Getting Lucky

Imagine an existence where the one thing everyone lives to do, they could no longer do?

The beginning of the year seemed appropriate. What better time than all sorts of joyous celebration to bring about this sudden change in the single most important action to all of humanity. On the morning of the first of January, absolute scores of people failed to put in appearances at work or just seemed to no longer be at home. It was regarded as one of the most massive hangovers mankind had ever seen. In sparse locations, there was a missing persons alert issued. In hindsight, it appears missing children should have been the most concerning.  

But no one yet knew what was going on. 

On the second day, more people vanished. Suspicion would have dictated it must be a child abduction ring, but it was soon noted more adults were disappearing than children. There was a missing persons notice issued for a couple of politicians; two senators, a congresswoman. 

In the span of mere days, a multitude of mayors and governors vanished. Was the senator unhappy with his home life? No, because his wife vanished with him, as did the husband of any missing female politician. Those that were married and not single also saw their respective spouses disappear as well, leaving behind small children in many of these cases. 

Perhaps that should have been the second clue. But children vanishing and children being abandoned in their own homes were opposite ends of the spectrum. 

A serial killer of epic proportions. Hundreds of sex workers now joined the mysterious migration. Police were overwhelmed by pimps complaining about their employees disappearing while on a job. A couple of investigations determined the 'john' also took off. In each instance, all anyone could think was couples finding happiness with each other and running off together. 

No bank accounts were trifled. No change of money to a foreign account from someone who had vanished under an obviously assumed name. Every cent from every missing person was untouched. 

Unbelievable amounts of teen-agers vanished, never to be seen again. Eventually, whole families were gone over the course of time, except for anyone not yet a teen-ager. The world population was diminishing and they were barely a week into the new year. And nobody knew what was happening. 

In a small mobile home, Carmen Constance flopped on her couch and stared at the tv. She hit the remote, going through commercials and old movies. None she cared to see. She stopped on a news report about the disappearings. She listened to it a bit. So many famous people in Hollywood, actors and singers. Why would they leave behind their careers, she wondered.

Carmen sniffed discouragingly. She knew lots of people who had disappeared as well. She was surprised about some, just up and leaving their children. Things got so hectic and overwhelming, there was consideration of making people take charge of abandoned children, but Carmen couldn't do that, as much as she would have loved to. She wanted a baby of her own, but no man would come near her. She wasn't what any worthwhile man would want, and the men who did pursue her were hardly what she wanted. She'd never give those guys the time of day. She tried to be pleasant, but to no avail. 

"Hollywood starlet Mandy Willows has disappeared, . . . " the newsman said. 

Carmen looked at the still picture of Mandy behind the reporter. She'd seen Mandy Willows in some movies. She sure was pretty, Carmen thought. What man wouldn't want her? She could have any man she wanted and now she was gone. Who knows when she might turn up again. None of them seemed to be coming back from wherever they were going. She wished they would come get her and take her away from her filthy mobile home and just give her a better outlook on life. 

"Jim Danvers and his wife have expressed concern over the disappearance of their son and daughter-in-law, . . . " the newsman went on. 

Jim Danvers. Oh, Carmen thought to herself. How she used to love him on the old detective show he appeared on. What was it called again? Armed Law? No, Long Arm of the Law. She had such a crush on him back then, as did many women in the country. 

And now his son and daughter-in-law have vanished, leaving Danvers and his wife of thirty-eight years to see what they can do for their ten-year-old granddaughter. Carmen sure did love him back then, when he was on Long Arm of the Law. Now he was all white-haired. That sexy dark hair was long gone. 

Gone the same way his son was. The tv put up a picture of the younger Danvers, named Shane. Carmen looked at him and noted how much he looked like his dad, and how much he didn't. Probably why he didn't try to become famous like his father. Not as handsome. 

Carmen yawned and took a drink from her glass. Outside, she heard the howling of the dogs in the neighborhood, loud and rancorous. She wondered if there was an intruder in the area, since so many people were no longer around. Some mysterious figure might be creeping about her trailer. 

She stood and made her way to the window to peek through the blinds, see who might be out there. Anybody. Just somebody she might be able to make friends with. She wasn't lonely, she just thought maybe she should try to be nice to someone else, then maybe they would be nice to her. If she honestly thought that was what she wanted. 

