NOVEMBER 26, 2020

Final Cut

“Final Cut” is my final story for the The Word Count Podcast.

After ten years of helming the show, Richard Wood has shut it down to pursue other projects. It’s been an amazing run.

This is episode #100 based on the image below, representing humans of the future.

STORY INSPIRATION: I was neither optimistic nor pessimistic when I wrote this story. It originated out of a sense of pragmatism … or perhaps resignation.

At the time, the vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna had not yet been announced. Parts of the world were already in the dreaded “second wave.” Canada was headed in the same direction. Even though we’d known about this possibility for months, we did not do enough to prevent it.

And so here we are.

As I publish this today, we are in a lockdown like we were back in April.

You can also listen to me reading “Final Cut” on episode 100 of R.B. Wood’s podcast.

Thank you Richard, it’s been an amazing run.

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Bobby clutched his right hand against his chest, breathing heavily as his sneakers pounded the pavement in a sprint for his life. The clumsy tourniquet he’d made from a T-shirt was completely soaked. A woman was walking toward him. He could tell she was trying to meet his eyes, hesitant in her gait, sidestepping first to the right, then to the left, then she just stopped.

He clipped her shoulder as he flew by. “Sorry!” he yelled. He didn’t slow down or look back. “I have to get to the hospital!”

“Run!” the woman said. “Run!”

And run he did. When his vision blurred, and he began feeling light-headed, he knew he was in trouble.

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The year is 2051. Scientists have learned a lot from the survivors of the Great Pandemic of 2020. The virus that killed close to a third of the world’s population, also wiped out Russia, North Korea, and parts of China from the map. Marine life had all but disappeared due to climate change. Food security for the rest of the world remained in jeopardy, and yet … humans were living longer than ever because of an important discovery made during that pandemic.

The clue was found in the blood of seemingly healthy people who died from blood clots that resulted in organ damage to their kidneys, hearts, and brains. And then there were those with pre-existing conditions like alcoholism who continued to live. How was it that a respiratory virus could affect the vascular system? And what was the solution?

In a word—tannins.

The history books recorded that those who survived were wine drinkers. Those who died were not. Once this was detected, scientists set out immediately to harvest blood plasma containing tannins. In the meantime, they encouraged people to drink wine—in moderation, of course. Though, it would seem human beings never did moderation very well. The world went into immediate turmoil. Wine flew off the shelves. Religious abstainers started drinking. Parents fed wine to their young children. Hoarding of cases of wine caused chaos and supply shortages. In those crucial years following the pandemic, as many people died from alcohol poisoning as they did from the virus. While all this was happening, climate change continued to decimate the production of grapes.

It took almost a decade before scientists working with teams of chemists, agriculturists, and vintners were able to harvest blood with a safe combination of tannins, red and white blood cells, and platelets. People lined up for this super plasma, as it was called, because it also didn’t require compatibility with the recipient’s blood type. This in itself was an historic advancement for medical science. It meant transfusions were now accessible for everyone.

Still, it wasn’t perfect.

Humans were living longer, but in nearly thirty years of continuing research, one thing could not be resolved. People had come to accept this flaw because they felt safe again. They were able to converge without fear. They travelled freely so long as they’d had the super blood transfusion. Immunity and longevity were benefits that far outweighed a small imperfection. At least, that was how it was sold to the citizens of the world, anyway.

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Julia scrolled the daily newsfeed on her laptop. She read that the oldest living man is 125 years of age and resides in Japan. A picture of him showed no hair on his head but his beard fell down to his ankles. In another shot, he had the beard wrapped around him like a thick scarf. The oldest living woman was 119. She made her home in Hungary. A blurry photo showed her long scraggly hair pulled up in a bun. Some pictures revealed her hairy armpits too. She said the secret to her longevity was she didn’t own a razor.

Julia scrunched her nose.

Was it really necessary to report all the hairy details? she wondered.

She continued reading the local news when a familiar face appeared on her screen. It was the man who had bumped into her a few days ago, the one who was running to the hospital. A pit formed in her stomach when she read the headline: “Man’s Death Could Have Been Prevented.”

She sighed, not from relief, but because she dreaded these types of stories, the ones that were supposed to teach the reader a lesson without overtly appearing to do so. He was probably her age, just trying to live life the way he used to—more or less normally. With his buzz cut hair and clean-shaven face, she knew he was a rebel, so even though she didn’t really want to, she took a deep breath and read the article:

Bobby Williams, aged 62, succumbed to his injury, a cut he sustained while chopping food. A celebrated chef prior to the pandemic, he received the super blood transfusion a year ago and continued to use the sharp instruments of his trade. He also maintained shaving and had his hair cut in underground barber shops.

As doctors have warned time and again, recipients of super plasma risk death if they are not careful with instruments such as scissors, razors, and knives.

The smallest cut can prove fatal as clotting is no longer possible.