There was an age, it seemed, when discovery was slowing…Reptiles had lost control of the earth, weather had calmed, and man had begun to focus on being, instead of surviving. Sure, there were still wars and strife, those being in control wanting to keep it, and those ‘outed’, wanting it back.

Most of the ordinary had come to terms with enjoying childhood and adulthood. It was a good time because people were finally getting a grasp, however, small on what our existence could really be like. We could have it good…..and for those who had never reached that height, it was marvelous. Good was wonderful. Dark times were a thing of the past.

Parents watched over their siblings….Adults watched over their neighborhoods….governments watched over their countries. Discovery was taking an upward and exciting turn, as science looked to conquering the deadliest and even the most ugly of chronic diseases. Sure, it cost money….discovery and safety always do. Companies grew, ideas were born, and it was still good, or better than ever before.

Travel left two feet and rose to thirty-thousand. Fast super-trains whooshed across country and countryside as the world grew smaller and more responsive to faraway lands only seen in books a few decades ago. Commerce grew among countries almost as fast as between local cities.
Oil was sought after, diamonds were a premium, and the stock markets rose and fell in milliseconds.

Still, no one realized the importance of the worrisome word they left behind in their daily chatter…..surviving. Business continued its reign in the world market as did the pleasure of cruising ships and luxurious air travel. What once was a ‘memorable moment’ became an everyday and very boring occurrence as we entertained ourselves across the seas, never wondering or even realizing who had sat or slept in our spot only a few hours ago.

Sure there were ‘clues’, but c’mon, we had made it, the dark ravages of centuries before us were far in the past. Products made us comfortable. Aids was now chronic and not deadly. And drugs, there was something for everyone and everything…almost.

And then, oh so quietly, ebola woke up, in the middle of lonely outposts of wavering civilizations….Only the bravest, the most devoted visited there, in those tiny villages of raw sewage and painful living. And so it grew, one by one, until some one noticed. It was so far away we thought, them—us. Someone will get a handle on this and we’ll all be fine. But it seems no one has….what is 250 or 2500 with a 50% death rate. The other diseases always faded away.

But now it is here….among us, the ordinary, not the survivors. And we are worried. Who did I shake hands with, who sneezed on me, who sat in my seat with a sweaty and perhaps feverish body… Who?

And here is the hard part….still no one worries……Companies need a better bottom line; parents need to visit kids in Europe or Africa or the US, product needs to be shipped so bills can be paid. Commerce has to go on, period.

How dark will this age be…..will drugs control disease, will planes stop traffic from affected areas so containment can be established; will people concede travel plans should be denied. Will pleasure cruises refuse passengers who have been in or near affected areas for at least 6 months? Will countries close their borders to stop death? And if so……when

Sur3e there