Pollen Count

The pollen count is up, really up.

POLLEN


It was a warm spring day in Millsboro. I was washing the pollen dust off my car for the second time today. Pollen. It’s what makes plants reproduce, plant semen. It is a nasty yellow dust that covers everything in yellow haze. It gets into your sinuses, makes you sneezy and miserable, and bees eat it. Basically, as far as I’m concerned, pollen is vile.

Jeff was in the house watching TV, probably racing again. He can’t get enough of it. I don’t really get it, myself. Around and around they go. Until they get to the end of the seemingly endless laps, or they crash, whichever comes first. Whoo-pee!

I had the radio on and I stopped when an announcer spoke out interrupting the program. “It is a strange day, folks. Two private planes have crashed today, another was a near miss. There doesn’t seem to be any foul play associated with these unfortunate accidents, but the day is clear, and the pilots in both cases were experienced. Further details will follow as we receive them.”

I dropped the sponge and ran into the house hoping for some local news. “Jeff! Did you hear about the planes? Do you think…”

“It’s okay, babe. It wasn’t your dad. They showed the planes. The pilots weren’t hurt, either. It’s okay.” He smiled and took me into his arms as I cried with relief.

My father had been a bush pilot in the Amazon for several years. He had come back and taken up flying small crop-dusters when he decided to come back to the states and settle down for good here in his forties. Now he flew for the fun of it. He wasn’t ready to retire at sixty-four.

I grabbed my purse and looked at Jeff. “Well.” I said expectantly.

“Okay, Hon, we’ll go see the old man.” He knew I was shaken and needed to see Dad.

We pulled up to the airport hangar. I saw him working on his Cessna. He looked puzzled.

“Hey, just wanted to check on you.” I shouted to him.

He turned and smiled. “Jen-Jen! I didn’t expect to see you ‘til Saturday.”

“Well, I thought with the news I wanted to come up and see you now.” I explained, feeling a little silly, now that the adrenaline had had time to dissipate.

“Great! Have you kids had supper, yet? Why don’t you come by the house, anyway, your mom’s always coking like you kids are all still home.” He climbed off his ladder wiping his hands on an already grease-encrusted towel.

“Thanks, Dad.” I looked at Jeff.

He shrugged, smiling. He was always open to a home-cooked meal, since I didn’t like to cook, and wasn’t all that good at it either.

“Do they know why those planes crashed?” I asked as I was setting the table for the four of us. Dad was right, there was plenty of food.

“Not yet. They have done some preliminary checks and the only thing they’ve found so far is a lot of pollen in the intakes of both planes. The pilots are good guys. Not ones you’d expect to screw up bad, they’re okay, by the way, just shook up some. The NTSB agent said they had to do some more research on it.”

We ate supper and talked about things with the family, how my nieces and nephews were doing. I told Dad to be careful out there n the unfriendly skies, and he laughed. We thanked Mom for dinner and went back home.

The morning news was an unwelcome shock as more small planes had crashed all over the country in the past day. It was becoming a regular epidemic. Now they were saying it had something to do with the pollen that was clogging up the intakes of the small planes engines. Pollen? I thought, looking out at my clean-as-of-yesterday car. I hate pollen.

I went to work and didn’t get as much done as I would have liked because I kept sneezing. My allergies were acting up badly. Even antihistamines weren’t helping. I went home early and took a nap.

Jeff came home around five. I heard him coughing from the kitchen.

“You home, Jen? Where’s the allergy medicine? I’m congested.” He called.

“I’m in the bedroom. It’s in the cabinet by the sink, on the right. You okay?”

“Yeah, the pollen sure is bad this year.”

“I know. I had to come home early today, I couldn’t function at work.”

He turned on the TV and we were watching the news. A special bulletin came on. “All elderly and respiratory sensitive persons are strongly recommended to stay indoors for the next few days. The pollen count is up dramatically, and minimum exposure may be dangerous to those who are sensitive to it.”

“Wow. It is bad if they are issuing warnings.” I coughed. “I think I’ll take their advice and stay inside. Want to join me?”

“I’d like to, but I need to get some stuff done.” He smiled. “You wouldn’t be any fun, anyway, all snotty and stuff.”

I made a face at him, and called work to tell them I’d be out a while. The boss knew I had breathing problems and had heard the news bulletin, too. He suggested I get some stuff done from home. He’d email me something. I could get used to this.

Next morning, I looked out at my car under its coat of pollen and sighed.

“Morning, snotty girl.” Jeff laughed. “Seriously, don’t go outside. I don’t want to have to come see you in the hospital over some stupid pollen.” He kissed me goodbye.

I turned on the TV. The news was talking about the pollen again. “There have been over a hundred deaths being directly attributed to the excessive pollen we’ve been experiencing. Most are the result of acute asthma attacks. Authorities and the CDC are strongly urging all those with respiratory issues to stay inside air-conditioned homes.

I passed time reading and doing a little bit of the work my boss sent over. When I finally looked at the wall clock, I became concerned. Jeff wasn’t home yet and it was after six. It wasn’t like him to not call.

I looked outside. The pollen layer was thick on my car. All I could see anywhere I looked at a flat surface was yellow dust. I could even see it in the air, now. A frothy yellow haze as far as I could see in the distance.

I called Jeff’s cell. No answer. I called Mom and Dad.

