[ WP ] Everyone in the world develops an incurable case of the hiccups .

*'' The Hiccup-ocolypse'' * 
 
 All around the world, people were shot as others accidentally pulled triggers. People bled out as surgeons messed up precise incisions. Cars crashed as the steering wheels were suddenly turned, or the drivers momentarily stopped watching the roads. Buildings fell and people were crushed when crane operators jerked the controls the wrong way. 
 
 No, it was n't just crying children or religious hysterics. Lots of people died, and that was just in the first few hours of it hitting their homes. It was n't an earthquake, or aliens. It was hiccups. 
 
 All over the world, within one or two days, everyone alive had hiccups. Old grannies and newborn babies alike. Coma patients, even. I wo n't go into too much detail on what happened to the hospitals, but several of them quickly shut down. 
 
 At first, people thought it was `` vocal tics caused by mass hysteria''. It explained why only humans were affected by this, but not how everyone got them without even hearing of others. There were conspiracy theorists convinced it was biological warfare, and apparently even a few leaders that agreed, but scientific testing showed no sign of this being the case. It did n't help that most of the trusted news reporters refused to go on air to talk about it. Personally, I thought it was some disease that had hiccups as a symptom. It could have damaged our diaphragms, or our hiccup reflex, or something. I do n't know. I've sort of stopped wondering by now. I just want a cure. 
 
 You must think society would find a way to deal with it after the first few days, right? That's what we all thought too. There were minor adjustments that helped at first. More people walked places. Building operations were postponed. The epidemic was announced as non-fatal, and likely not dangerous, and we were informed that top scientists were trying to figure out what this was and how to fix it. 
 
 Most of the panic that had originally stricken began to settle, but that did n't stop the effects of the hiccups. Society could n't pause forever. Within a week, people were driving again. This time it was n't just cars crashing. It was buses, and planes. Drivers and pilots fell asleep at the wheel, exhausted by the lack of sleep. I think there were a few accidents with power plants and the like, as well. 
 
 Do you have any idea how uncomfortable it is to sleep with hiccups? To eat and drink properly? It's hard to breathe sometimes, and I ca n't imagine what it must have been like for people with medical conditions. I do n't expect a lot of people were having fun at night, either, although I'm not one to think about those sort of things. Everyone was exhausted and irritable, and a lot of public services shut down. Police tried to keep going, but their hands were full. They did n't have time to sort out accidents from attacks. 
 
 Some less righteous people took this unstable period as an opportunity, from local criminals to terrorist organizations. Some more righteous took it as a warning from God. Either way, it started wars that we could n't stop. Some things were still accidental, some were n't. It did n't really matter by that point. 
 
 I like to think that this would all end if we found a cure, but I have a sinking feeling that I know the world better than that by now. They'd try to give it to everyone they cared about first. Others would find out and try to steal it. If they finally got it, they'd probably charge a fortune for people to have it. 
 
 If I'm wrong and this reaches someone in a safe and happy future, I hope it will serve as a good historical record. If not, I hope it reminds someone that the world was n't always this way.
