think so, Honey. Something is very wrong. The stock market is closed, and the financial news channels are telling us that the value of the American dollar has lost over 75% of its value." His voice shook as he said this. I sat up in bed and let this information sink in.

My first thought is, we're ruined. All our money was in an online investment account, which was now worth diddly squat. Then I thought, perhaps this is a temporary glitch, and it will work itself out. We sat glued to the television all day as scenes of panic and riots ensued. People ran to their banks, but all the doors were locked, and there was a heavy police presence to protect these venerable financial institutions from the intense anger of the population, most of who were now penniless. Stores also closed up, because the prices for things like a loaf of bread went from $2 to $15 or higher, and people were insane with fear. Looting, destruction, fires, killings.....it was a madhouse as all hell broke loose.

As the days wore on, we could see that this wasn't a "glitch", this was the way it now was. When the bills came due, we could barely pay them that first month. By the time the month after came, we couldn't pay them, so our electricity was shut off. Since we live out in the country, no electricity meant no well water. I had saved water in old jugs, but that only goes so far. Thank goodness one of the farmers out here had an extra windmill, and helped us rig it up so we could at least have some fresh water.

It was a bit uncomfortable as summer came on and we had no air conditioning, but since I had stored a great deal of canned food, we weren't starving. However, our isolation meant that we had no idea what was going on. We had a little radio that ran on batteries, but none of the local stations were broadcasting. We became cut off. We didn't dare drive our truck, since we couldn't buy gas for it. All we knew was, America had spiraled into hyperinflation, millions of people were starving and homeless, and quite a few were ending up in those happy little FEMA camps. Many went in there, and were never heard from again.

Occasionally we would have a caravan of people that came by, some with ingenious methods of getting around. Bicycles with trailers behind them, horses, donkeys, a few dog sled teams pulling small wagons, and the occasional lucky family with vehicles that used bio fuel. We would stop them and they would tell us of their exodus out of the cities. We let a few camp out and get some fresh water. I had purchased heirloom seeds a few years prior, never thinking that I would actually use them, but I was growing a garden, so I shared the produce we had. It was better than letting it rot, since I didn't have refrigeration, and I had meant to learn to can things, but never got around to it.

We're living without the things we had grown up with and always expected to be there. We try to think of ways to make money, but since all the stragglers have is useless old American currency, we're sort of stuck out here in limbo. We're afraid to leave, because where would we go at our age? Who would hire two old people? So we stay and try to eek out a living from the land. One of the farmers gave us a chicken about six months ago, so we at least have eggs, but oh how I miss meat.

I have a large library, so we do a lot of reading. I also do a lot of thinking, as I survey the lone landscape, and imagine the cities, desolate with ruin, starvation, and insanity.

It seems that we have been asleep for decades, while the criminal banksters robbed us blind. We allowed them to print unlimited amounts of money, which caused the initial disaster. Fort Knox is empty. Unlike the Great Depression, we had foreign investors who were unable to be paid back, so we had to let them take other things in kind: Our most precious possessions. Our national parks, monuments, museums, treasures that can never be gotten back. The Chinese now own our ports of call, and most of the intermountain west. They've built some fancy cities there, heavily fenced off and guarded, or course. Most of our farmland has gone to them, as well as multinational corporations who grow the food and ship it somewhere else.

Soon we will be put off our property, as we cannot pay the sky-high taxes on the land we once owned free and clear. I don't know what we'll do then.

On this day, December 21, 2013, I've cried all the tears I had in me. Our food supplies are terribly low. I try not to think of it as I shiver in front of a makeshift wood stove which is burning the remnants of the abandoned house that used to be on the next acre. My husband and I talk in hushed tones about perhaps ending it all in a murder-suicide, quickly and painlessly with the shotgun we have hidden. It seems like the coward's way out, but as each day grinds on, I am ashamed to admit, it is starting to sound like a relief, instead of a sin.