Carmen frowned in disappointment at seeing the cause of the ruckus; the dogs were paired up, practically in the middle of the street. One dog behind the other with the rhythmic motion of his hind quarters. Carmen watched the spectacle, then suspected the owners of one of the dogs might have vanished and now the dogs were free to roam and do as they pleased. She wondered if they were hungry. She might try putting a bowl of water outside later, to see if they are thirsty and should wander over to her yard, as they seemed to be going where they wanted in the neighborhood. 

Carmen turned away from the window and looked back to the tv. The talker was saying some high price escorts had vanished in Los Angeles. Carmen looked at the picture of the woman on the tv with scorn, thinking about someone so beautiful living such a life, but also with envy that she herself couldn't do anything like that. She remembered she was going to get some water, in case the dogs became thirsty. And that was when one of the dogs gave out with a tremendous howl, excruciatingly shrill. 

Carmen stopped. She looked at the tv. She thought of everything she had heard a week into the new year. Celebrities, sex workers, teen-agers, parents leaving behind small children. 

And children. 

With the last prospect, Carmen put her hand to her mouth. That couldn't be it, she thought to herself. She heard the animals yelp outside one more time. She raced back to the window to see if they were still in the vicinity. They were still there, but were separated. The one still followed after the other. 

But they were still there. 

Carmen looked back to the tv, scrolling an info hotline. She sat back down and picked up her phone and began putting in the numbers. Patiently she listened to the rings. Finally someone answered. 

"Vanishing Hotline," a man with a deep, velvety voice said. 

Carmen choked back upon hearing the voice. She felt like she was making a prank call to a famous football player or something. Or to Jim Danvers. Imagine calling him. That shook her back to reality. 

"It's sex," she blurted out, sounding like a dirty-minded spinster who wasn't getting any. "People are vanishing when they have sex." 

There was a bit of fumbling at the other end, then Carmen heard the voice say, "sex, huh? What's your name, honey?" 

He was patronizing her. She wanted to hang up on him for doing that, but there was other matters people needed to realize than adolescent disagreements. She wasn't going to give him her real name, then she thought use her last name, but that might be a give-away as well, so she abbreviated it. 

"I'm Connie," she got out. It was still her, if and when everyone realized she was right, she'd get the credit, so they couldn't deny her and give credit elsewhere. 

"Okay, Connie," he began again, "you think people are disappearing when they have sex? All these missing teen-agers and children? That's pretty messed up, isn't it, Connie?" 

"But it happens," she told him. She was feeling bold now. "Children are victimized all the time sexually. And teen-agers start learning about sex and begin exploring."

She heard a chuckle. They didn't believe her. 

"Okay, Connie, stay on the line, hon," the voice said. But she didn't want to. She heard the dogs yelping outside again. She stood and gazed through the blinds to see they were just barely in her yard, more in the neighbors yard. A third dog seemed to be trying to join them. She hung up the phone and sat back down. She picked up the remote and turned off the tv. She could still hear the guy's voice on the hotline. 

"What do you know about sex, honey? You're not getting any. Oh, yea, that would be why you are still around, huh? LOL" 

Why did he have to be so mean? She just wanted to help, just like everyone else. She was concerned for what was going on. The dogs yelped outside, very loud and very high in pitch. 

"Lord," Carmen thought as she went to get a pan and fill it up with water. She quietly made her way to the kitchen and turned on the tap and took the full bowl to the front door. She set the water down on the sidewalk. The dogs looked like they were doing a circus act, all conjoined together. The lead dog made her way to the water, and one of the others shrieked. Carmen jumped. How embarrassing. 

Then she looked around the neighborhood. Hardly anyone was out there. This was the new normal, she thought to herself. If it was people vanishing because they had sex, that was obviously why she was still around. She turned and headed back inside. 

She didn't know why the dogs were still there, unless the departures were only affecting humans, not animals. Maybe because it is instinctive for animals. People say it is instinctive for humans, too, but humans can comprehend the consequences of such actions, while animals can't. Or animals do to a lesser extent. That would have to be for the scientists to figure out. 

She went to her room and reclined on the bed, gazing up at the ceiling. People disappearing when they have sex. Children being abducted by child molesters. What a horrible thought. So the predator had his way with the child, then they both vanished. 

What about all the teenagers? Young boys learning about exciting themselves, she wondered. So that must be doing it too. Anyone getting any arousal of any kind, with a partner or device or some other means, was gone immediately after. 

Carmen closed her eyes and fell asleep, never realizing her phone call had alerted the masses. 

