Anna+T.+Vignette

I remember the day it happened. The day that the dams just broke and all of that extra water that everyone was hoping would just go away, flooded the entire city, the city that used to be Memphis Tennessee.

I am thankful every day that I am not human and could just fly into the air as the water tore through the city, destroying everything in its path. Being a bird, I have the best view of the effect that the flood has had on the people of Memphis. It has turned brother against brother, as not only was there devastation from the water but also from the previously unknown, G87 virus.

After the city was quarantined, I watched as the personalities of the humans changed from selfless to every man for himself. In some cases there were groups, almost tribes, which stuck together with unyielding loyalty. At first everything seemed to be working out, until there was a shortness of supplies, and tribes turned on each other. One tribe, known as the Elite, was made up of Memphis’s wealthiest families. They had enough supplies to survive on and the minds to create what they did not have. The children of these Elites all went to school and were taught new ways to survive in this new world. They were being trained to take over their parents’ newfound roles of power. I watched these kids being taught to forget about their old friends, because they were in other tribes and were obviously not as good. On one occasion I heard a conversation between a six year old child and his mother, go as follows:

“Mommy, why can’t I play with my friends anymore?” asked the boy. “Forget about them. You wouldn’t understand their way of thinking. They are not as civilized as we are here, and you need to make new friends darling. They were never really your friends anyway” She replied. “But I-” “No! They are not the same as you and me!” The mother finished, in a slightly higher pitch and with a much redder face than when she started.

This was when I wondered to myself, “What is it like in other places of the world. Has it all come down to how much money you have or how powerful your parents are? Are there still some who believe the old ways? And then, I left this city of destruction and evil behind and went in search of love and of kindness, never looking back.