Shifts

It was just another typical day as Henry Clarke sat inside watching TV. He had recently been introduced to Star Trek: The Next Generation by his Dad, and was almost through the 1st season already. He loved watching the closeness of the crew, and their gentle way with the other civilizations they encountered. It gave him hope that maybe someday this world might be just as civilized.

In the midst of watching the episode, Henry glanced outside longingly. Unlike some of the younger children, he still remembered playing outside. He remembered running through the sprinklers on the front lawn during the summer time, and throwing a football with his dad in the fall. He remembered most of all when kids could be carefree outside, and not have to worry about UV radiation or skin cancer. It had only been a few years ago when parents began being encouraged to keep their children out of the sun and outdoors as much as possible, but he was shocked at how fast it had taken hold. Now, almost no one went outside for extended periods of time. Even when you were heading out to get in the car, people ran to it.

Henry sighed and turned his attention back towards the TV. This episode was entitled “When the Bough Breaks”, and centered around a planet, Aldea, that had hidden itself for thousands of years. As the Enterprise and its crew were sailing by, it revealed itself to them, asking for their children on board. Unfortunately, due to an unknown factor, the people on the planet were unable to have children of their own anymore, and therefore their culture was in danger of dying. When the Enterprise refused to hand over its children, the civilization stole the children from them. At this part of the episode, the crew was struggling to find a way to get the children back without disrupting the civilization’s way of life, and also determine the cause of their infertility.

Suddenly, something in the episode really drew Henry in. Lt. Data and Dr. Crusher were explaining to Captain Piccard what the cause of the of the Aldean’s infertility was. It was in fact radiation poisoning, due to a weakened ozone layer.

“It is quite similar to what happened to Earth in the 21st Century.” Data informed the crew.

Henry choked on his drink. “What?” he thought to himself.

He looked back outside, then back to the screen. Had we known all along this was going to happen? Had we known for decades that this was a possibility? How is it that even a TV series from the 80s predicted what was going to come to fruition, but no one did anything about it?

Henry grew angrier and angrier. Ever since the fear of going outside had been passed around, he had felt a low bubbling anger for what could have been done to prevent this. He glared around the room, seething at the sofa he sat on, that could have been the grass beneath him, if only something had been done. How could they have let this happen?

“Henry, are you okay?” Henry’s mother Anne stepped into the room, looking at him cautiously.

“How could you do this?! How could you let this happen?!” Henry exploded at her.

“Sweetie, what are you talking about?” she asked, startled by her son’s unusual angry outburst.

He swung his arm towards the window and pointed angrily outside, “How could you take that away from us? You knew the ozone layer was weakening, but you guys kept polluting the atmosphere, and now we can’t go outside. You guys always talk about going on picnics or walking along the beach, and we can’t do that! It’s your fault! Where was your generation when it was most needed??”

Anne stared at Henry, wide eyed, unsure of how to respond. Henry threw the remote down on the sofa, and angrily thumped up the stairs to his room, slamming the door shut behind him.

Anne stood there processing what had just happened. Henry was usually so measured and kind; she’d almost never seen him that angry. However after thinking about it for a moment, she realized to some degree, Henry had some legitimate thoughts about what was happening with the ozone layer. How had she let her children grow up in a life where going outside was discouraged and feared? Where was her generation indeed?

She glanced outside, reflecting on countless memories of being outside in just a few moments. She realized some of her fondest memories had been while outside, playing with her younger sister Carrie in the summertime, spending hours outside. Anne teared up; how had she taken this piece of life away from her children? Why hadn’t she spoken up when she had the chance?

Charlotte Clarke walked into the high school, back pack on her shoulders, and her bagged lunch in her hand. Before heading to first period, she stopped by her locker. As her fingers absentmindedly spun through the combination on her lock, she looked at the locker two down from hers, and realized her friend Beth wasn’t there.

She looked down the hallway, and back the other way; still there was no sign of the usually early Beth. She did however see her friend Grace walking towards her, with a look of worry on her face.

“Hey, have you seen Beth today?” she asked Grace as she approached Charlotte’s locker.

Grace shook her head, “I don’t think she’s coming in today.”