The anonymous message to the Vanishing Hotline from 'Connie' had set off a firestorm. Stories of group sex and once a person or couple had reached gratification, they disappeared right in front of the people around them. Sometimes it was in an eyeblink, it seemed, or when eyes were closed and looked away, then turning back, both parties were gone. 

The same began to come to light for solo acts, male or female. Once climax was achieved, they were there no longer. 

When the exploitation of missing children got underfoot and the details in some instances were further realized, such as a step-father and his step-daughter who were missing, outrage ran amok. 

Right from the start, there were those trying to encourage bestiality, but regardless as the acts took place, the person vanished, while the animal, no matter what kind, seemed oblivious to the events. 

Everyone was trying to find a new alternative, something else to do to avoid sex. People were claiming they didn't have to touch themselves and could just concentrate to achieve sexual satisfaction. People would listen to see if they knew what they were talking about, before just even more of them would disappear. 

But the most telling aspect was those who were still there. Based on everything being realized, that would mean they hadn't had sex since the beginning of the year and the second week was now approaching. Everyone seen meant they were sexually unfulfilled since New Year's Day. Newscasters who had to report a field reporter or a weatherperson who vanished meant they departed in some form of intercourse, while the reporter offering the story had done without. 

Once word got out what was going on, everyone was faced with the decision of what they wanted to do; have sex or exist. Still there were vanishings. 

When discussion about the human race dying out if there was no option to recreate, this then caused people to wonder if artificial insemination was their only choice to keep mankind alive. Would the woman vanish who carries the fetus, or would she remain, able to give birth? 

Calls for possible volunteers went out and it seemed only the person who figured out what was going on, Carmen Constance, should be the first choice to test the procedure. Carmen had woke up and realized what she had done. The story of her seeing the dogs while listening to the newscasts and realizing what must be going on was now known worldwide. In some instances, she was regarded as a heroine. Would she be willing to offer herself for this procedure, with no one knowing what may come about? 

Carmen agreed. If this was the only way she could have a baby, she was up to it, and if it still caused her to vanish, so be it. 

She was asked if she had any candidate to be the father, since no man was able to father children any other way anymore. Carmen smiled and said she would like the operator who cajoled her on that phone call to be the father, whoever he may be, so their child would always stand as a reminder for how the man behaved and would not listen to the woman. This child would be the new product for humanity during this telling time. 

Carmen was truly surprised when the man turned out to be none other than Jim Danvers, the actor upon whom she had her childhood crush. He had been working the phones that day as a volunteer. Carmen couldn't believe she didn't recognize his voice. Obviously she just had other things on her mind. 

Danvers was glad to offer up his seed, in this truly difficult time. Since he couldn't produce anything the old fashioned way, nevermind that his days of sexcapades was long gone anyway, he had to undergo a medical procedure to gain what was necessary to father Carmen's child. Everything was set into order to have Carmen impregnated with the once-famous actor's offspring. 

People continued to vanish, by leaps and bounds. There were those who were just defiant at the notion of not being able to have any kind of physical stimuli. A government conspiracy, they said, then they were never heard from again. Famous last words. 

People were just beyond frustration at not being able to sexually satisfy themselves. Some nearly killed themselves with exercise, trying to expend all that drive out another way. Others resorted to the obvious cold showers. Others tried to diminish the desires with pills, medication. Still there were those who tried to drink themselves into oblivion, but that didn't work if they were then able to venture out and attack the first desirous one they saw. 

Children that remained were raised with an absolute warning that sexual satisfaction would lead to their disappearing from their homes, family, friends, never to be seen again. It seemed the only way to do this. No one had any other option. It all turned into 'do as I say, not as I do' when the adults would become so made with desire, they'd no longer be seen after warning children to abstain. 

The world had become an absolute monastery with what humanity survived. People resorted to all kinds of meditation and prayer to avoid delighting themselves in any way. They didn't know where all the others had gone, so they were afraid. No word was ever detected being from the vanished ones. Fortune tellers sought to trick people with false contact from the missing, but still any kind of sexual encounter caused people to disappear, whether they believed the seances and where they had gone or not. 

And still people vanished. 

While many people of all ages decided doing without sex was not worth living, so they found a like-minded partner and they both disappeared after complete and total satisfaction, there were elderly people who decided they too were ready to depart. Speculation about possible necrophilia began emerging, a spouse dying first, so the other person would do what they could to join them, but oftentimes as not, only one corpse would be found in the household. 

