What IF There Was 1 Woman In The World

Imagine our planet from afar. Now, look closer, closer. Yep, like this. See that huge moving mass there? Come a bit closer still. These are people, millions, if not billions of them. All males and they all seem to be gathered in front of something. They look as if they're revering it. Closer yet. Oh, it's a throne, and on it is seated a woman. It all started about a century and a half ago; girls just stopped being born. Every child and every family was a boy, a perfectly healthy little cherub.
 
At first, people didn't pay much attention to it. And in some more traditional cultures, it was even considered good luck. Families got hale and hearty heirs and always well. But then after a while, they started feeling that something was off. This was especially evident in smaller communities where children were born off as in big cities, and everyone knew each other, a boy here, a boy there, no girls in sight. Ten years past, and there were hundreds and thousands of boys approaching their teenage years. But still no girls. There were, of course, girls in schools those ages from 11 upwards. So, there wasn't much concerned about demographics even that, after all, a single year wasn't going to make much difference when the kids grew older. You know how that goes in relationships. Anyway, it was yet too soon to talk about that.  
 
Kindergarteners had more troubles, though. There were simply no girls at all. They look like boarding schools for boys more than anything else. And those little guys didn't even know what a girl was because they hadn't seen one in their short lifetime. Teachers were at a loss, but they couldn't do anything. It was nature, after all. More years came and went, and all the school kids had grown into young adults. Many of Yesterday's boys got into relationships or even married girls they went to school with; some stayed single, and so on. Life seemed more or less normal, but not for contemporary schools. They had the same situation that kindergartens had had previously and still couldn't solve. Nowhere. In no class was there a single mixed group of students, only boys, whose picture of a female person was limited to some of the teachers.
 
TV, radio, and the internet started issuing news about the problem. And Soon, it became obvious that it was the same all over the world. Nobody had given birth to a girl for many years, the scientific community stirred, and the best minds from all spheres of knowledge started thinking of a way to bring back the female birth rate. But for years to come, they could do nothing but scratch their heads. The mystery remained unsolved.
 
Those from the last population of women who got married eventually had children, boys, all of them. Not only junior in high schools were filled with male students, but colleges and universities too. Here grew a generation that had never seen a female person of their age, and that caused lots of trouble. Boys are highly inflammable by nature, and conflicts rose daily. If the smallest of the kids could still be reined in, teenagers were becoming downright unruly. They flock together and parties and associations are seeking their place in the world and fighting with other alliances. As they grew bigger, so did their ambitions. The strive for power among young individuals became a mess. Everyone tried to prove to everyone else they were worth something. Some did so with words, others with less peaceful means.
 
Years flew by, and the world was growing less and less stable. Everyone under the age of 40 was male. No exceptions. The planet was rapidly losing its women, and those who remained were treated like queens. Gender differentiation became a mandatory subject in schools because there were fewer and fewer young men who even knew what a woman actually was young or old. With time though, this subject turned from a potentially practical thing to the stuff of history.  
 
After 100 years came to the recession, no women were left in the world, and even the Word became somewhat archaic. Pictures of female persons were still in place, as were movies and songs, but they were rather an oddity of old times. Men, both young and old, regarded them with sarcasm. It was all water under the bridge. They had to concentrate on more pressing concerns, such as a demographic collapse. No wonder it happened. No one could give birth to new children. So, there were no newborn boys either. No kids at all. Kindergartens were all closed and abandoned. Schools were growing sparse with fewer students attending until there were none left there either. Conflicts became a matter of everyday life, and the new society, full of ambitious individualists, with no place for love and tenderness in their hearts. In another decade, the world's population became fully adult. There were no teenagers left, and man of the planet started forgetting what children look like. Only the oldest of the old still remember the times when kids would run around the place, but none already could recall any live woman they'd met.  
 
But then, a miracle happened. When scientific laboratory specializing in gene modifications suddenly informed the world that its researchers managed to create an embryo with two similar types of chromosomes, xx. Males have two different types of chromosomes x and y. While females have to have the same kind, it could only mean one thing, they had a yet unborn but still undoubtedly a girl. When the news spread, the whole planet held its breath, but soon the spell broke. Some brush the idea aside as nonsense, others shrugged and waited for more specific results, and others still got to thinking. In less than a year, it became obvious that the genetic experiment was a success. The embryo was alive and well, growing inside a special vial with everything it could need. Scientists watched it day and night, and all the world's governments gave them the highest level of security. They were very much afraid of spoiling anything, but stil,l they found a way to speed up the baby's development. And in another half year, she opened her eyes and took her first breath.  
 
The news made headlines across the planet, the first girl in over 100 years. She stayed at the laboratory heavily guarded for her safety, and no, but the research team was allowed to visit her. She was only shown to the world wants to give undeniable proof that she wasn't another myth. She was indeed the greatest treasure of humankind, and her name was Aurora. When she turned 18, she was finally given some freedom of movement. But she was still never let completely out of surveillance for her own sake. She met with people talk to them, and they wondered at her having never seen anyone like her. Aurora became the biggest celebrity in the world. Everyone wanted to have a word or at least a look at her. And finally, she arranged for a united meeting; everyone who cared to come was invited. On the grand de Aurora was seated on a high chair, more like a throne even and surrounded by giant screens that showed her sitting on it. And before her, millions upon millions of men gathered, looking wondering late and not believing their eyes. They were asking her questions, and she answered for several hours.
 
But after a while, she suddenly stood up, and complete silence befell everyone. Aurora was going to say something important. And so, she spoke. “Man of the world. I have diligently answered your questions, but I beg you to listen to me now. I'm happy to see you here. And on this spectacular day. I'd like to present to you Dr. Rob Suresh, whom you can call my father, I believe. Please hear him out. This news will probably turn your lives upside down.” All eyes were on the man in the limelight. Now. Nobody said a word, and not a single breath was taken. Dr. Suresh cleared his throat and said, “Citizens of the world, It is my pleasure to tell you today that after so many years, our research has finally come to a happy conclusion. Thanks to Aurora's genetic material, we have been able to create several more embryos. They're all alive and well. Soon 18 new lives will be brought to earth, and five of them are female. We, I have to thank Aurora for this. Thank you, my beloved daughter.” And with these words, he hugged Aurora like the father he was, and she hugged him back. Silence outside stretched for a little while longer. But then it seemed like the whole world went, boom. Five more girls, 13 little boys, children would once again walk the earth. There was still hope for humanity after all.