We all existed in a beautiful dream of plenty, and while we dreamed, the empire burned.

And then we woke up.

Well thought out story you laid out. One way to change such an outcome is see money for the illusion it already is. We have replaced self sufficiency with comfort and dependency.

Perhaps the banks plan to trade off the vacant homes collected in their foreclosure pocket and offer those out to the Chinese in mass in order to further divide our population. Our final import from then would be millions of new foreign residents willing and ready to work.

Wow! Vivid story you put forth. Actually brought me to tears in the end. Is this your prophesy? It seems the most likely scenario. I feel like the current doomsday hype is a test/ psyop. For future things to come.

reply to post by starshift


Wow, I never thought of that. A massive influx of workers willing to do more for much less would be the death knell for the American worker.

Self-sufficiency should be the mantra for everybody who wants to survive what may be coming. I say "may be coming", although I suspect it's more like "will be coming".

Our whole financial system is nothing but a shaky house of cards, and I fail to see how it can continue as it is now. Our stock market and those cooked, massaged numbers from the government are a sham.

This story represents the scenario I feel is most likely to happen. I left out the possibility of World War III, to keep it simple, but that would be another piece of the puzzle. War is a big money-maker for many companies, they certainly wouldn't pass up an opportunity to drag us into a world fight for profit.

reply to post by Maeven23


I think you are correct. All those documentaries and shows about the Mayans, doomsday scenarios, Nostradamus, etc., were indeed a psy-op. The day will come and go, we'll all laugh at ourselves and think that everything is hunky-dory, and then, out of the blue, the S will hit the F and we'll all be dumbfounded and shell-shocked.

I can't say it's a prophecy, it's just the way I see it playing out.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Wow, what a powerful story, with a poignant ending. I haven't done an entry yet this month, but I will be entering one soon.

Nice imagery. You drew me completely out with the futility of it all. Flagged.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Dark. A well written narritive.

SnF, of course.

Well done.

reply to post by FissionSurplus


Read each word. And oh my was close to tears towards the end. I truly saw your words come to life, can you imagine knowing or worse not knowing about your relatives and loved ones many states away? At least in the story they had each other, that would be a comfort above all others in your scenario.

Excellent job best of luck to you in this contest.

S@F of course for you.

reply to post by Druid42


Thank you, Druid. As I remember, the other writing contest I entered last year, you were very supportive of me way back then, just like you are now.

You are a class act.

I look forward to reading your story when you post it.

reply to post by beezzer


Thanks, Beezzer. It is dark, but it is how I see it unfolding.

Right now, things are shaky in the stock market. Investors are selling off their stocks before next year's tax increase, and it is apparent that the federal reserve is propping up the market, so these big guys can get a good price for their stocks that they're unloading.

When they've sold their stuff, in a few weeks, more or less, expect a shock.

The dollar falling...well, that's only a matter of time. Could be next month, could be next year, could be in 10 years.

There's a real downside to watching the stock market every day. I wish my husband was still a data base administrator.

reply to post by antar


Thank you, antar. I really wrote it about me and my husband. It was semi-autobiographical, except that it hasn't happened yet....Let's hope it never does.

I have one child in California, and one in New York. I would be insane with worry if things really happened as I wrote them. My Cali child knows to get in her car and start back towards Texas. How far she would get, I don't know. The older one is military, her husband flies helicopters for the Army, so she may be able to get to me easier.

Hopefully other stories written will have a more positive tone. I have always had a sense of pathos in my life, which came from being raised by a grandmother and a father who were war refugees in Europe, WW II.

I love your story, mainly because it is very close to mine and the timing's almost perfect. S&F!

Very well done.

reply to post by ldyserenity


Aw, thanks Serenity. I look forward to reading yours! All the different stories and poems on this subject have been really fun to read.

loved it.. gives me a portion doom that I dont need to watch my tv anymore

Loved the story FS and the detail you put into it was incredible. SnF