“Oh? Why not?” Charlotte cocked her head slightly, worry beginning to tug at her lips.

Grace leaned in closer towards Charlotte’s ear, “It’s that time of the month again, she’ll be out for the next couple of days.”

Charlotte paused, remembering this had been happening for the last couple of months. After Obamacare was revoked years ago, it became harder for people to afford birth control. Beth took it for health reasons so her parents tried to continue to pay for it for years after, but it had become too expensive this year. It meant that Beth had to miss a few days of school every month because she was in so much pain, she was unable to come to school.

Charlotte sighed, “That poor girl. It must be awful.”

Grace nodded in solidarity, “I know. Lucky she’s so good at catching up.”

Charlotte nodded. “We should collect her assignments then, and bring them to her after school?”

Grace paused, fear slightly coming over her expression for a split second before she recomposed herself, “I can help gather assignments, but I have, uh, art work I need to work on after school today, so I can’t bring them to her like I usually do. Would you mind?”

Charlotte was confused by the fear she’d seen over her friends face for just that moment, but nodded just the same, “Yeah, it’s no problem! Just get them to me during 4th block and I can run them over after school.”

The school day went by like any other day, but Charlotte kept replaying Grace’s brief fearful expression in her mind. What was Grace not telling her? Soon enough the final bell rang, signaling the end of the school day. Charlotte went out to the parking garage attached to the school – this kept students out of the sun as much as possible – and jumped into her blue Subaru. With the quick press of the ignition button, the car roared to life. Charlotte carefully backed out of her parking space, and headed out of the parking garage in the direction of Beth’s house.

Beth only lived 10 minutes from the school, so it was a quick drive. Charlotte drove up on the familiar small white house, and parked in the pop-up tent garage reserved for visitors. Charlotte gathered Beth’s assignments and notes, exited her car and headed into the garage. She knocked on the door and almost immediately heard the small barking of the family’s beloved Corgi, Lorelei.

Beth’s mother, Kathy Brown opened the door. She looked surprised for a moment, but quickly smiled invitingly, “Charlotte! How are you?”

Charlotte returned the smile, “I’m good Mrs. Brown! I have Beth’s assignments and notes from today with me.”

Mrs. Brown smiled, “Well isn’t that nice of you! She’s very lucky to have such good friends. You’re welcome to come in for a moment! I’m not sure if Beth is up for having visitors just yet, but I’ll go check.”

Mrs. Brown stepped back into the house, leaving the door open for Charlotte to enter. Immediately Lorelei came bounding up towards Charlotte, jumping and begging for attention. Charlotte chuckled and stooped down lower so she could pet the small dog.

Mrs. Brown reappeared from the stairwell looking concerned, “She said she’s up for seeing you, but I’d make it brief honey. She needs her rest.

Charlotte nodded and thanked Mrs. Brown before heading up the stairs towards Beth’s room. Her door was slightly ajar, which Charlotte hesitantly pushed open.

Beth’s room had the shades drawn which was unusual. Charlotte had to wait a moment by the door to her eyes to adjust to the dark room. When they had adjusted more, she saw Beth lying on her bed. Here, she had a heating pad over her abdomen, a trash can near her bed, and was groaning quietly.

“Oh my God Beth!” Charlotte exclaimed.

Beth groaned, “Not so loud please.”

Charlotte hurried over to her bed, “Are you okay? What happened?”

Beth raised an eyebrow, “What do you mean what happened? This is my life every month. Nausea, dizziness, horrible cramps, yeah, being a girl rules.” she mockingly raised her fist towards the sky, then dropped it back on the bed meekly.

Charlotte scanned over her friends, worried, “No I know, but I didn’t know it was this bad!”

Beth sighed, “What can be done? My parents can’t afford birth control anymore, and I don’t blame them. It’s stupid expensive.”

Charlotte shook her head, “There has to be another way. How is it possible that it’s okay to deny you something that will help you function? This is ridiculous.”

Beth shrugged, “I dunno. It’s just life. Oh, mom said you brought my homework?”

Charlotte nodded, “Yeah, I have it right here. I’ll just put it on your night stand, is that okay?”

