Fiction logo

Ratification Day

June 27th, 2031, American Columbia

By Anthony StaufferPublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 11 min read
6
North America after the Fall of the American Empire

The embers still smoldered in the fire pit, not surprising since I had only slept for a few hours. But I knew when I climbed in bed the night before that sleep would be a commodity I couldn’t afford. Hopefully, the coffee would stave off the lethargy of sleep deprivation and I could be bright-eyed and bushy-tailed for the arrival of the family. Today was a first, one of many firsts that we had all suffered through over the last ten years; but at least this first was a joyous, yet somber, occasion.

The young summer Sun lit the sky above, and I could tell that today was going to be a scorcher. Nevertheless, I sat in the chair by the fire pit and sipped my mug of coffee. I held it up before me and just looked at it, a single tear fell down my face. Emblazoned proudly on the mug was the seal of the United States Navy, to whom I pledged nearly ten years of my life around the turn of the century. Alas, it was now a token of a bygone era. The United States no longer existed…

It had been theorized back in the 1990s that America would fall, but it wasn’t until the birth of the 2020s that I began to believe it would happen. I certainly didn’t want to believe it, but it did. And today marked the first full year of my, and my family’s, acceptance as citizens of Canada. It was the first annual celebration of Ratification Day. June 27th, 2030 was the day that the political leaders of the Mid-Atlantic and New England states, of the former United States, with the overwhelming majority of the people in those states, ratified the Canadian Constitution and became one of two new Canadian provinces. We were now living in American Columbia.

Things were far from stable or safe. We could hear the far off explosions as fighting and skirmishing continued along the new border only an hour west of us. Thankfully, over the last few months, that fighting had become less and less intense; but the loyalty of the American insurgents to the United States forced them to fight on. They would not accept the new borders of our lands. It was all futile for them, though, because those ‘loyal’ forces were so hopelessly disorganized that advancement was impossible.

My tears flowed more freely now, thinking about how the war started, how it ended, and how the very people who thought they were the fiercest fighters for the Old Republic were actually responsible for its downfall. All I wanted to do was to smash my Navy mug into the pavement beneath me, furious at the loss of what was once my beloved country. But it was one of the few pieces of memorabilia I had left. A lasting token of the ‘shining beacon on the hill’, whose light was snuffed out as quickly as the flame of a candle.

I heard the doorbell ring, but my wife was at the door quickly and I heard her voice her delight to the person at the door.

“Honey! Kyle is here!” Her voice was music to my ears, and I couldn’t help but to smile.

“Coming, dear!”

I set the mug of coffee down gently and moved my old bones out of the chair. My knee was a daily reminder of my ever-increasing age, but I pushed through the constant, dull pain and went to greet my son.

As it had been for the last few months, it was still a shock to see Kyle in an Army uniform. But it was even more shocking to see the maple leaf of the Canadian flag on it. He had a timid smile on his face, and something told me that his visit home would be brief. But I bounded to him as quickly as I could and embraced him firmly. He was only twenty years old, but the events of the last few years made him look a few years older.

“My boy!” I exclaimed proudly. “How the hell are you, son?”

“I’m well, dad. Or at least as well as I can be.”

There was that tone. My heart sank immediately.

“They’re sending you to the front again, aren’t they?” A glance to my wife and the tears she was already shedding brought the lump into my throat instantly.

“Those are my orders, dad. My regiment is heading to Martinsburg tomorrow,” he answered, his voice dropping in sorrow in the anticipation.

“Well, come… Let’s have a beer. I don’t care that it’s nine in the morning,” the lump in my throat subsiding a bit at the thought of beer.

“Dad… I shouldn’t.”

“Who cares! Right, babe?” I looked at Rebecca for permission, and she only shrugged her shoulders.

“Whatever you wanna do, hun,” she said, her voice thick with emotion.