It was widely speculated Jim Danvers and his wife may have done it this way, but that neither he nor his wife's body were ever found again seemed to suggest they were still alive and decided it was time for them to go. Didn't seem to give much regard to their granddaughter, however. 

Carmen had her baby. Some people speculated the baby, a girl, would be the miracle child they needed, as she was the offspring of the person who grasped what was wrong. Carmen figured out what the problem was, now the child would grow up and divulge the solution. 

Carmen didn't live to see the daughter she named Jane grow to adulthood. Whatever the cause, perhaps by her having the child with no partner present in her presence to share the experience with, she just couldn't maintain her composure and drive. Maybe the pregnancy was just too much for her. No matter. Her work was done. 

Carmen Constance became one of the very few persons to die without ever having experienced sex. Her funeral was attended by whatever of the population managed to show up. They actually had a body to bury. 

Jane grew up in this misbegotten world. The necessity of artificial insemination had taken hold. Often times the necessary surgery to retrieve semen from any contributing youth had to be done as soon as possible, should they give in to their human lusts and be around no longer. Males tended to vanish more than females, it was noted, but still it was a miracle if anyone, male or female, lived to be 19. there were those, however with enough fear and intimidation in their childhood years who grew up with virtually no sexual encounters. It was rather equated with never sticking their hand in a fan blade either, but they didn't want to do that, either. Sex was now the ultimate forbidden taboo if you wanted to live. 

And no sign ever emerged of what happened to all the people who did have sex. Years spanned into decades and this physically isolated existence became the norm. People still married, but there suddenly became no reason to share a bed. 

The old image of parents sleeping in twin beds became popular and preferable. Still, a wife or a husband suddenly contending without the loved one who must have had sex in an adulterous liaison managed to occasionally happen very often. The realization is difficult to comprehend their partner would rather have sex with another instead of them. Or maybe it was a sacrifice, to keep the surviving person around as they could no longer control their wanton cravings. 

Divorce became virtually non-existent. What was there to divorce over? No one could find a person whose bedroom they would rather share with much more exciting twin beds. 

Jane decided it was time for her to have a baby and resort to artificial insemination. She wanted to feel a bond with someone, anyone, that she knew was physical since no other attachment seemed obtainable. She requested her donor, a young man she had known from her childhood, which was often the case, and became pregnant. As she progressed through her pregnancy, she speculated on how the procedure was done once before, by generations past. Her parents had not engaged in sex, and now neither did she. She saw no need to marry the father, tho other couples were still persisting with matrimony, for whatever reason. 

Jane gave birth to a son. She held the little boy in her arms and marveled at the birthing experience, from what she understood as others had told her. She wondered if it was the same as giving birth after a natural conception. She named her son Brad. The father never showed up to see his son, for whatever reason, if he was still about. 

Brad grew up with the passing years, every bit as normal as any other child had been. Jane wondered what she would tell him when he was older, especially about sex. As was now the practice, children, especially boys, were potty trained, then explicitly warned about holding themselves while urinating. They were told if they wanted to live to see another day, they had to do so with extreme caution. 

Brad listened to what his mother instructed him, but there was always the curiosity in his head. When people he grew up seeing were suddenly no longer around, the explanation was offered up that they touched themselves too much. 

Brad become a teen-ager and was completely unaware of any human encounter. He looked at girls as a curiosity, and many of them did the same. When he asked his mother about it, she would simply instruct him not to touch himself when he urinated. 

One evening during dinner, Brad noticed how his mother seemed very sad. She was staring at her son, growing into a handsome young man. He did look like his father, whom Jane had never spoken to Brad about. Why bother? Brad would never meet him. 

"Remember, Brad," she said suddenly, rather startling him in the process, "never touch where you urinate, unless it is to urinate, and if at all possible, not even then." 

Brad looked at his mother and didn't move. What a strange thing to have said at the table. Then he noticed she was crying. 

"What's wrong, Momma?" 

Jane shook her head and bowed her face. She stood from her chair and slowly walked out of the room. 

"Momma?" 

Brad watched her as she walked outside into the dark night and slowly made her way far into the coverings of trees and shrubbery, until he could see her no more. Brad wondered if he should go after her, but decided not to. She was probably going to urinate, he thought. Every indication Brad could manage told him not to follow her. Brad went to his room and prepared for bed. He stretched out on the mattress until he was sound asleep. 

