Read The Rift for Free Online

time had passed. Now the cotton fields, graded to perfect flatness by laser-guided blades, stretched west from the levees, but they had been imposed on the land, and so had the titanic earthworks that protected them. The condition of southeastern Missouri was as artificial as that of the Washington Monument, the St. Louis Gateway Arch, or the space shuttle, and, like these, existed as a monument to the infinite ingenuity of humankind. The land, like the space shuttle, had been manufactured.
    But that which is artifice occupies a precarious position in the world of nature. Artificial things, particularly those on the scale and complexity of the space shuttle, or of the levee system of the Mississippi, are manufactured at great cost, and must be maintained with great vigilance. Their existence is dependent on the continuation of the conditions under which they were designed. The space shuttle Challenger was destroyed when one of its systems was unable to react with sufficient flexibility to an unseasonable frost.
    The levee system, on the other hand, was built with the understanding that two things would remain constant. It was understood that flood waters would not rise much higher than they had in the past, and that the land on which the levees were built would not move of its own accord. If either of these constants were removed, the levee system would not be able to prevent nature from returning to the highly artificial landscape which the levees were built to preserve.
    The first of these constants was violated regularly. The epic flood of 1927 made obsolete the entire levee system, which was reengineered, the levees being built higher, wider, and with greater sophistication. The flood of 1993 again sent water to a record crest right at the juncture of the Mississippi and the Missouri, and briefly threatened to make St. Louis an island. The inevitable result was a greater commitment to reinforced levees.
    The second constant, the requirement that the earth not move, had not been tested.
    Though such a test, as history showed, was inevitable.

    INLYNE: I’M JUST BUMMIN CUZ I GOT NOPLACE TO SK8.
    DOOD S: I’M ALMOST THE ONLY AGGRESSIVE SK8R HERE.

    Where , Jason typed, is here ?
    He was almost holding his breath. Assuming that Dood S was female, which was likely if the online handle was intended to be pronounced “dudess,” Jason might have found himself a potential girlfriend. So far Jason discovered that he and Dood S were the same age. They agreed on bands, on skate brands, and on the study of history (“sux”). They were both reasonably advanced skaters. They could royale and soyale, they could backside and backslide, they could miszou, they could phishbrain and Frank Sinatra. They were both working on perfecting various alley oop maneuvers, but Dood S was making more progress because she, or possibly he, had a place to skate.
    The answer flashed on the screen.

    DOOD S: SHELBY MONTANA
    INLYNE: BUMMER

    Jason’s answer was heartfelt.

    DOOD S: WHERE RU?
    INLYNE: CABELLS MOUND MISSOURI
    DOOD S: WHERE IS THAT?

    Good question, Jason thought.
    Between Sikeston and Osceola , he typed, feeling sorry for himself. If he were feeling better about living here, he might have mentioned St. Louis and Memphis.

    DOOD S: HAHAHA LOL I’M SORRY
    INLYNE: ME 2

    Jason heard the door slam downstairs. His mom must be home.
    RU a girl ? he typed. Flirtation was fairly useless if they lived a thousand miles away from each other, but what the hell. He was lonely. It never hurt to stay in practice.

    DOOD S: CAN’T U TELL?

    Your pixels look female to me is what Jason wanted to type, but he couldn’t quite remember how to spell “pixel,” so he typed, I think you are a girl .

    DOOD S: IM 85 AND A PEDDOFILE HAHAHAHA LOL. WANT TO MEET ME IN THE PARK LITTLE BOY?
    INLYNE: VERY FUNNY.

    This was not lightening Jason’s mood. He heard his mother’s footsteps on the front stair, and turned as she passed by the door. She was wearing jeans