When the Cities Died, I Danced

Speculative Fiction Modern Parables

A couple of days after the cities died, I was there. Dancing.

Whether it was appropriate or not, there was no one around to care.

I had things to celebrate and this was my way.

Because I and my family were still alive. And perhaps it was a wake for those who weren't.

It wasn't a sad occasion, but joyous.

I made the trip on my recharging electric pedal-bike. Pedal up hills and go as fast as you can down in order to recharge. Meanwhile, you get a lot of exercise. Fresh air and all that. Some sunshine, but not too much.

There's so much to take in about what happened.

That was probably another reason I was out there dancing.

It took months to figure out what happened. The common description was the dark times, or Dark Age. Whether people wanted to call it a New Dark Age or Second one, depending on how optimistic they were about our future.

And it was too easy to blame several generations of politicians and what they used to call the "miltary- industrial complex." Very little of either left around these days.

Another reason to celebrate and count your blessings. And dance.

What some people have pieced together is that hypersonic ICBM's with multiple warheads were launched simultaneously by everyone who had them. They had clusters of neutron bombs that were detonated in the atmosphere, leaving little destruction, but killing all life.

It stunk for several weeks, but that was about it.

Oh, and any electronics died, too. Forget your "smart houses." And Internet. Gone in a literal flash.

But only in bigger cities. That's all they had to hit. When 90% of your people cluster up together in areas that are just a few miles across, they are easy targets.

The bombs were pretty smart, though. They were designed to leave things standing, untouched. Only the people and their pets and any wildlife were eliminated. The buildings were left untouched.

That first time I danced, I only had to make sure I was upwind.

Nature was hurt, but it continued.

I don't know that it was really that "dark" an age. It wasn't like we didn't have lights. Actually, things got back to a new normal pretty quickly. Because the people who survived the attack were pretty independent and used to making do on their own. Farmers, mostly. But some "townies" as well. So we had people who could run stores and make things and grow food.

That was my reason for dancing. I was thankful. Grateful. To be alive. To have my family. To be able to enjoy this earth.

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Another new release by C. C. Brower. Also contains flash fiction "My Vacation on Calypso".

Don't miss the excerpt from her new novel, "The Hooman Saga"

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