The chill of the refrigerator already felt refreshing against the heat, and the bottles of beer immediately fogged over from the humidity. I had fallen in love with porters and stouts about fifteen years ago, and I hadn’t given up on them at all. Today was one of my favorites, though it cost me a pretty penny to get it. Yeungling Hershey Porter had quickly become a favorite in my beer repertoir, but since the war began, its availability had gone nearly to zero. Only six years ago, a case would have cost me only $40. Now, I had to pay $40 for just a six-pack. Canadian dollars, no less…

Anyway, I quickly opened both bottles, handed one to Kyle, and cheered to his heroism and safety. As we took our first swigs, the sound of children flooded the area outside our front door, the sound of children we knew. The grandkids had arrived!

Rebecca went back to the door and opened it. There, coming down the front walk, were Cody and Anna and their families. Anna was our oldest, having graduated high school back in ’26, the year the war started. Rebecca and I had feared for her, as she had become very much like her mother (Rebecca was her stepmother) and seemed hazy and unsure of her future following school. But the war changed all of that, and she bacame a coordinator for the now defunct Pennsylvania National Guard, in their Refugee Department.

Millions had fled from the southern states when the war broke out, seeking to hold on to their freedom and not get ensnared in the dictatorial ambitions of the ‘Patriots’. Millions of them had perished on their journies, but Anna had been crucial in setting up a modern-day Underground Railroad, saving countless lives. All the while, she had to deal with being a single mother. The man who she had been with out of high school was nothing short of a bastard. When the war broke out, he had decided that he should fight for the ‘Patriots’, leaving Anna five months pregnant and homeless. The National Guard was able to provide for her as a refugee, but she ended up working for them and finding out that Sarah’s father had been killed in West Virginia. Aaron had come along only a year ago, but he was a man of honor and kindness. He looked at Sarah as though she was his own daughter, and the smiles on both my daughter’s and grandaughter’s faces had never been brighter.

Cody’s journey had been completely different. His senior year of high school had never happened. The war had closed down all schools within a hundred miles of the front lines. We allowed him and Kyle to be whisked away north, to New York, to finish their schooling. It didn’t cost us anything, and their mother fled with them, as she had family that still lived in the state. My wife and I weren’t happy, nor surprised, about what the kids’ mother had done, but her increased presence in their lives didn’t have the effect we thought it would. Cody finished his general education in August of ’27, and between his artistic talent and his newfound love of computer technology, he became prominent in the battle on the electronic frontier. His main job was to sow distrust within the ‘Patriot’ forces through false propaganda. He had become an electronic soldier, and his wife, Amy, had been alongside him the entire time. He was now a successful digital artist for the Canadian government and living in Toronto, Ontario. Amy had given birth to their son, Gavin, on July 4th of 2030, so his first birthday was rapidly approaching.

The hugs and the joy were plentiful as the kids and grandkids entered my home, and the day itself was jovial. I decided to start the grill early, and the day was a constant rush of food and drink. In all the years since the country we knew had fallen apart, there had never been a day like this. The worries of the world outside my front door disappeared, if only briefly, and I got to enjoy my children’s company to the fullest. Sarah and Gavin played in the water fountain in the backyard, and I listened intently and proudly to the stories the kids told of their exploits. A tear once more rolled down my face, and Rebecca came to me and hugged me tight.

“You were right, my love,” she said solemnly, “they turned out just fine.”

Then she caressed my cheek and kissed me deeply. As I succumbed to the the softness of her lips, I thought again as to how lucky I was. Even in a world that had become as messed up as this one, I still had everything I could have asked for.

As the Sun began to set, I turned on the backyard radio. Both Sarah and Gavin were already asleep in their mothers’ arms, so I kept the music quiet. But the tunes were swiftly interrupted by ‘breaking news’.