Beth nodded, “Thanks Charlotte, I appreciate it.” Then, Beth went rigid, “Charlotte, you’re gonna want to leave, I’m going to puke.”

Charlotte nodded quickly, and hurried called out as she was leaving her room, “Text me if you need anything else!”

As Charlotte closed the door, she heard the sounds of Beth retching into the trashcan in her room. She shook her head in dismay – how could this be allowed to happen?

She said goodbye to Mrs. Brown and headed back to her car. Once she got in, she sat there for a moment processing what she had just witnessed. Poor wonderful, bubbly Beth was essentially out of commission for a few days because the government had stopped aiding families in affording birth control, especially the pill. Beth’s family had tried to hold out even after government assistance was no longer an option, but it just got too much for them. So now, Beth had to be out sick once a month for at least a few days at a time just because the past government hadn’t recognized birth control not only as a contraceptive, but as a way to help people like Beth regulate and keep these horrible side effects at bay.

Charlotte shook her head once more as she started the car and backed out of the Brown’s driveway. As the drove home, she noticed the clear blue sky, and the wind as it gently whipped through the green trees along the road. She remembered her mother mentioning her brother Henry’s explosion over not being able to go outside, which irked her even more in this moment. Past governments ruined ways of life like Beth’s and everyone’s by not adhering to scientist’s warnings on climate change.

When Charlotte arrived home, she parked her car and angrily slammed the door shut. Her father, Steve, was standing in the garage watching Charlotte curiously as she got closer.

“Hey pumpkin, what’s stewing?” he asked.

“Why is it that the government gets to decided whether people receive care or not? Tell me that! Like Beth is in her room, in writhing in pain and doubled over puking her guts out because some guy in the past decided that birth control doesn’t need to be funded. Or how about the fact that we can’t go outside?? Henry and I remember what it was like to play outside before everything went down. And it’s all because people didn’t listen to science, and oop guess what? Science won out! God, what’s next?”

Steve stood there in shock as Charlotte stormed past him into the house. He gave a long exhale after a moment, trying to process the outburst Charlotte just had. It sounded a great deal like what had happened with Henry recently, and he wondered what suddenly was triggering all this anger. He knew it wasn’t without merit – it killed him that he couldn’t play outside with his children anymore, or that health options and plans weren’t as readily affordable as he once remembered them being. He sighed and went back to his woodworking, still pondering the events that had just unfolded before him.

Steve Clarke fast walked through the halls of the office, stealing quick glances of his watch, knowing it wasn’t going to make a difference; he was late for a meeting. He had spent more time than he’d meant to laying in bed, mulling over his daughter Charlotte’s recent explosion in the garage. He recognized some truth to her speech of course, it was terribly unfair that happy little Beth had to miss school for something that could have been treated, but he didn’t know where the sudden rage in both Charlotte and her brother had come from. His wife Jane was equally as puzzled.

“I mean of course it’s upsetting, but why now? Why both of them?” she had mused this morning.

Steve had shook his head, “I don’t know darling, I don’t know.”

Steve burst through the glass doors into the conference room, internally sighing with relief that the presentations hadn’t begun. He however still caught the disapproving look from his boss Luke as Steve hurriedly took his seat. He quietly apologized in Luke’s direction, which garnered a head shake and a slight eye roll, which Steve knew he deserved. As a senior executive, it did not look good to be late.

“Well, now I think we can started.” Luke said rising from his seat and heading towards the front of the room. “First of all, I’d like to welcome the newest member of our team, Adam Greene.”

As Steve clapped along with the rest of the room, he glanced around the table until he spotted Adam. Adam politely nodded, quietly thanked Luke, and the meeting continued.

After the meeting, Steve headed to his office. In the midst of answering emails, there was a knock at the door.

Steve paused what he was doing, “Come in!”

Steve’s secretary Lily poked her head in, “Is now a good time?”

Steve smiled, “Of course, come in!”

Lily entered and closed the door behind her, “You have a meeting at 1pm to go over marketing strategies for the next big release in September, a call with Mr. Gellar with Bross Publishing at 2pm, and your wife left a message reminding you it was your turn to pick Henry and his soccer team up from practice.”

