Just popped into my mind...
PM Productions Presents
A Phillip Masters Short Story
Cause and Effect

     In a serene forest in China, birds were waking, chirping marrily at
the new day.  Various animals began to emerge from their homes, intent
on completing their different morning routines.  There was a calm haze
surrounding the area, making it seem surreal in appearance.  The
pinnacle of Nature's perfection.
     Then, a bright flash overcame the multi-hued sunrise.  The plethora
of animals broke into a panicked stampede.  Predetor and prey shuffled
side by side, knowing only that they had to get away.  The intense light
subsided, leaving a red glare that was too strong to be the morning sun.
The ground began to rumble slightly as the area quieted unnaturally.
The shaking grew stronger and stronger, when finally something gave.  A
wall of incredible energy flew through the area.  Trees blew apart as
though they were matchsticks.  Rocks crumbled under the amazing power
that bombarded them.  Even the very topsoil was ripped from the Earth
and carried along in the destructive eddy.  Once the wave had passed,
there was nothing much left.  Only charred ground and the occasional
smoking stump.
     The technician's eyes went wide as he stared at his readings.
According to his sattelite imaging, an enormous burst of radiation had
just occured in southern China.  A thirty kilometer radius of forest had
just vanished from his scope.  There was only one thing that could
explain what just happened.  Someone had detonated an Atomic Warhead.
Not only that, but it was only a hundred kilometers away from where he
sat.  This made him gulp, as he thought of what might have happened if
someone out there had decided to alter the degree of launch slightly.
With a sober look upon his face, he turned to the phone nearby that
could only connect to his superior's office.
     "Are they serious?"  
     The young man leaned back in his chair.  He stared at his partner.
"Yes, they say we must launch immediately."
     "Why?"
     "Why is not in our vocabulary.  We just follow orders."
     With that, he entered the coordinates.  He slid his key into the
appropriate slot and waited.
     The other man double checked the coordinates and codes and inserted
his key.  "Ready?"  He asked.
     His friend nodded and they both turned.
     "Say goodbye to Los Angeles."  The older man commented as China's
ICBM's were armed and fired.
     All in all, it took about an hour for the population of the world
to become an sixteenth of what it once was.  Not to mention the damage
to the atmosphere and food sources.  Crops were ruined and Africa
settled into a long Nuclear Winter.  Only a few parts of the globe were
left mostly untouched.  Only a smaller number of places were left
uneffected.  The survivors bagan to look to Antartica as a pleasant
place to live.  The radiation through the depleted o-zone there would be
nothing compared to the radiation on the other continents.
     What had been feared by the paranoid freaks had finally happened.
What everyone thought impossible was played out with deadly clarity.  
     Why?
     Because one lost boy finally got fed up with not knowing where in
the hell he was.
END

"You can't leave.  She won't let you." - Event Horizon
"Time seems to stand quite still.  In a child's world, it always will."
- The Moody Blues
/ My anime fanfiction page:
http://www.iwaynet.net/~dr.diddy/masters
/ E-mail at:  PhilMasters@webtv.net
Member of the #AAS#, #WASHU#, and the #SAS#.  I'm a very appreciative
person!