I look at you, brown little baby squirming underneath the blanket, and am overcome with an eclectic mix of emotions, ranging from happiness to dread, wonder to melancholy, and from feeling blessed to feeling enraged. You have nothing to do with what I feel right now, but your entry into this accursed world changes everything.
You are going to bear the torch on behalf of the human race, going forward. It is going to be a lonely journey for you as you grow up. You will go to play school, but there will be no one to play with. You will be looked at with curiosity and astonishment by everyone you pass. Some might even get angry on seeing you. After all, your presence will only make them confront their personal failures and make them angry at themselves, and in turn at you. As a result, you will find yourself surrounded by gun-toting security force every waking minute of your life.
You will be subjected to a lot of medical tests, scores of doctors and scientists will pore over every living cell in your body and analyse everything that comes out of you. You can take solace from the fact that I will be a part of this team of lab-coat clad bastards who’ll be monitoring every beat your heart makes and every breath your lungs take.
You will grow up realizing that you are not like others around you. You will be shorter and stockier. Your forehead and nose will differ from everyone else. Maybe, you’ll be smarter than everyone or maybe you’ll not. It will not matter.
At some point, you’ll resent being born. You will place the blame squarely on my chest for bringing you into this children-less world. You’d never believe me if I told you that I am not your father, but it’s true and I can prove it. Your father has been dead for at least fifty thousand years. My dear baby boy, you are the first live Neanderthal in fifty millennia.
You see, some two hundred years ago, a deadly virus plagued us, the Homo sapiens, and left all the male fragment of our species sterile. The idiots we were, drunk with our own delusions of grandeur, didn’t even realize that something had gone awry for the first few decades. It was China’s removal of the limitation on the number of children allowed per family that set alarm bells ringing. That, and the sudden increase in the number of fertility clinics all around the world which made us understand that there was a very real possibility of humans facing extinction unless we rallied fast.
And rally we did! Over the last hundred years, we have done some outstanding work in genetics. We have discovered the cure for most diseases, we have slowed down ageing and our work on artificial insemination is truly ground-breaking. We have enough nanobots swimming inside each human that would put the viruses to shame. We have also made huge strides in human parthenogenesis, the process of asexual reproduction in which the embryos are developed and grown without fertilization, though success is still few decades away.
We have tried all the tricks ever known to us and every trick we could conceive. Nature has a great way of bringing its creations to heel. Yes, I’m talking about the sixth extinction. It is very real and it is right around the corner. Every male child born through artificial insemination turned out to be sterile as well. A world filled with fertile women and sterile men cannot exist for long. Forget about biology, I’m talking about us, the men, losing our alpha status in the society. The world has not been a very comfortable place over the last few decades because of this very reason.
That’s where you come in, my greatest accomplishment and our species’ salvation. I’m sure you’d grow up and ask me one day why there aren’t more of you around. I have no definitive answer for that question. Your species were around for thrice the amount of timescale than that of ours. Yet, some fifty thousand years ago your father and his kinfolk ceased to exist. Was it because the Homo sapiens absorbed the Neanderthals as they multiplied or was it because that my forefathers committed a mass genocide of yours? If the latter is true, it will be a great way to even the scores. That the future of the human race being entrusted to the representative of the species they eliminated would be the greatest joke nature would play on us.
I sincerely hope that in the past the Neanderthal race got absorbed into the Homo sapiens. That would solve a lot of problems, some biological and some moral. Supposing you grow up to be fertile and if your DNA could be used to create a new fertile life, that would be the most undeniable proof that Neanderthals and Homo sapiens interbred with a lot of success all those years ago.
The past can hurt. But the way I see it, you can either run from it, or learn from it. That’s what we are striving to do now. To right our wrongs. To be more understanding, to be more accepting. To look forward to a new day when our species will continue along with our long lost cousins. And, I’ll be there with you every step of the way. I told you that I’m not your father, but know this – you will always be my son.
I was deeply engrossed in reading and the end left me wanting for more. Very different take on the prompts. 🙂
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This is a very different take on the prompt Varad. Nice piece of reading where you actually feel that you are visualising the scenes.
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Thank you for the kind words, Geethica. I’m glad you liked the story. 🙏
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This thought provoking piece of fiction is oh-so-believable Varad. Well written, scientific and plausible.
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Thank you, Kalpana. I’ve done quite a bit of study on human evolution and the progression of the anthropocene period. So it was exciting to use it in the prompts given here. I’m glad you liked it.
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This is simply brilliant, Varad. I enjoyed reading this one and looking forward to your other posts in this challenge.
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Thank you for the kind words, Tina.
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That was one expected twist! Neanderthal man? Really quite a challenge for the new baby to survive in this world. Spooky.
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Well, the baby will be watched by Hawkeyed scientists as it is their only hope. Thanks for the comment 🙂
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Wow. Talk about using all 3 prompts in your tale and make it seem so effortless at that! As far as the plot goes, it’s chilling and very much a possibility! China removing the limitation and the sudden spurt of IVF, sigh. Adding to the chills.
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I guess the time has come for the world to look at what China’s upto to determine what’s going on. Thanks for the comment, Deepa. I’m glad you liked the story
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Oh…my…GOSH!! Wow!! This is a fantastic take on the prompt…it took me to another world…wow!! Simply AMAZING! Keep writing…you have a gift…#WriteBravely
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Thank you for the kind words. I’m glad you liked the story
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What an idea Sir ji!!! Captivating, scary yet full of hopes.
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The future is filled with possibilities, both good and bad. Let’s hope the good outweighs the bad. Thanks for the comment, Anagha
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This is brilliant Varad. You have taken the prompt to a different level altogether.
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Thank you for the kind words, Sonia. I’m glad you liked the story
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I think this is the first time I am reading your post, Varad! And I must tell you I love your writing. You have taken the prompt to another level altogether. And I agree with you, the rising infertility amongst men is an actual concern, I had read about it sometime ago.
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Thank you for the very kind words. I’m glad you liked the story. 🙏
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Oh a lot!
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Just last week I met few of my friends. Out of 5 friends two are going through IVF treatment and we were discussing how infertility has suddenly increased. Perhaps because we are marrying late or maybe, stress, pollution blah blah. Every neighbourhood now has a couple of IVF clinics. Your post could actually become a reality in future, you never know. Varad you are a combination of Stephen King and Isaac Asimov 😀
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Gee! That’s mighty kind of you, Balaka. Though we might not know for sure, we can predict the future to an extent. More than predict, I’d like to use the word ‘extrapolate.’ And it sure doesn’t seem great. Time to buck up and rethink, I guess.
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I hope this never happens, but it won’t surprise me if it did!
Brilliant take on the prompt!
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That makes two of us, Mayuri. Thanks for the kind comment.
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Oh I love how you’ve literally taken this to another realm! Well done!
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Thank you, Corinne. I’m glad you liked the story. A special thanks for the fantastic prompts as well.
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You have seamlessly used the two prompts in your post. You could have easily used the third too, as the pic goes perfectly with your story.
A wonderful and unique story, as always.
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My bad. Missed the pic 🙈
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Glad you liked the story, Priya. I think I should have put the pic in the body of the post instead of a featured image.
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Wow! ‘we are loosing our alpha status’ and so much imbibed into one single story. Going back to read it again. The beauty of it cannot be fathomed in one single read.
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That’s mighty kind of you. Thank you very much and I’m glad you liked the story 🙏
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Very beautiful and thought-provoking post, Varad! What a fantastic take on two prompts simultaneously! And the flow of words was totally effortless!!
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Thank you, Esha. I’m glad you liked the story
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