The good citizens of Earth thought the end was near once the Ring of Fire broke apart and created what will always be referred to as The Great Continental Shift. As quickly as the impending doom encroached on Earth, it just stopped, the chaos spanning only a few days. However, it would take several years for humanity to recover. At first, everyone on the planet was in shock, then amazed. Mother Earth had merely rolled over in bed!
When the tectonic plates started moving, every existing volcano on the planet became active and many new ones formed. Mount St. Helens was the worst. It blew its top in a fiery explosion that left rolling hills of molten lava for miles. California broke apart from the continental shelf and now is an island almost the same size as New Zealand……was. In Tennessee, the Ober Gatlinburg rose to 17,000 feet. Downtown Miami literally slid into Biscayne Bay. In the Far East, Iraq sunk into the Persian Gulf.
There was much loss of life globally. Technology and government had lost their grip. Logistics became the new skill in demand as people tried to reconnect with their severed communications. Most survivors believe it was all caused by the extracting of all the petroleum from the Earth’s crust.
Once we realized it was not the end and humanity got back on its feet, everyone on Earth had a fresh new perspective. People started acting a bit kinder and the corruption subsided: One Planet-One Nation.
Surprisingly, the silt and smoke lasted only a few months. Once the darkness ended and the rains had subsided, the world had gotten a much-needed facelift. Most became nomads searching for new land to claim and turned to agriculture as the earth had just spread new fertilizer from its molten crust. There was lush new growth in places you would never have imagined. Even most deserts turned tropical!
But the most wonderful creation from this near-miss apocalypse was the rising of The New Keys! From the Dry Tortugas to The Bahamas the shallow water started bubbling until it looked like a galactic low country boil! When it was all over there were literally hundreds of new keys to hop around on, and along with them arose bountiful treasure and shipwrecks resurrected from the ocean floor!
Once the chaos began we took to the sea and headed south along the Florida coast. Many others had the same idea. Now, my family and I reside on “Never-Say-Never” Cay, only 22 nautical miles due south of Big Pine Key. Stop on by sometime for a Cuban cigar and a mojito!
But best ye be warned, tread lightly when you come for a visit. We are a strong colony of islanders, refusing to go back to the ways of the old monarchies, and a hardy group of brethren that have come to be known as the Buccaneers of the New Keys… where liberty, equality and fellowship be the new law.