“For the first time since the Richmond Offensive of 2028, and the nuclear destruction of Washington DC, ‘Patriot’ forces are coordinating an attack from Peoria, once a major city of the former State of Illinois. Intelligence reports indicate that their target is Chicago, but that their forces lack the necessary equipment to launch a full-scale assault. This is, in part, due to the continuing offensive of Mexican forces, now mounting attacks towards Wichita, with assistance from Cherokee Nation forces. Canadian officials are calling for calm along the southwestern border of American Columbia, saying that ‘Patriot’ forces lack cohesion and comraderie. Meanwhile, trilateral peace and trade negotiations continue in the city of Raleigh between envoys of the Canadian Prime Minister, the Premier of American Columbia, and the American Confederation of States. However, with skirmishes still occurring between American Columbian forces and American Confederation forces in Berkeley County, West Virginia, the talks are tense, to say the least. While the American Confederation President has assured Canadian officials that the skirmishes are not government-sanctioned, intelligence has revealed that American Confederation officials are in constant communication with those forces, indicating that the President is not being fully forthcoming. Security protection is high for the Canadian envoys in Raleigh, as reports continue to flood out of Charlotte of Confederation faction infighting. The most radical of these factions are angry with the government in Raleigh for acknowledging Canadian sovereignty over former states of the United States of America. This is Patricia Cormier for Canadian National News.”

“See, dad, I’m not going anywhere particularly dangerous,” Kyle said to me with a wry smile.

Kyle was the one that Rebecca and I had had the most concern for. For most of his life, he had suffered from mental health issues, and we had feared that he would grow up addiction-prone and dangerous. It was a point of personal sorrow that it took a war, and the fall of the country I had known and served, for Kyle to accept his circumstances and fight to control them. Rebecca and I had always agreed that Kyle would be beneficially served by joining the military, but I had always hoped that he’d follow in my footsteps and join the Navy. The US Navy no longer existed, though, and Kyle found himself in the Army. And he was a hell of a soldier.

“Whatever you say, bud,” I retorted, my voice weak.

And with that, a hush fell over the family, and the vision of the dancing flames in the fire pit held us all in a trance. The silence was unbearable for me. It was Ratification Day, a day that should have signaled a new beginning. But Rebecca and I had had numerous ‘new beginnings’ in our lives, and the last thing we needed was another. I felt Rebecca’s hand touch my own, and as I looked at her, my heart ached to be in her embrace. She was so beautiful, and I knew, as I had always known, that as long as I was by her side nothing could overcome us.

Then I heard the creak of a lounge chair. It was Kyle, he had stood in preparation to leave.

“I have to report at Oh Six Hundred, dad. I better get goin’”, he said, his eyes betraying his desire to stay with his family.

Rebecca and Anne began to weep at his words, and I stood, along with Cody, to give my youngest a warm, fatherly embrace. I could not have been prouder, nor more afraid. I hugged him first, then, a few minutes later and standing at the front door, I hugged him last.

Through my tears, I said, “You take care, boy. And you come back to us. We have more beer to drink.”

Then I stood at attention and gave him a crisp salute, the one I had learned in the United States Navy all those years ago. Kyle returned to me the only salute he’d ever known, the palm out salute of the Canadian military. As he turned and walked away, I cursed those who led my nation into ruin and my son into war, but I thanked God that it would not be the last time that I saw him.

Short Story
6

About the Creator

Anthony Stauffer

Husband, Father, Technician, US Navy Veteran, Aspiring Writer

After 3 Decades of Writing, It's All Starting to Come Together

Use this link, Profile Table of Contents, to access my stories.

Use this link, Prime: The Novel, to access my novel.

Reader insights

Outstanding

Excellent work. Looking forward to reading more!

Top insights

  1. Excellent storytelling

    Original narrative & well developed characters

  2. Heartfelt and relatable

    The story invoked strong personal emotions

Add your insights

Comments (4)

Sign in to comment
  • Test2 years ago

    I love the detail scattered throughout the story. It drew me in and kept me engaged. I was slowed down a bit by a chunk of backstory, but pushed onward.

  • Whoaaa this was awesome!

  • Babs Iverson2 years ago

    Impressive👏💖😊💕

  • Bob Metivier2 years ago

    Nicely written! I'm hoping that you will continue with more follow-on stories.

Find us on social media

Miscellaneous links

  • Explore
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of Use
  • Support

© 2024 Creatd, Inc. All Rights Reserved.