halloween in the floating village: when the billionaires came ashore
October 31. Some years after the world as we knew it came to an end.
There were no trick-or-treaters knocking on doors this Halloween. There weren't many doors left to knock on, and nobody was selling bags of miniature chocolate bars.
The old world had changed.
The stock markets were silent. Governments had collapsed or become little more than memories. Banks, corporations and international supply chains that once seemed indestructible had disappeared. There were no paycheques, no mortgages, no shopping malls full of Halloween decorations, and certainly no one arguing about the price of pumpkin spice lattes.
People had other things to worry about.
Food. Water. Shelter. Staying warm.
And finding a way forward.
But something rather extraordinary had happened along the coast.
The cruise ships had come together.
One by one, enormous vessels that once carried thousands of holidaymakers around the world had been brought into sheltered waters. Yachts, ferries, old fishing boats and even a few extravagant megayachts joined them.
They were secured alongside one another, forming something that resembled a giant floating village.
It wasn't particularly pretty.
Some ships were rusting. Others had broken windows, faded paint and empty swimming pools. The enormous dining rooms that once served endless buffets had become communal kitchens.
The former luxury suites were now homes.
The decks had been transformed into gardens. Vegetables grew in enormous planters. Someone had figured out how to grow potatoes in recycled containers, while another group was experimenting with floating gardens.
The swimming pools? Some had become water storage. Others were being used for growing fish.
There were workshops, classrooms, a small medical centre and places where people could repair things rather than throw them away.
The old world had been very good at throwing things away.
This new one couldn't afford to.
And the billionaires?
Well, some had arrived with their enormous yachts, only to discover that a million-dollar vessel was not much use without fuel, a functioning supply chain or someone willing to maintain it.
A few had brought their crews. Others had arrived alone.
It didn't take long to discover that money wasn't particularly useful anymore.
Knowing how to repair an engine was.
Knowing how to grow food was.
Knowing how to work with other people was perhaps the most valuable skill of all.
There were no VIP decks. No exclusive restaurants. No priority boarding.
Everyone had something to contribute.
And if they didn't know how, someone taught them.
On Halloween evening, a group of children decorated the entrance to the floating village with lanterns made from old glass jars. Someone had carved a pumpkin, and a few others had managed to find enough fabric to make costumes.
There was a pirate, a mermaid, a rather convincing sea monster and one little boy dressed as a billionaire.
He wore an oversized suit, a cardboard crown and carried a toy yacht.
"Who are you supposed to be?" someone asked.
"A billionaire," he announced proudly.
"And what do you do?"
"I own everything!"
The adults laughed.
"Not anymore, you don't," someone called from the kitchen.
For a moment, everyone laughed a little harder than they probably should have.
Later, as the sun disappeared behind the coastline, the village lights began to glow. A few small solar systems powered the lanterns. Someone played music on an old guitar. The kitchen smelled of roasted vegetables, fresh bread and something resembling pumpkin soup.
Nobody was checking their bank balance.
Nobody was worrying about tomorrow's commute.
Nobody was trying to impress the neighbours.
They were simply grateful to be warm, fed and together.
Perhaps that was the strangest Halloween of all.
The monsters hadn't come out of the dark.
They had been part of the old world all along: greed, excess, indifference and the belief that there would always be more.
And somewhere, among the rusting cruise ships and newly planted gardens, people were beginning to discover that the world didn't need to be rebuilt exactly as it had been.
It could be rebuilt differently.
Happy Halloween from the floating village.
Sometimes the end of one world is the beginning of another.
