In my adaptation, Henry Bemis is
a bookworm accountant. Apparently instead of physical books, he lives in his
other universes through his Kindle, which he stored with hundreds of novels and
poetry books that he indulges in during his free time. I do not think that a
present generation wife would be as ironclad and mean as the 1902 Mrs. Bemis. She
does nag Henry a couple of times but never does she rip off the pages of the
books her husband adores nor does she grab the newspaper while his nose is
stuck in it. I believe a 21st century wife would be relatively
gentle when handling these sorts of issues.
They also have a son that
struggles to establish a bond with his father because every time Henry gets
home, he checks his mail and social networking sites before plunging in and
forgetting about the real world. As part of the breed that was raised in the comfort
of technology, I pretty much see the books as the equivalent of gadgets
nowadays. His wife tries to take them out frequently but he obviously declines,
which causes the wife to lecture him on the value of spending time with his
child to build the foundation of a strong relationship that will create a huge
impact on the child’s life.
Similarly, Bemis’s boss is not
as condescending today as he was decades earlier; a modern boss would deem it
irrational if he haughtily scold and demean his employee for being as shallow
as enjoying the company of books so much that he fails to excel in his own job.
He speaks to Bemis about his incompetence and warns that if he continues to be irresponsible
in what he is regularly paid to do, he could fire him anytime. It should be
noted here that the boss does not touch on the subject of Bemis’ passion for
printed page, only on that of his performance as a worker. But I could also add
that the boss notices Bemis’ engrossment in the games he installed in his iPad,
in addition to the books he reads in his Kindle. Back then, playing games probably
didn’t supersede reading as the ultimate hobby.
Out of annoyance with his wife
feeding him with sermon for breakfast, he hides in their family vault in the
basement, carrying with him his Kindle, iPad, Macbook, iPhone, iPod and
speakers. An hour later, he hears the same thud sound- an indication of the world’s
end. He leaves the vault, and witnesses only the remaining rubble from the
universal crash. In the end he realized he was able to save his precious
gadgets, but his family was gone. Everyone was practically gone. He has all the
time in the world to use his gadgets. While laying them on the ground, side by
side, one thing suddenly struck him: he did not bring the chargers with him.
Apple Czarline C. Cruel
2013-59992