Lily had been Steve’s secretary for 5 years now, and she was a wonderful employee. She was usually all business, easy to work with, and knew how to get things done. However, she also had this knack for learning things about all of the employees.

Wanting to get a beat on Luke, Steve responded, “Thank you Lily!” he hesitated briefly before asking, “So, have you met Luke?”

Her face fell momentarily before recovering, “Yes! I think he’s very nice. He comes highly recommended from Penguin Publishing!” Lily looked as though she wanted to say more, but held it back.

“Lily? What aren’t you saying?”

She hesitated before answering, “Well sir, I know why he moved here.” Lily paused again.

Steve raised an eyebrow curiously.

Lily drew in a breath, “Well, you see sir, it’s his daughter, Rose? She has down syndrome, and the middle school she was going to attend was not qualified to help her in school.”

Steve sat back in his chair, expelling his breath, “Wow, that’s too bad.”

Lily nodded sadly, “I mean can you imagine having to uproot your entire family because schools aren’t required to help those who need a little extra help? My God.”

Steve looked up at Lily and quietly replied “No, no I honestly can’t.”

Lily shook her head before recomposing herself, “Is there anything else you need from me Mr. Clarke?”

“No Lily, but thank you.”

She nodded before leaving and shutting the door gently behind her.

Steve sat back for a moment, thinking about having to leave a life behind just to get a good education for his children. He shook his head, poor Luke. Such a nice guy too.

What happened to everyone being entitled to a free, public education? What happened to all the programs for special needs kids, what happened to equality?

That sentiment surprised him. How was it he had gotten here, questioning America’s equality once again? It was the 21st Century for God’s sake, how was this still an issue.

He shook his head once more, and returned to his work, trying to put his wandering mind to rest for awhile. However, he kept hearing Charlotte’s last few words in her outburst echoing around in his mind, “God, what’s next?”

Charlotte was awoken by a buzzing sound near her head. She sleepily opened one eye, searching for the source of the buzzing. She quickly realized it was her phone and made a grab for it on, where it was perched on her bedside table. As she went to pick up the phone, she sensed something was off. Charlotte realized it was still dark outside, and her phone had buzzed as opposed to playing a song, meaning it wasn’t her school alarm. In addition, she also realized it was in fact Saturday. So who in Gods name was calling her?

“Hello?” Charlotte yawned into the phone. She heard someone crying on the other line in response.

“Hello?” Charlotte asked again, this time with more concern, “Who is this?”

There was a sniffle, “It’s Grace.”

“Grace, hi, what’s up? Are you okay?” Charlotte asked, rubbing her eyes and sitting up in bed. She glanced at the clock – 4:00 am.

“Char…Beth she’s…she’s…” then Grace burst into tears once again.

“Grace, what’s wrong with Beth? Is she okay?”

Grace cried harder on the other line, “No Char, she’s dead.”

Charlotte stopped breathing, suddenly wide awake, “W-what?” She couldn’t understand, Beth couldn’t be dead. She’d just seen her the other day after all, and while she was in a great deal of pain, she was still very much alive.

“Grace, that’s not possible.”

“Charlotte I’m so sorry, she is.” Grace sobbed into the phone. “She was in so much pain this morning. I was over at her house helping her catch up and sleeping over and I woke up to her screaming in pain. H-Her parents ran in, we got her in the car, and t-took off towards the hospi-pi-tal.”

Grace took a deep shaky breath, “W-We were crossing an intersection and a car came out of n-nowhere. There was blood, so much blood…” she trailed off, horrified in her thoughts.

This couldn’t be real. “But I just saw her Thursday,” Charlotte tried to reason mostly to herself.

Grace sobbed harder, “I know, I know Char. I can’t believe this is happening.”

Then a thought occured to her, Grace had been in that vehicle as well.

“Grace?”

“Yeah?”

“How are you doing? Like, are you physically okay?”

Grace sniffled, “Yeah. I have some bumps and bruises, but I was on the other side of the car.”

Charlotte nodded, “Well that’s good, I’m glad you’re at least okay.”

There was silence. “I’ve gotta go,” Grace said, “my parents just got here.”

“Okay” replied Charlotte, “Hey, I love you and I’m glad you’re okay.”

“I wish we were all okay.” Grace replied quietly.

