Tipping Points: A Short Story
A near-future world where climate change makes every decision critical.
Stepping out of the municipal building, Olivia stared down at the certificate. Proof that she had done everything right after Nana’s death. Immediate notification to the authorities. A short, impersonal service the following day. Her grandmother immortalized on a communal headstone, above a communal hole in the ground. It was the way it had to be now. Too many people were dying, and there were not enough resources to do things the old way.
With little left to govern in a world where the infrastructure was crumbling, such governments that remained were still quite particular about the correct disposal of dead bodies. Why they were so concerned, when the water, air and soil were all contaminated beyond redemption, Olivia did not know. Perhaps because bureaucracy, as an anachronism, clung to the eternal sureties of death and taxes.
Despite being only nine-thirty in the morning, the temperature was already at an uncomfortable level as Olivia hurried home. There was no-one around as she walked. There had been a few folks out earlier, walking dogs or gardening before the heat became too much. A car passed, startling her as she crossed the main road, the only sound its tires whispering against the pavement. To keep her mind…
