The Fallout | Teen Ink

The Fallout

May 20, 2009
By RMSW11 BRONZE, LaFollette, Tennessee
RMSW11 BRONZE, LaFollette, Tennessee
2 articles 0 photos 2 comments

It has been six months since the bombs were dropped on our major cities and life in Campbell County has certainly changed. Life has turned into a game of survival and no one is playing fair. I’ve watched people fight each other over a can of food. I’ve witnessed numerous deaths, and I’ve seen families torn apart at the seams.

Our society is gradually going downhill as we are being deprived of the things we became so reliant upon. Transportation no longer depends on a machine; it depends on man alone. Food is growing scarcer every day that passes. The people here have heavy hearts and tired eyes. The face of adversity is staring deeply into our souls, showing us no compassion, and stealing our pride.

In a church nearby, there is a humble congregation gathered for Sunday service. Echoes of delicate optimism and cold Hallelujah’s fill the room. Hope lingers here, but it is timid. The adjustments we have made here as a result of this hardship are transforming us into a different people than we were before. We have taken so much of what holds this civilization together for granted. It is time to reestablish ourselves. A bomb is a powerful thing.

The author's comments:
This piece was an assignment for my English class. We were instructed to write a paper describing how life as we know it would change if bombs were dropped on all of our major cities. My goal was to give the reader a personal and evoking mental image of life and the devastation we might face. A good read: By the Waters of Babylon by Stephen Vincent Benet. His piece beautifully elaborates on this theme, the dangers of the modern world, and our dependence on it.

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