The Last Days

There were few people left. Most had opted to leave and go to Zaptar years ago. After all, Earth had become an unfriendly place to all but the ridiculously good-looking, the very young and the super-wealthy. Everyone else was chopped liver, scrounging around for a handout or a pat on the head. So when the government offered free rides to Zaptar, no questions asked, most average people went, hoping to at least be able to live out their lives in peace and maybe hear some music on the Intercom and get a candy bar every once in awhile.

Barlow had stayed. He was very handsome and tall and muscular and completely hairless, with beautiful green eye implants, just like all the other men on Earth. (See photo above.) In fact, everyone looked pretty much the same, with a few differences here and there supplied by tattoos and body piercings. His wife Grenada was of course also beautiful, with long, flowing hair and a generous bosom. Together they had three gorgeous kids who all attended the School and were studying to become broadcast journalists like their parents. With non-stop news running 24 hours a day, seven days a week on the huge monitors that were everywhere, it was quite a lucrative profession, even more prestigious than becoming a movie star, lawyer or plastic surgeon.

Most of the news they reported had to do with who was dating who, the newest advances in Youth Surgery, and most importantly, the latest fashion trends. Shoes had become very important, and anyone not properly shod risked ridicule. People of all sexes wore high heels, and the higher the better.

Everyone was sent to Zaptar on their 36th birthday on what was called the End of Life Flight. On Zaptar, nobody wore makeup and many people still wore sandals and denim jeans, both of which were outlawed back on Earth.