Time Enough at Last: A Modernized Version

Labrador, Ana Micaela B.

2011-02178

If I were to modernize the story in terms of the present day, I would make Henry Bemis addicted to his gadgets. They feed him with stories, literature and all kinds of information that he finds more interesting than his job or home life. More than anything, he loves using them to surf the Web. He spends day and night online, and will constantly look for a Wi–Fi signal wherever he goes.

He works at a bank, and will often bring out one of his gadgets while he is on the job. Patrons constantly complain to his boss that he ignores them because he is highly engrossed in one of his gadgets. His boss is a strict man concerned with upholding a professional work environment. He reprimands Mr. Bemis on his terrible work ethic, but also comments on how constantly being attached to a gadget with a screen cannot be healthy. Mr. Bemis simply nods his head, not really absorbing what his boss is telling him. It’s nothing he hasn’t heard before.

Work is done. Mr. Bemis comes home to his wife and two children, a son and a younger daughter. The minute he gets home, he sits at his desk where his laptop is resting. He opens it and begins surfing the web. The wife, who he had passed at the front door, shakes her head; he does this every day after work and she is sick of how he won’t even talk to his family upon his arrival, and would rather spend all his time with his computer. She reprimands him like his boss, saying he spends too much time with his gadgetry and it’s making his attention span short and crippling his sociability. His wife’s words fall on deaf ears. He is simply too obsessed with surfing the Web to listen.

The following morning Mr. Bemis is once again at work. His boss has caught him slacking off with his iPad, and calls for Mr. Bemis to come to his office. Not wanting to go through the same lecture, Mr. Bemis hides in the ground floor of the bank where rarely anyone stays. Suddenly, there is a great tremor, and the rest of the story continues the way it did in the original episode: Mr. Bemis comes out of hiding and finds himself on post–apocalyptic grounds. He calls out, but discovers he is completely alone.

Mr. Bemis is a bit distraught, but it’s not so bad; at least his iPad is still with him. As he walks across the barren land, he trips on a piece of gravel. The iPad falls from his hand, and with a CRACK, the screen splits into jagged fractals. The bright screen goes dark. Enthralled for so long in endless days of web surfing and constantly ignoring the world around him, Mr. Bemis never heard his wife reminding him to buy a protective case.

Mr. Bemis crumples to the ground in defeat, but remembers he still has his touchscreen cellphone in his pocket. He reaches for it; the batteries are fully charged and the screen is smooth. He smiles and presses a finger to the Google Chrome application, excited to go through all the blogs and videos and images he can gets his hands on. He slides a finger across the screen to choose a Wi–Fi server.

None are available. Along with the rest of the world, all Wi–Fi connections have been terminated.