Earth Overshoot Day

She turned the TV on, looking for something to distract her from her hangover, anything. But every channel she flicked through was the same.

“Earth Overshoot day.” That was the headline on every channel. She flicked through a few stations, then sighed loudly and settled on one.

“Today, the experts agree, is the beginning of the end. Last year we used the year’s supply of natural resources of the planet up by the 31st of March; today, we have already used up our year’s supply.”

She looked down at her watch. The date read the 1st of January.

She groaned, flicked the TV off and headed into her kitchen to rehydrate. She stood over the sink, downing glass after glass of water. She knew that the 6th vodka at the new years eve party had been a mistake. Although in hindsight, it may have been the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th that were now causing the problem.

Her phone buzzed in her pocket. She glanced at it and saw it was her mother. She groaned and put it back in her pocket, as she really didn’t want to talk to her mother in this state.

She stuck her head in the fridge, looking for anything greasy that she could fry to soak up some of the booze.

Her phone buzzed again, she silenced it. Then it buzzed again, and again and again. As fast as she could silence it, her mother phoned again.

“Hello?” It came out as a growl.

“Hi Honey, it’s your Mother here.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes Mom, I know this, my phone has caller ID.” She felt like she’d explained this to her three thousand times, but every time her mother called, she told her who she was.

“Well darling, could you let me in please, I’m out the front of your building. And I know you’re there as I can see you through the kitchen window”.

She groaned out loud and looked out the window, her mother was waving up at her. Heading to the door, she buzzed her up.

“So darling, how was your New Years Eve?”

She groaned as her mother squeezed her in a hug tight enough to make her want to throw up. “Fine.” Talking made her head pound, so she kept to single words.

“Great, well I’m here to collect you.”

She looked at her mother, racking her brain to remember if she’d agreed to go anywhere with her today. She was pretty sure she wouldn’t have got anywhere near as drunk as she had last night if she’d made plans with her.

“What?”

“The Human race is doomed. Have you not heard the news today? That means our holiday here is over”.

She blinked, keeping her eyes closed for a good 10 seconds before she opened them and looked back at her mum, hoping she was going to start to make sense.

“What?”

“Yes dear, you’ve said that one already. Now you might be feeling a little disorientated as you went for the full immersion experience. But like I said, the Humans are doomed, the holiday is over. It’s time for us to leave.” Her mother reached into her pocket and pulled out what she could only describe as a blue, glowing headband.

“Just put this on your head, and it’ll pull you out of the immersion” Her mother held it out to her, she looked at it and sighed, as her mother had clearly lost her mind.

“So, anywhere on my head?” Her mother nodded , sighing she placed it on her forehead. She had no idea what was wrong with her mother, but figured it wouldn’t hurt to humour her.

The effect was nearly instant, the fog lifted, and she remembered who she was.

“Thanks, wow, that is so crazy. I actually didn’t believe them when they told me I would believe I was a Human.” She shook her head again, clearing the last few memories of being Human.

“Hangover cure?” Her mother smiled and handed her a small bottle. She pulled the lid off and downed it in one gulp. Her headache and nausea were gone in an instant.

Her mother pulled the list out of her pocket and placed it on the table, grabbing a pen out of her handbag.

“Well, we’ve done Earth.” She crossed Earth off the list.

“I’m so glad we came here first on our big trip, that article we read was totally right, Earth was definitely number one in the ten planets to see before the natives totally destroy them”.

“Shall we call the travel agent and see where they recommend going next?” They grinned at each other, linked arms and headed out of the pokey apartment, already excited about the next destination. Neither noticed that they knocked the TV remote on the way out, turning the news back on.

“We cross live to our science expert.”

“Thanks Amanda. Unfortunately, the figures are clear, we are only 12 hours into the New Year, and we have reached Earth overshoot day. We have used up all of the Earth’s natural resources that should last us for the year. The data is clear, this year, we will see climate change accelerating, leading to natural disasters and worsening famine. This is the beginning of the end.”