The pair said their goodbyes, and then Charlotte was left in the dark quiet of her room. It was at this moment, she felt the realization hit her deep in her chest as she felt the weight of the news she had just been told – Beth was dead. She felt tears beginning to prick the corners of her eyes, which were quickly followed by sobs that wracked her entire body.

She would never hear Beth’s laugh again, see her familiar face in the hallways at school or watch as her name lit up on her phone. How could this have happened?

Charlotte realized she was still clinging to her phone. It were as if she were trying to cling to the last bit of Beth, as if she held on tighter, perhaps her best friend wouldn’t slip away.

Charlotte’s mom Jane came rushing into the room, “Charlotte, is everything o-Charlotte what’s wrong?” she quickly climbed onto Charlotte’s bed and pulled Charlotte near.

“B-B-Beth’s d-d-dead.” Charlotte choked out between sobs.

“What?” Jane asked.

Charlotte tried to take a deep breath, but it was instead shallow and shaky, “She’s d-d-dead. C-car accident. Beth c-c-called.”

Jane’s eyes widened in shock as she pulled Charlotte closer against her, “Charlotte sweetheart, I’m so sorry.”
Charlotte wrapped her arms around her mother, clinging to her and allowing the sobs to overtake her once more.

Jane looked around the unusually quiet dinner table. Her family sat in their respected places mostly poking at their food, not entirely sure where to look or what to say. Beth Brown’s dead had been a shock to the entire family, especially Charlotte. Her funeral had been earlier today which had been incredibly emotional for everyone. Jane would never be able to forget watching Kathy Brown cling to her husband sobbing while he kept an arm around her, trying to stay strong but allowing tears to freely run down his cheeks as they lowered Beth’s casket into the ground.

Charlotte suddenly slammed her fork against the table causing everyone to jump.

“This didn’t have to happen.” she said, anger pouring out of her voice.

“What do you mean dear?” Jane asked cautiously.

“Beth. Beth could be alive right now. If she hadn’t been in pain, they wouldn’t have been on the road. There’s a solution to it, we just can’t have it anymore because the government sucks.” she replied in a steely tone.

Jane listened to her words, knowing there was certainly some truth in them, but realizing something at the same time. Why had medication been the only option? Had they tried other herbal or natural remedies, like ones she had used earlier in her life? Or was medication deemed the only solution? She kept all this to herself, gears beginning to turn though. Perhaps, just perhaps, they were part of the problem too.

Jane began tearing up, “We could have helped.” she said very quietly.

Steve looked up slightly shocked and placed a hand over hers, “Honey, there was nothing we could have done.”

“Yes Steve, yes there was. Why didn’t we recommend older methods? Why are we so caught up in what we lost that we can’t see other solutions besides those that no longer available?”

Steve was caught off guard. He said nothing, but squeezed her hand reassuringly, still pondering her words.

Charlotte asked to be excused, and left the room also considering her mothers words. She pulled out a scrapbook from her shelf that her mother had made years previously. As the flipped through the pages, she saw the familiar pictures of Beth, Grace and herself all in 2nd grade. She saw pictures of their birthday parties, playdates and playing outside at recess. Charlotte lightly touched one image, where they were all playing outside on the swing-set in the nearby park. She smiled, allowing a tear to fall gently down her cheek reminiscing on the memory. How she missed those days, so carefree while they played outside.

While in the midst of reminiscing, she found herself thinking back to what her mother had just said, “Why are we so caught up in what we lost that we can’t see other solutions besides those that are no longer available?”

As she looked deeper into the photo, she saw the cars parked in the background. While it was a seemingly insignificant detail, she realized cars were a part of life, and perhaps a part of the problem. While it was easy to blame the generations before for their currently problems, she herself had not made any changes to make it better. For instance, she drove wherever she went, especially now that they weren’t supposed to go into the sun much anymore. She faintly remembered a news report speaking to the dangers of car emissions, which were partly to blame for the ozone layer weakening.

She sat back with her thoughts, astounded by this realization. Then, a feeling of hopelessness washed over her – if you’re not supposed to be outside, then you take a car. But if you use cars more often, it’s worse for the ozone layer.

What could she possibly do?