The Future

THE FUTURE

By C

PART I

CHAPTER 4

       John rushes out of the supermarket and blindly goes down a side street. His mind is a reeling mass of jumbled, confused, thoughts. He notices nothing around him until he comes to a wooded area that looks familiar and causes him to hesitate. He recognizes where he is. This same area was also wooded in own his time and he had spent a great deal of time there since childhood. He knows that a large stream runs through the center and that there is, or at least was, a particularly peaceful spot with a large rock beside the stream. He had spent many tranquil hours sitting on that rock. He finds a trail leading into the woods and soon finds the place he is looking for.

       The large rock is still there, and the peaceful surroundings had changed little. A strange feeling comes over him, it is almost as though he is back in his own time. He gratefully sits on the smooth surface, as he had done many times before, and blankly looks at the stream flowing over rocks. Even in this peaceful, familiar, atmosphere his mind continues to reel and ask the same unanswered questions over and over. "What on earth could have possibly have happened to cause such atrocious things to be taking place? How can they possibly be taking place in my very own city? How can men allow themselves to be treated in such a barbaric manner by women? What possible reason could women have for doing these outrageous things? How can they bring themselves to eat meat from men's bodies and, especially, to actually eat men's dicks and nuts?"

       It takes quite a while before John is finally able to get a grip on himself and realize that he is getting nowhere. He must at least try and think rationally regardless of what he has seen. He was brought here for a purpose and becoming hysterical will not help at all. For a while, he just looks at the stream playing over the rocks, listens to the refreshing gurgle, and allows the soothing, almost hypnotic, effect to calm his shattered nerves.

       The first thing that comes to John's mind is to try and determine exactly what is expected of him. When he was on the space ship, everything had happened so suddenly that he had not had much time to think. The shocking discoveries that he has made since arriving had left him so completely dazed that the purpose for his being here had hardly crossed his mind. Certainly he was not brought here so that the people in the space ship could find out what was going on. Any civilization so advanced that they can travel through time will no doubt have the capability to find out far more about this society that he could possibly hope to discover. In all probability they not only already know everything that is going on but also know the reasons why. They had to be after something else unless they were playing some type of cruel joke, which didn't seem practical. What did they really want from him?

      He remembers that although he was forbidden to look at historical records he was encouraged to speculate and to try and form his own opinions. Was this their main objective? If so why? For some reason they have taken him, a man from a society primarily controlled by males, and placed him in a future society that is so completely dominated by females that they actually prey upon their male counterparts. This has to be the key although John is not exactly sure how it fits. Whatever their reasons might be, they want him to observe, and they want him to speculate and draw his own conclusions. The people in that ship are his only means of returning to his own time. He is completely at their mercy, and, like it or not, he has no option but to try and satisfy them as much as possible. He has made some shocking discoveries, and, regardless of how totally unbelievable they are, he should think them over in as logical of manner as possible and see what conclusions he can draw. The only way to start is to take things one at a time.

       First of all, from what he has observed so far, John wonders how extensive is this unbelievable treatment toward members of his sex. He has seen unbelievable displays and merchandise made from men's bodies being openly sold in a shop and human male meat and genitals in a supermarket. It is too much of a coincidence to assume that the first two places that he randomly entered were, by chance, the only ones in the city that sold such items. He feels fairly safe in concluding that it must be common practice throughout the city. In the same light, it is highly doubtful that a city would be allowed to treat men in such a horrendous fashion unless it was practiced throughout the country. Is this enough to assume that men are being treated like this all over the world? At this point, he can’t say for sure, but there are some fairly obvious conclusions that can be drawn. What he had seen was done so openly that it would have to be common knowledge everywhere. Even if other countries do not actually practice these activities they at least condoned them. To John, this can mean only one thing. Women, in all probability, control the entire world. It is inconceivable to imagine that if any countries governed by men still remained that they would stand by and tolerate such humiliating, inhumane, treatment against members of their own sex without intervening. If women control all countries, and they condone this unbelievable treatment, then there is a good chance that at least some, if not all, carry out similar activities themselves.

       Regardless of how widespread this practice might or might not be, John feels confident in his conclusion that somehow women have taken over the entire world. How could this possibly have happened? How are women able to maintain their total control and, at the same time, treat the male sex in such a horrendous manner without having the men revolt? John searches his mind but can not find a logical explanation. He can think of only one way. As ridiculous as it may seem, the entire male population is being held in confinement.

       A picture of the plentiful supply of meat flashes through his mind. There is no doubt that it had come from human males. The cut sections on all items had the same distinctive texture. If the plentiful quantity of meat that he had seen in this one store is typical everywhere, then it will require an extremely large male population to maintain such a supply. Men would have to greatly outnumber the female population. This line of reasoning makes John begin to doubt his idea that the practice could be carried out on a worldwide scale. If this were the case, men would have to be slaughtered by the thousands on a daily basis. Even if was somehow possible for women to keep such a massive population of males in captivity, the men would surely become suspicious when large numbers of their ranks disappeared on a regular basis. Sooner or later, they would find out at least part of what was going on and revolt. They would be desperate, and, with their superior strength and numbers, it is hard to imagine that they would not be successful. John can not think of any way that women could maintain such a ruthless, dominating control over men unless the female population greatly outnumbered the male. This line of thought rules out his theory that the practice is conducted throughout the world. Yet, why would a few female controlled societies be allowed to carry out such an outrageous practice against men while the remaining condoned it but abstained from practicing it themselves? He can not think of any rational explanation.