He never saw Jane again. 

As her mother, Carmen, had become an enigma by actually passing away and not vanishing, so then did Jane become a question mark. No body was ever found. What did she do? Did she self-satisfy herself? Did she sink herself in the lake in the destination she was heading? Again, no body was ever discovered. Maybe she wandered into a cave and just kept making her way down into the cavernous territory. 

Now Brad was alone. He had been taught the practice if he wanted to have children, about being chosen by a willing female. There were a few prospects and Brad had been introduced to what the procedure would involve, as well as for the female who bore his child. He wondered about his own father who, for whatever reason, Brad had never known, not even a name. 

Some girls made requests to have Brad's child, but Brad had already undergone the necessary steps to see to their needs. He didn't even have to be around. Brad made his way down that same final path his mother had taken that night and kept going, never getting a hint of where she might have gone. Finally he stopped and sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. He wondered about what his father had meant to his mother, and now he was to be a father himself. These girls, three as a matter of fact, felt Brad was the most suitable candidate to meet their needs. Brad would father at best three children. 

The sun was so hot, Brad peeled off his shirt, placing it between his back and the tree. He thought about what his father must have thought about his own child one day coming into the world. Would he have been pleased with Brad? 

"Brad? Brad?" 

It was one of the girls who wanted his child. Brad watched her a bit. It sure was hot. She wanted to have his child, so what on Earth was she doing out here with him? That wasn't the way to do it. She was a heavy-set girl, making her way through the brush. Brad watched every movement of her curvaceous body make its way through the trees. 

"Brad?" 

The way she said his name just seemed to make the sun even hotter. She moved through the limbs and branches and vines looking so helpless and confined, just a lost little waif making her way about where she shouldn't even be. A vine encircled her breasts and she had to pull at it and fight with it to make it set her free. 

The sun was so hot overhead. Brad didn't think he even knew her name, this mother-to-be of his offspring. He inhaled heavily, gritting his teeth and let out a groan that caused her to look in his direction. 

"Brad?" she said, still pulling the small foliage out of her way as she now turned to draw near to him, but all Brad could see was her. 

She took a few steps to get closer where Brad was situated and now she saw what was going on. Brad only saw her shocked expression, her mouth open with a gasp, her eyes grew wide in astonishment. She reared back and her breasts heaved in the air as she did so, and that was all Brad needed. He writhed on the ground, his legs kicked out, he gasped for air before he realized his hand had been unquestionably busy in his shorts as he watched this young girl's body move through the woods. He finally managed to ease up from what he was doing, only when he was done. He looked at his results to see what he had done, then looked back to the girl. 

"I've broken myself," he said to her, rather frightened. She looked at him, too, with a horrified expression on her face. 

"Brad," she said nervously, "Brad, that's how people had sex a long time ago." 

"It hurt," Brad replied. "Why do I feel this way?" 

"I think it is because you are about to disappear," she said tearfully. 

Brad looked up at her and saw the fear in her face. He continued take breaths. Gradually, they became lighter and lighter. 

"What is this on my hand?" 

"I don't know," she said, reaching into her pocket to hand him a tissue. "Does it still hurt?"

"No," Brad said, wiping at his hands. "I'm still here, aren't I? I haven't disappeared?" 

"No," she said. "You're still here."

She helped Brad to his feet as he straightened up his shorts and picked up his shirt. He was about to toss the tissue away, but decided he needed to offer it up for examination to determine what happened. He stuffed the tissue into his pocket. 

"Let me help you put your shirt on." 

Brad waved her off. 

"Still too hot. Way too hot." 

She held Brad's arm, ready to hold him up, if necessary, after whatever he had done to himself. 

"I wonder what that was?" Brad said. 

"Do you hurt, like you broke something?" 

"No," he answered. "In fact, I feel fine. I might be mistaken, but . . . . it seems you had something to do with whatever happened." 

He began laughing and she joined in with him. 

"I think . . . . maybe . . . . I broke the restriction on sex," he said. "For whatever reason, I may be the first person to have been orgasmed and not disappear."

"You think you orgasmed?" she asked. 

"I don't know," he said. "We'll just have to go find out when we get back."

She walked along with him back out of the surrounding trees and approached his home. 

"Aren't you wanting to have my baby?" he asked. 

"Yes," she replied. 

They walked a bit more. 

"Shouldn't I know your name then?"