“Hello?” Dad’s voice came clear and welcome to me.

“Dad! Have you seen or talked to Jeff? He’s not home yet and I can’t get him on his cell.”

“No, Honey.” Concern crept into his tone. “Your Mom’s not doing well, though. She was outside watering her roses and came in coughing and sputtering something fierce. She’s gone to lie down. I didn’t go to the hangar, today. All flights are grounded. You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine. Jeff probably just stopped by the store on the way or something. Hope Mom feels better.” I hung up the phone and paced for a few minutes, but decided I could find something better to do.

I started supper and turned on the radio. The announcer was speaking.

“The death toll is steadily rising from what is now being called ‘The Pollen Epidemic’. Nationwide, the numbers are well over four thousand and rising. Researchers are saying this pollen is an unusual species. They have never seen it before in this country. They are checking databases worldwide, but have no news yet. No one seems to be immune to the ill effects of breathing this pollen. The local hospitals are filling rapidly and will soon be sending people away. All persons are requested to remain in their homes. If you must go out, cover your face with a wet towel, or wear a respirator if you have one. More updates will be announced as we receive news.”

Jeff! Where could he be? I wondered and worried. This is something new and horrible. How did this much pollen get into the air all at one time?

Another half-hour passed. I was beside myself with worry, now. I finally hear gravel crunching. I run to the door, sighing with relief that Jeff’s home at last. I wait at the door. He comes in slowly, covered from head to toe in pollen. Coughing all the way.

“Go inside!” He shouts as he comes up the porch steps. “I need to get this stuff off me first.” He shakes his clothing out and brushes the yellow out of his hair, then comes in the house still coughing.

“There were people stuck everywhere. I tried to help as I could. This stuff is awful.” He got a drink.

I hugged him and we ate quietly, watching the news reports as they repeated the horrifying news over and over. Jeff fell asleep breathing heavily. I kept worrying about him, but thought about how healthy he is, and felt a little better. I wasn’t so reassured in the morning. He awoke wheezing and coughing, dark circles under his eyes.

The television gave no more details. Dad called to say Mom was feeling bad still, but was okay.

“Sir, I have the President on the line. Sir?” The major prodded the General’s arm with the receiver, jolting him out of his silent reverie. It was bad, worse than anyone could have anticipated.

“Hello, Mr. President.”

“No, we really don’t know what the full ramifications will be. What we do know is there shouldn’t be any more, as if there isn’t enough of the stuff, now. The asteroid we think was trailing it has moved beyond where the pollen can enter our atmosphere.

“Yes, Sir, it is a good thing it didn’t hit us, it was a near thing though.

“Well, so far the top scientists we have working on this say that the deaths should level off.

“Yes, Sir, our intelligence suggests that the pollen will only kill those who have severe sensitivities, or those who are exposed to more than their body can handle. That would take a lot, Sir. Dr. Ambrose thinks the danger will dissipate within a week; the pollen will break down after it settles, since it is incompatible with any known plant species here on Earth.

“Right away, Sir. It will be as you say.

“Major! Get me all the media outlets. We need to issue a statement.”

“Jeff, Jeff!” I called. “The news has a special alert.”

“As far as we can now tell, the recent pollen problem is a direct result of a near-miss pass by an asteroid. Experts say we are very lucky the asteroid did not hit us. The excessive pollen we are experiencing is a result of that asteroid. It was trailing dust and this pollen and it got pulled into our atmosphere. Since the asteroid was in our vicinity for two days, the pollen was pulled into the air around the entire globe. The President has issued warnings to all citizens, as have all other World leaders, for all persons to remain inside. Use a respirator if you will be exposed to the pollen. Homeless persons are to go to the nearest enclosed building. Police in respirators are making sure no one who needs shelter is turned away. The danger should be past in a few days. This is an extremely dangerous situation. Those who are immunosuppressed, have respiratory problems, the elderly, and young children are at highest risk of death from exposure to the pollen. Anyone who is exposed to more than their systems can expel are also at high risk. We will keep you updated. Be safe.”

“Jeff? Did you hear? Jeff?” I went to check on him. He wasn’t breathing. I called 911. They said it would be several hours before they could come. In a panic, I called my dad.

“I will be right there. Try CPR.” He said and hung up the phone. “Mara, Jen needs me. I’ll be back.” He hurried to the house.

“Jen? Jenny are you here?” He went to the bedroom. “My God.”

I had tried, again and again. I had given up, exhausted, when I heard Dad calling me. I was crying, eyes and nose streaming. Jeff was pale and still. Yellow pollen still clung to his hair from the day before.

He pulled me up and half-carried me to the kitchen. “What happened?”

“He was late, he…tried to help… people... What do I do now?” I sobbed.

After the pollen storm had abated. Life went back to as much of normal as it is possible to be after something tragic and horrible happens. Mom recovered, thankfully. The final death toll worldwide was well over one million. I still cried every day.

After Jeff’s funeral, I went home and stood looking in horror at the pollen film that had collected on my car. I was sure this was the normal kind, though.

“Pollen.” I spat with contempt. “I hate pollen.” I went into the house and cried.

On a small undisturbed pacific island a large number of a heretofore unknown plant species has expended it's pollen for the first time in over a thousand years. It will pollenate again.

Word count: 2294