no idea what he
was going to do now that her V card was going to be swiped. Her
mother always told her to wait. The longer you wait, she said, the
longer they stay. Kurma closed her eyes as she felt Santino undo
her clothes.
He touched her skin softly
and maneuvered himself on top of her. Their kissing was deep; Kurma
had forgotten how she loved to kiss Santino. He made this feel so
right even though she knew she was doing it for the wrong
reason.
The love between them
generated a heat as the pressure mounted. Santino and Kurma were
making love…and unknowingly planting a seed. However, the earth
knew the seed would grow into a child who would grow into an adult,
and that adult would create more children to bear more children.
The earth’s core cracked at the exact moment Santino impregnated
Kurma. The
earth was tired and crumbling in on itself. It needed an answer to
the source of the problems it was experiencing. The earth needed an
answer to the overpopulation.
*
Crack , crack , crumble , splash , crack , grind , d rip , crack . The earth crumbled and softened in places as the pressure
from above ground continued to burden its inner iron core. It bent
and corroded as the outer core heated to catastrophic level. The
pressure shifted the earth’s outer areas as well, causing the
mantle to crack and crumble as the crust ground to dust, making it
unsuitable for living.
For its own preservation,
the earth released chemicals and toxins into the atmosphere. The
toxins would transmute human DNA so a new species could be
created—one that would be at the top of the food chain and decrease
the human species by slowing, stopping, and reversing the rate of
its expansion, and the loss of land. Earth chose evolution to deal
with its demise. And it all began with Kurma and
Santino.
3.
Let the species say
Amen
The two lovers lay
shoulder to shoulder with the covers drawn over them. Looking up at
the ceiling, Santino was quietly pleased with himself. He wondered
if it would be too much to ask to go again, especially since they’d
forgotten to use protection. Kurma had gone quiet when Santino had
pointed this out to her.
“ Heat of
the moment,” he had said. “Don’t be mad, alright? I just got caught
up in everything.” He looked for her response. There was none.
“You’re quiet. Too quiet.” He began to feel awkward. He grabbed
Kurma’s face and asked, “You’re not mad at
me?”
In a rush Kurma pulled her
face from Santino’s hand and made a run for the bathroom. “I feel
sick,” she screamed.
Why was she acting weird?
Santino wondered, then tried to sit up, but immediately caught a
head rush. “Oh,” he said. Something was in the air—an odor, but he
had never smelled anything like it before. The more he tried to
breathe in, the tighter his throat became. White and blue dots
popped out before his eyes, and he felt even more lightheaded.
Gasping for breath he tried to call out to Kurma, but to no avail;
his smooth voice was gone, and only a rasp emanated from his
throat. His body tangled in the covers as he tried to signal his
brain to work. That smell, it was everywhere. He couldn’t
concentrate on anything else. The noise outside had disappeared,
the lights had dimmed, and time seemed to stand
still.
And then he felt it. The
blood drained from his face—a painful feeling, as if he were upside
down for too long. His heart quickened then slowed to a deadly
pace, and his breathing slowed even more. The first thing he
noticed was his hands: the tips of his fingers had become a dark
purplish blue. The blood must have drained from there
too.
All of a sudden the smell
changed to something familiar, something irony and cold yet piquant
and earthy. His breathing evened out, but his throat felt
desiccated. Santino felt funny, weird, out of sorts. What was wrong
with him? Why were his fingers blue?