       John realizes that he is not making much progress. His only conclusions, so far, are that women control the world and that a few of the societies carry out this atrocious practice against men. If he is going to have any success he needs to try and find plausible theories for two main questions. The first question is what event took place that allowed women to gain total domination of the world and cause them to expel males from their societies. Men have been dominate over women for many thousands of years. Women, for the most part, have been submissive to this domination even when it has caused them nothing but endless hardships and suffering. It is not part of the nature of the female sex for some of their members to be obsessed with an unquenchable lust for power that has griped so many men throughout history. Something happened that dramatically changed feminine nature in this respect. Something happened that made them rise up around the world and revolt against male rule after being submissive to it for thousands of years. Something happened that made women not only seek total supreme power but also to completely exclude men from their society in the process. Something happened that made it possible for women to achieve this seemingly impossible goal with astonishing success. Two hundred plus years might be a long time for some things, but it is extremely short for such a dramatic reversal to take place. Whatever it was, it surely had to be sudden, unexpected, worldwide, and catastrophic. He is confident in his conclusion that women would have to greatly

outnumber men before they could seize such total control of the world. For this to take place, the catastrophic event would have to be aimed primarily at males and result in drastically reducing the male population far below that of the female. John thinks this over and can only come up with three types of catastrophes that would have a worldwide devastating effect on population, atomic war, widespread famine, or some type of new and uncontrollable plague.

       An atomic war would have the same devastating effect on both sexes, and John can not think of any scenario that would give women a superior advantage. The next thing is famine. It is possible that the "greenhouse effect" had become a reality and caused a massive famine on a worldwide scale. If it was drastic enough it might have reached the point where people, out of desperation, were forced to start eating the flesh of others who had perished. John had heard of this happening in groups of people that had become stranded without an adequate food supply. This theory lends support for providing a reason as to how the practice of eating human flesh could have gotten started. But a famine, as with an atomic war, would have the same devastating effect on  women as men. Again, as with atomic war, He can think of no way for a famine to give women a superior advantage.

       The only thing left is plague. Some type of new, widespread, highly contagious, disease that primarily effected human males might have broken out. The male population could possibly have become completely decimated with members of the power structure succumbing to the disease along with the rest. Men would no longer be able to govern with effectiveness and total turmoil would be in danger of breaking out. Women would have no alternative but to take over the responsibilities of running their respective countries. After they were in control of things for awhile they might have found that they were enjoying not being suppressed by a dominating male society. They might convene a worldwide summit in a effort to devise a plan that would enable them to maintain control after the effects of the plague had passed. They would no doubt know that if they took no action that men would again take control once the male population became sufficiently regenerated. After all, men are superior in strength and capable of acts of extreme violence when it serves their purpose.

      The women leaders might have decided that their only chance of maintaining permanent control would be to place the entire male population into captivity while the numbers were still small. They would know, however, that this method would soon fail if the male population was allowed to become so large that it became unmanageable. One way to keep this from happening would be to devise a method of controlling the size of the male population. They would no doubt consider many alternatives, in the end, the only sure method that they could come up with would be to systemically slaughter the excessive number of males leaving only enough to be able to continue propagation.

       John considers that his theory has some degree of plausibility up to a point, but it falls apart at the end. Women would be incapable of undertaking such inhumane action toward men unless there was a sudden and dramatic change in the very nature of the female sex. Women in a few of the more oppressive societies might be extremely desperate to maintain their freedoms, but it is doubtful even they would be capable of such drastic action. Women in the majority of countries might not be completely satisfied with the way they had been treated, but not to the extent that they would consider taking such drastic action to expel men from society to prevent the return of male influence on their lives. The theory might account for providing a way that women could take control on a temporary basis, but that is as far as it goes. It certainly does not account for the unbelievable actions of this female society in which he has been placed. Something else of dramatic and worldwide proportions had to have happened to lead to this. Something had to have happened that resulted in the very nature of the female sex being dramatically changed. Nothing in his theory would have effected the basic nature of women, and nothing in it provides an answer to his second main question. If he can establish a theory for this second question it might help him identify what the dramatic event that took place might possibly have been.

       The second question is obvious. After women managed to gain total dominant control, regardless of the circumstances, why did they start the practice of making humiliating and degrading displays from men's bodies and, of far grater significance, start eating male flesh. John had never heard of any culture that ate human flesh and made souvenirs from their victim’s bodies except for remote primitive native tribes. There have been many civilizations guilty of practicing atrocious and barbaric acts, but he had never heard of any that sanctioned eating their fellow man. Yet, here it is being practiced in his very own city, two hundred years in the future, by a modern civilized female society. Their bizarre actions are far more contrary to a woman's basic nature that the mere act of becoming obsessed with an unquenchable desire for power. Most women in his era are caring and compassionate. They do not possess the trait for enjoying violence and cruelty that, unfortunately, exists in far too many members of the male sex. John is under no illusion that women are capable of such actions when they feel it justified. If a woman is sufficiently provoked she can be extremely deadly and completely devoid of mercy. When this happens, however, the acts are directed only at those who had wronged them, and their basic compassionate nature toward others remains unchanged. Something happened to reverse this nature as far as women's attitude toward men is concerned. What could it possibly have been?

