Inertia

• Tess Botham-Barnes, Grade 10
• Short Story
• 2018

They did not know what it was at first, but eventually they started referring to it as ‘Inertia’ due to the state of stillness they entered. At first it only affected few, the general proportion of the public ignored it, not thinking it was anything that they needed to concern themselves with. Then it started affecting their families; mothers and fathers would fall into a dreamlike state, eyes gazing upward at nothing, bodies in a state of paralysis. Many mistook it for death, but if you were to gently press two fingers to the smooth skin of their neck you would still feel the placid thud of their heart beneath your fingertips.
The religious thought that God was punishing them for being negligent to the state of the planet, leaving their bodies unconscious but their minds wide awake, the most horrific form of torture; leaving people awake but unable to move or react to things happening around them. The others thought it was a disease, but not even the smartest of the population could figure out what went wrong, working hard to help but eventually they, themselves gave into the dark cavernous hole that enveloped their minds, one at a time.
Slowly the world became quiet, not a noise to be heard but the gentle whisper of the wind or the rustle of an animal sniffing at their owners wondering when they would awaken... None ever did. Eventually hunger overtook the bodies of 8 billion people and they ceased to exist, even when their mind was still receptive. They were in a vague state of what many could refer to loosely as anesthesia awareness. They could not move, but they could still feel. Still feel the way that hunger gnawed at them, the way thirst parched their deserted throats. Crying out for someone to help them but the help never came.
Slowly the world returned to its state of originality. Ridding itself of the disrespectful beings who exploited all of the resources it so graciously provided, getting nothing in return but non-disposable items tossed into places they thought would never be found again. Items strangling and maiming the creatures of the sea and air, struggling for breath wrapped in a curtain of plastic and garbage wishing things would return to the way they were before these creatures of selfish means overtook, thinking the world beneath them. Eventually their pleas were heard, after the years of signs the Universe provided, telling these Creatures it could not take any more of their abuse until it was at the edge of disrepair. It had to rid its surface of the individuals it had spent myriads of years trying to help.
Now the wind blows with no smell of burning coal. The animals wander without walking towards their slaughter. The world thrives with creatures and critters who respect and love the very place which gives them life.
They understand its limits.