What if...?

Brrrr....

Boy, being frozen in a block of ice sure chills you, doesn't it? I think. If only I hadn't pushed that red button....

I decide to step outside. Perhaps Doctor Heffendoodle will be able to explain this, I think. I stumble into Doctor Heffendoodle's office....but there is no more office. It was gone, leaving a panoramic view of Lexington.

But outside was not the beautiful, bustling Lexington that I remembered. Rather, the cars, the quaint little shops, and the gorgeous, monumental skyscrapers were replaced with filthy dirt paths, boarded-up shops, and parades of gaunt beggars.

I saw no one that I recognized. This can't be, I said to myself. Where is Lexington?!

Suddenly, another figure came out of the ice chambers, but they weren't shivering. On the contrary, they were wearing a lab coat and carrying a clipboard. They were, however, not any better than those on the streets.

Where am I? I asked in a panic. This doesn't look like the Lexington I remember!

The figure said, in a soft voice:

"That's because it isn't. We suffered waiting for someone to get us out of the economic crisis, but no one fixed the problem. The whole country is in ruin."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I wake up on March 19th, 2112, next to my wife.

Rolling over, I turn on the light and turn to my wife.

"Honey, I had the weirdest dream."

"Oh really? What was it?" she answered, groggily and almost uninterested.

"Well, I was frozen for a hundred years and when I went outside, all of Lexington was in ruin."

My wife turned over, her eyes half opened.

"You dreamed that crazy dream again? Life is great! We can live to be over a hundred, we have found the cure to all diseases, and crime has been abolished."

"I know, I know."

And then she said this, which made my dream go away: "It sure is a good thing that people our age made a difference when we were young so that we could reap the fruits when we are old."

"Good night", she said. And it was.