The Ladies of Horror
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A Time to Come 
by Marge Simon 

Children know a great deal that never gets heard. There was one who had bad dreams of a time to come. Soon something from the sky would happen and the world would become very cold and many people would die. He couldn’t say what it was because he didn’t know anything about astronomy. Besides, he was only ten, and though he spoke carefully, his voice was high and people laughed. Yet there were a few who heard …

We listened. We did study the heavens, and agreed, though most learned astronomers were not convinced.  We formed a group estranged from society, living apart in the hinterlands. We watched the world go insane, the fracking, the incessant noise of drilling, laying waste to the last great forests. Worst of all, destroying habitats, which made us sad. We did not bother caring about the governments of the cities. We knew that part would eventually end, so we planned.

In our hidden laboratory, we practiced genetic manipulation. Babies were born with a heavy layer of protective fat. They were to become adults with hair as thick as a bison’s and would be able to breathe thin, freezing air without their teeth exploding. We rejoiced that we could save what remained. With the predicted cold, a new earth we would cherish — a place where, like the Inuit tribes, a wiser humanity could survive.

But despite our meticulous experiments, our children did not live past three years of age. The child who told of bad dreams was now a man. He wept with us.

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Fiction © Copyright Marge Simon
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com 

More from Marge Simon:

Cast from Darkness
by Marge Simon and‎ Mary Turzillo

Cast from Darkness is another triumphant collaboration between award-winning Speculative poets, Marge Simon and Mary Turzillo.

The poetry includes themes running the spectrum of the speculative genres and forms ranging from the haiku through many nuances of vere libre to the prose poem.

Available on Amazon!