Natural Disaster, Unnatural Solution

Alright, this is a PURELY FICTIONAL piece I wrote for class. The prompt: write a 2 page piece on Natural Disasters and/or Faux Mexican Food. I wasn't quite sure how to handle it, but this seemed a good way. I feel politically incorrect, but am in NO WAY taking the current tsunami crisis lightly. Just warning you, it's a little...strange...

Life on Earth changed forever when a meteor crashed into the moon's surface almost a century ago, destroying the only natural satellite in the planet's orbit. Countless fragments showered the atmosphere for hours and wrecking havoc on the darker half of the globe. The meteor's velocity swiftly obliterated the larger projectiles, but unprecedented tidal changes threatened every costal area with an exponentially rising mortality rate. Across the world, people mourned the loss of the great glowing orb as scientists worked to project the full consequences of the cosmic destruction.

The moon once directed the ebb and flow of the tides in every body of water. Without it, unnatural flooding plagued the eastern shores while the western shores dealt with a massive growth in coastlines as the waters retreated for miles. While the Great Barrier Reef drained like a collapsed aboveground swimming pool and the rivers on the California coastline ran upstream with the initial force of the changing tides, the governments of the British Isles, Scandinavian nations, and other threatened countries strove to evacuate their low lying areas. Astronomers provided ample warning for the event, hoping to reduce the death toll, but projections hardly scratched the surface of reality. The destruction built, the climax of disaster not yet reached, as the water kept moving.

Constantly churning out theory after theory, every scientific mind set out to answer one unanimous question: "How will this tragedy end?" No one predicted that new continents would form, unearthing the Mariana Trench and easily dousing what was one known as the Grand Canyon. The death toll abated its growth thanks to quick evacuation efforts and a gradual slowing of the tides. The meteor itself left a trail of smaller satellites - now known as the Drifters in most nations - as eerie markers of the majestic beauty that once hung in the night sky. The particles that entered the atmosphere and burned away released a substance that settled into the food supply, speeding the growth of bacteria and catalyzing the process of decay. Together with the loss of billions of acres of farmlands, the decay epidemic brought on the greatest threat to human existence: famine.

An unlikely hero stepped up to halt the mounting numbers of starving families. Chain restaurants specializing in faux Mexican foods like Taco Bell announced that since their meats ranked in the lowest possible food grade and included astounding amounts of preservatives and by-products, these foods easily survived the epidemic without noticeable change. Families quickly began welcoming the gritty ground beef and rubbery chicken with open arms, accepting stale flour tortillas as though manna had fallen from God's own hand.

Within the few months following the disaster, the first crops of fresh food found their way into ration houses and onto dinner tables. The need for preserved food slowly ebbed like the new, gentle tides of the oceans. The next year bought the beginnings of new capital cities and industrial centers, as well as vegetation thriving on the former seabeds rich with untapped nutrients. Another decade passed and civilization successfully stabilized itself in its altered environment. Almost a century later, the restaurants that aided in relief efforts still stand - as immortal as their food - ready to be of service in another time of need.