Iceberg
By Jeremy Giles
Nov 15, 2025
Nov 15, 2025
We won’t choose how the last humans go, but I’d like to imagine it’ll be something like this.
There will be one iceberg left in the world in Argentina or Canada or Sweden or Russia or in no country at all. It does not matter. On that iceberg will be a conglomeration of the people we’d least expect but that most deserve to be the last people. Maybe a nurse or a teacher. Hopefully a child. All stranded together through boat crashes, surfing accidents, and other equally exciting and unexpected things.
They will live a hard life catching and eating fish or seals with spears, not guns, because guns are cruel machines and the last people should not have guns. They will resemble the first people in many ways and will laugh about that. They will frequently lick the ice for water and their tongues will get stuck and everyone will laugh about that too. That is important, that laughing.
The last people will not know they are the last people, so they will hope. They will love each other, so they will be happy. Making all of humanity happy, just for a moment.
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Jeremy Giles (He/Him) writes climate and speculative fiction and poetry. Currently, he is an MFA Candidate at CalArts. He has been published in Stone of Madness, Umbrella Factory, and more. You can find his work at his website jeremygileswrites.com and his Instagram @jeremygileswrites.
Author’s Note:This was one of the last pieces I wrote during my time in Asheville. In a world where we increasingly lose control of our everyday lives, there is something very powerful about retaking it, even if just in our imagination. |
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