Mythofilia

What if... #5 What if bananas refused to grow? Pedro was staring intently at the trees. He didn't see Ignacio approaching. 'Well?' Ignacio said. Pedro jumped and turned around to face the owner of the orchard with a dark look in his eyes. 'They are not bearing fruit, but this isn't Black Sigatoka and it doesn't look like TR4 disease either.' Ignacio scratched his head and sighed. 'Spread the guano anyway. I'm going to talk to Enrique. Maybe the cooperative knows something.' Ignacio got in his old jeep and headed to the office that served as headquarters for the cooperative. Almost four hundred family farms were united in the cooperative known as Asociación Mis Guineos . A few years ago Ignacio had made the switch to organic cultivation. Now he was starting to wonder if it had been a mistake to abandon the heavy pesticides. When he reached the office a crowd had already formed. Farmers were coming in, with the sam...

What if...#4 What if the trains were always on time? Alice stood on a platform waiting for the train to arrive. She wore her big coat with the collar turned up. She shivered slightly. It had been a long morning already she thought, as she gazed across the tracks. From the corner of her eye she saw movement. A train was coming. Seeing it veer towards her platform she looked at the nearest overhanging sign to check if it really was her train. But the sign said 'do not enter'. The conductor kept everyone from boarding. The train had a malfunction, it was heading to the workshop. Numbness set in on Alice. She'd been delayed earlier this morning due to maintenance work that was behind on schedule and now this. She'd have to wait till eight to call the office. She debated going upstairs to get some coffee and wait in the hall where it was warmer. But a replacement had been announced and she didn't know when it would get here. Finally she managed t...

What if... #3 What if you were allergic to the touch of the colour blue? Sophie's parents learned early on that their daughter couldn't bear the touch of blue. Ordinarily young girls are showered in pink. However Sophie's mum suffered from a severe allergy to red and yellow. She was so sensitive that even colours composed of red or yellow would cause her skin to break out. Poor Sophie was born in a house all decorated in blue. She was six months old when the allergy first asserted itself. Lying on her blue blanket, wearing her blue dress, baby Sophie began to scream when the itching started. Mum was bewildered. She quickly got Sophie out of her dress only to realise she was wearing blue herself. Luckily their house had a grey linoleum floor. She put Sophie down and called the doctor, tears streaming down her face. Everything turned out all right. But Sophie's parents had to redecorate and reinvent their wardrobes. They...

What if... #2 What if someone named you the Protector of the Universe even though you'd never even left your own planet? Peter was an upfront sort of guy. So when this happened to him, he blinked at the galactic minister and said: “But I've never even been away from my own planet, surely there must be some mistake?” The galactic minister smiled a big pasty smile at Peter and said: “No mistake Peter, we've done our homework. You have no personal enemies, your planet hasn't been involved in a war for decades and your political region doesn't have any sort of crisis that could lead to blackmail. You are the person we need for this job.” “I understand you're concerned about doing things right but there's really nothing to worry about. The Protector of the Universe is more of a ceremonial title you see. Most of the time you'll be cutting ribbons to open new cultural buildings and such. Once people hear there's a new Protector...

What if... #1 What if one day you opened the door of your house and stepped out into a different world? It happened to Fiona. She wasn't expecting it to happen. Had never even wished for it. Yet there it was. She wasn't sure what to do about it. Luckily she had held on to the door. She could still go back inside if she wanted.  She just wondered if the school bus might not be leaving her behind somewhere in her own world. There was no way to check really. After standing around for five minutes with the doorknob in her hand, she decided to go back inside and wait.  At that moment, her mum came down the stairs, all ready to go to work. She was surprised to see Fiona in the hallway. Of course she would ask why she hadn't gone to the bus. Fiona didn't know what to say. “Well Fiona don't just stand there and stare at me. Why aren't you outside catching your bus?”, mum said. And that gave Fiona the inspiration she needed: “I can't go by myself, there...