The Future of the World or the World of the Future?

What does the future hold for the world?

"THE FUTURE OF THE WORLD, OR THE WORLD OF THE FUTURE?"

That was the title of the book which Maddie found in a Hampstead second-hand book shop. With people milling around her, she could only glance through it. But on that spring afternoon, with the sun shining, what she read in that book sent a chill through her young body:

"We live in an age of untold prosperity", the author (who was he? she wondered. She'd never heard of him). "But the future looks grim. One day soon the totally unexpected will happen. Our prosperity will collapse overnight, simply because we spend and waste too much. The result will be economic chaos, and then mass unemployment. That will lead to a war, the like of which we have never seen above, and as a result of that war there will be weapons with which one person could destroy the world at the touch of a button.
"That in turn will lead to another age of prosperity, which in turn will come to an end in the same way as ours will . . ."

Maddie closed the book, which she'd bought, and looked down at the young girl in front of her. "Where did you read that, great-grandma?" the girl asked. "It's the same as what is written in my school history textbook."

"I know, darling, I know", Maddie replied, her old voice trembling. "I bought this book in 1925".


Michael Clifford

www.ten-minute-stories.com

Reviews

[J.L Hunter]

I enjoyed that greatly. The fate of the world at it's current momentum is staggeringly terrible, and it's nice to hear about those things in such a small but fascinating piece. Thank you.

[patricia]

That was good, nice ending! Thanks

[KateJadzia]

It's amazing how you put one live time in such a short story.
I like that.