Futuristic Fiction

The Moment World War III Began

An in-depth historical investigation

There were several hypothetical scenarios embraced by the experts as to how World War III began. No one seems to know exactly what happened. After years of intense historical investigation the truth finally came out. World War III began in a laundromat.

It happened on a chilly Friday afternoon in the middle of winter way back in 2021. The sky was gray and gloomy. Everything seemed quiet and still. Very few people were out and about. There were no singing birds or barking dogs. Frigid stillness hung like a blanket over the little town in the middle of nowhere.

And then came the explosion.

Everyone in the neighborhood heard it. People rushed to their windows or went outside. A small crowd began forming.

Unidentified Woman #1 carries an empty white plastic laundry basket from her apartment to the laundromat that serves the housing complex. Her load of wash should be ending and needed to be put it in a dryer.

It was a short perfunctory walk from her apartment to the laundromat and nothing out of the ordinary happened.

Once in the laundromat, Unidentified Woman #1 pulls her load of laundry out of the washing machine into her white plastic laundry basket. She then notices that all the dryers are in use save for one. Opening that one non-operating dryer she sees that there is a finished and dry load of someone else’s laundry in it.

So she pulls it out onto the top of the dryer and proceeds to put her own wet load of laundry into the dryer. She deposits the appropriate number of coins and starts the dryer…

…and then she proceeds to fold the load of someone else’s laundry that she had taken out of the dryer.

Soon, Unidentified Woman #2 enters the laundromat with her empty plastic purple laundry basket. Upon seeing that someone else had taken her load out of the dryer and folded it neatly atop the dryer, she immediately began to freak out.

Unidentified Woman #1 was still in the laundromat and a harrowing fight ensued between the two unidentified women.

Soon, the fight moved out to the sidewalk in front of the laundromat. The two unidentified women were yelling and screaming at each other.

You touched my clothes! How dare you touch my clothes? You left your clothes unattended long after they were done! You touched my clothes! You’re a stupid bitch! You touched my clothes! How dare you do such a thing! You disgusting whore! You slimy slut! You touched my clothes!

As mentioned, a small crowd had formed, including a few small children. Facing each other off, the two unidentified women spewed out every expletive known to humankind. They were both drooling at the mouth as they tried to out-scream each other. They circled each other while screaming as they flayed their arms and bodies wildly at each other.

To those in the crowd it seemed certain that fisticuffs would commence at any second. But it never happened. The two unidentified women never touched each other (although one of them had touched the other one’s clothes).

It was an all-out war of the vocal chords. No one was killed and no one was hurt. A tremendous amount of negative energy was thrust back and forth but, thankfully, no one suffered physical injuries so the ambulance did not need to be called. Of course, it showed up anyway. (They’re watching.)

The fight lasted about twelve and a half minutes. It ended as quickly as it began. Simultaneously, as though running out of gas at the same time, the two unidentified women simply stopped their yelling and posturing and went back into the laundromat. Unidentified Woman #1 left with her empty white plastic laundry basket as she awaited the time when her load would be finished drying. Unidentified Woman #2 left with her purple plastic laundry basket containing her load of laundry that was neatly folded.

On their walks back to their respective apartments they continued yelling what they were yelling before. Soon, each woman was back to their home and there was no longer any yelling. Slowly, the crowd began disbanding. The quiet stillness soon returned.

But there was something different. In addition to that peaceful quiet stillness there was also an unseen cloud of negativity in the immediate space where the two unidentified women were arguing. Perhaps it was residual energy from the confrontation; unseen but palpable.

While humans had left the scene, this cloud of negativity seemed to hang around for a while. No animal would come near. But eventually the winds picked up and the energy was blown in all directions. Like a rock thrown into a still pond, that negative energy rippled outward in waves, eventually encircling the entire globe.

As the negative energy circled around the planet it picked up a bunch of other negative energy. The wave just kept getting stronger and stronger with all the negative energy it was picking up. Eventually, it ignited World War III.

Here in the year 2025 it seems kind of silly to try to decipher exactly what it was that started World War III. We should just be grateful that the war did not last long. It was apparently necessary for us to see where our thinking was taking us and to finally put an end to it.

For some of us it became glaringly apparent that World War III started in that laundromat in the housing complex in some little town out in the middle of nowhere. The negative energy released by that odd confrontation traveled through mass human consciousness round and round the planet until finally it exploded in war.

Is that not where all war begins? In our neighborhoods? In our laundromats? In our noggins?

Here in 2025 we can investigate and postulate how the war to end all wars began but we may never be sure. But there is one little thing we can be sure of. We now know conclusively why there is an armed security guard stationed at every laundromat in the country.

Copyright by White Feather. All Rights Reserved. Thanks for reading.

A very, very different kind of laundromat story…