Black eyes.
How strange, Charlie thought. Why do her eyes have no color?
He had light pale blue eyes. Her mother had brown eyes. Their grandparents a mix of blue and brown and even green. Charlie had expected her eyes to be blue. He just had a sixth sense that his little Alexandra would be a girl and have blue eyes. He was fifty per cent right, he thought. But, again, how strange to not have any color. Are all babies born this way now? Do all babies have black eyes?
“Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhhhhhhhh …”
So much has changed since he was a newborn, he thought. Thirty-five years, but more like a millennium. What will life hold for Alexandra? Going outside for a walk isn’t even simple anymore. Since the pandemics of the 20s most cities had built upwards further and further. They lived on floor 502. There were another 500 levels after that.
As viruses raged across the world it made sense to permanently lock people in. First neighborhoods. Then streets. Then buildings. Now floors. The government had made buildings taller and fatter. Like giant monoliths reaching out to the sun. One floor of a Manhattan sky-rise in 2036 could have everything anyone ever wanted. More people lived on floor 502 than Charlie and Alexandra could ever get to know.
He had been outside maybe twice in the past year and maybe a handful of times since they moved into the building. He remembered it took him 40 minutes on the elevator to hit the ground floor. And when he stepped outside the air was so foggy he had struggled to see. Masks had become hoods had become full HAZMAT suits with rubber gloves and steel-cap boots for walking at ground level.
Maybe Alexandra will never see the outside, he thought. She will never get to jump in the ocean or watch a sunset lying on her back on a hill or go for a run at night through the city-scape. Simple things. How we took them for granted. Charlie wondered, how do you mature into an adult without any of those things?
“Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhhhhhhhh …”
You’re not meant to be able to have babies anymore. Virus after virus seemed to wear away humanity’s fertility. It happened slowly. Over years. Almost as if people didn’t even realize it at first. Having babies wasn’t at the forefront of people’s minds when they were just trying to survive themselves. Maybe we just forgot how? Charlie thought. Can a species forget to exist?
When Aleisha fell pregnant it was like winning the lottery.
It.
Just.
Didn’t.
Happen.
Anymore.
To anyone.
And even the hospital thought it was a hoax when they first sought help. But that changed – fast. It felt like their lives were upended and they became science experiments overnight. Lexia was taken away and treated with cotton wool to keep the baby safe. Charlie was tested and prodded like a lab rat. After months the doctors still had no idea why, out of the roughly 500 million people left on the Earth, they had managed to fall pregnant. No one knew what the birth rate was anymore. No one knew how fast humanity was slipping away each year. When the governments shut off the internet it became impossible to find out those things.
At the hospital Charlie heard whispers the pregnancy had made it into the underground press. That it had been splashed across the front page of old-school newspapers that were secretly passed around and slid under apartment doors in the middle of the night. But no one took those rags seriously.
Why us? Charlie thought. Why me? Why Alexandra?
“Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhhhhhhhh …”
Hmmmm it will be over soon. They said Charlie could have an hour with her today. It must be close to that already. Don’t worry little girl, Charlie said to Alexandra, it makes sense they want to look after you. You’re so special. They need to keep you safe. The whole world needs to keep you safe. I will be here again soon. They promised I could. I will see you again soon. I promise.
“Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhhhhhhhh …”
Aliesha didn’t survive the pregnancy. Death and trauma happens so fast. No one gives you a chance to mourn. To feel. To understand. It was a blur for Charlie.
All screams and blood and tears and fists against the wall.
And then more screams.
And then cries from a newborn.
And Alexandra covered in blood too.
And no answers. Not really, anyway. Sometimes, Charlie thinks, it seems like the whole of humanity gets by nowadays without answers. And in a blur.
“Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhhhhhhhh …”
Black eyes. Do all babies have black eyes now?
There is a knock on the door. It must be them. Charlie’s heart is suddenly beating faster. He is compelled to examine his baby girl. Is everything else not as it seems? He places her down on the bed and out of his arms.
Ten fingers, he thinks.
Ten toes too.
A button nose.
Two ears.
Is she fine?
Yes, she is.
Alexandria starts to cry. She must be cold. Charlie picks her up again and holds her tight in his arms. All newborns still cry, he muses. That will never change. He pulls out a heart-shaped locket from his pocket. Inside is a picture of Aleisha. He ties a bit of string to it to make a necklace and gently places it around his baby’s neck. She'll protect you, he thought.
“Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhh Shhhhhhhhh …”
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