A Leaky Roof
John Ink2Quill
www.ink2quill.com

There’s a story theme that has existed for a long time. It starts off with the protagonist(s) in a dire situation. It might be a looming snow storm, a sinking ship, a literary deadline, a plane falling from the sky, pick any looming climate crisis, and any other situation I cannot think of. It is the theme of a bad situation getting much worse with a potentially catastrophic conclusion.

All of those can best be summed up as the problem of a leaky roof. Someone with a leaky roof, presumably on a rainy day, has to act quickly as the space around them sustains more and more damage. It isn’t just the damage of the paper books in their bookshelves it’s the rugs they walk on, the wood anywhere in the house, the mold in the walls that will potentially turn toxic. It’s all the water damage that makes for a situation where one has to hurry and stop it. And in some cases it’s a question of even drowning.

I can think of a story of a lame ship caught in space with air running out. This is as much a situation demanding bravery as problem solving. Any leaks have to most likely be repaired, damaged equipment needs fixing pronto, cooler heads must prevail so no lynch mobs form, and above all the person or group caught in such a dire circumstance must have some kind of luck on their side. Yes. Luck is a very big component in survival whether it’s species survival, a group’s survival or just an individual. It is said that the saber-toothed tigers went extinct because their main prey was no longer around and that their jaws fit perfectly into the grooves to easily snap the necks of those main prey. So hunting became too difficult. There hunt/kill ratio got too low. That’s some bad luck.

I can picture the first space explorers and adventurers dealing with issues like shoddy ship constructions from companies that cut corners on ship building to save money. I can picture those brave men and women dealing with a leaky hull where air escapes, maybe even a leaky water tank and being stuck out in the middle of nowhere far from home. In such a similar to the leaky roof scenario the men and women of their ship would have to work quickly to find and repair the hole(s) in their ship. Space debris or meteor rocks could very well puncture a ship’s hull. Things move quickly in space with a lot of force over long distances. So, sure, a ship’s hull could get punctured. That is a good example of the leaky roof scenario in the sci-fi, space travel environment. It’s a plausible scenario.

The greatness of these stories is the ingenuity of the people to solve this life threatening situation.

John Ink2Quill

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