       John begins to speculate and the thought that possibly a combination of famine and plague might have taken place. The famine could have come first. Death would be widespread among people and animals alike causing the unsanitary conditions that is ripe for disease. One of the diseases could have been the worldwide plague that attacked primarily the human male. Men would start dying in great numbers, while the female population would be suffering and starving from the famine. Out of desperation, women would be forced to turn to eating the one source of meat that had suddenly become available in large quantity. This theory, like the first that he had considered, is plausible only up to a point. It does not answer the question as to why women, in some places at least, would resort to deliberately killing men in order to continue the practice after the famine was over. Nothing in the scenario that he had developed provides an answer. Nothing in it would have changed women's basic nature for compassion. This theory would only serve to increase women's compassion when they saw countless men dying about them -, many of whom would be sons, fathers, husbands and lovers.

       Try as he might, nothing that John can think of even begins to provide an answer. Something of traumatic portions had to have taken place - of that he is certain. Something has changed women from being the caring and compassionate creatures that they had once been. There is no denying the significance of what he had witnessed. Even though he had seen it with his own eyes it is still hard for him to believe. He searches his mind in vain. How can these women of a civilized society bring themselves to eat the flesh of a human male? Above all, how can they possibility bring themselves to actually eat male genitals? He had heard of testicles from livestock, jokingly called “mountain oysters”, being eaten, but he had never heard of the penis of any animal being used for food. This would not be the case unless this particular organ was considered undesirable. How then, are these women able to bring themselves to eat them?

       John searches his mind. There is only one answer that he can think of, and the degrading displays that he has seen helps bear it out. If, for some reason, women developed an extreme hatred toward men then they might consider the act of eating male flesh, and especially male genitals, the ultimate humiliation of men and a satisfying display of their own feminine superiority. But what could possibly have caused women to hate men to such a profound degree. He is well aware of the fact that many women in his own time are resentful of the treatment that they receive from a male dominated society, and a few express open hostility. But, even the most radical of these women would never contemplate doing any of the astounding things that he had witnessed. There are, of course, women in his time that had suffered physical abuse from men and some that are brutally raped. These might well feel hatred toward all men, but, fortunately, the majority of women are not subjected to such treatment.

       John can think of nothing that would suddenly cause the vast majority of women to have an extreme hatred toward the male sex. He had noticed nothing in the actions of the women of this society that indicated that they contained even a small amount of hatred. For most of the time, he had been so shocked that he had not been capable of observing the women closely. One thing that he did notice, in both the shop and the supermarket, was the casual, almost indifferent, attitude that the women had shown. The explicit displays indicate that they enjoy seeing the male body and, especially the sex organs, being subjected to ridicule, but, he had not seen any sign of triumphant gloating that would be expected if these women did indeed contained a deep, burning, hatred toward men.

       John searches his mind for any other theories but can find none. He realizes that he knows very little about this female society except that it's members are extremely attractive, that they make incomprehensible displays from men's bodies, and that they eat human male flesh and genitals. His primary interest in the women he observed upon first arriving had been sexual admiration. This had come to an abrupt halt when he had entered that first shop. Since that time, he had been too stunned and bewildered to observe very much of anything about them other than being astounded at the calm manner in which they accepted their unbelievable surroundings. What were they like aside from their treatment of men? He really had very little knowledge as to what their feelings were even in this regard. What are these women like in their normal everyday activities? What types of recreation do they enjoy? What type of inner feelings do their actions suggest? In what ways do they compare with women from his own time? Just how extensive is the practice of making displays from men's bodies, and what are they used for? Is the practice of eating human male flesh really as widespread throughout the city as he has speculated?

       John begins to feel a sense of irritation toward himself at how little he really knows about this society into which he has been placed. He has wasted a great deal of time trying to develop elaborate theories with practically nothing to go on. Whatever the

people in the space ship expect from him must surely be a great deal more than the small amount of knowledge that he has been able to obtain. He has got to start behaving like the man he knows himself to be. He must go back and observe the activities of this society and it's members no matter how shocking some of these activities might turn out to be. He must maintain self control and make rational observations - regardless of the circumstances. He must make every attempt to gain some insight into how this society lives and why. Above all, he must try and find some logical reason for the treatment given to men. He no longer expects to find men living openly, but they have to be out there somewhere. If he can find out where, he should be able to discover what means are used to control them so effectively and with such dominance.

       He stands up and takes a final glance at his peaceful and familiar surroundings. He takes a deep breath and, with a renewed sense of resolve, sets off. He is determined to make every attempt to find out everything he can about this society, and to have the courage to face any adversities that he might encounter - regardless of how shocking they may be.