I've always been a bit partial to "apocalypse" storylines, where
civilisation collapses and is replaced by a period of deep anarchy.
One of my favourites is a short story that I've only ever found in an
anthology called "Return to the Forbidden Planet", where a meteor
(called Pluto) enters Earth's orbit and acts as a second moon for a
while. Its orbit decays, leaving Earth with the simple fact that the
world will end as Pluto strips away the ozone layer before cra****ng
down and wiping us out. Full stop, no comma, that's it.
The hero of the piece travels around his city (San Francisco, I think),
and witnesses what people are doing. Cops fornicate with hookers,
children experiement on the streets, parents wander around, listless
and drunk... The line that resonates through the piece is "So this is
how the world ends. Not with a bang, but with a party." [A sentiment
Mr Lucas exploited rather neatly in Episode 3, but enough about that]
So, my question is this: If you were writing a piece about the end of
the world/civilisation (by either natural disaster, lack of
resources/food, war etc), what would you have the little people, the
hoi polloi, doing? Would they be partying?
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