Attached:

A Dystopian Tale in a “Perfect World”

By

J. N. Wdowski

Part One

 “The World is Perfect!”

Declared one of the large, animated screens mounted on the side of a tall building.

From every corner of the metropolis, massive holographic billboards projected the serene face of the matriarch, her shaved head haloed by back lighting. Her large Buddha like earlobes hung low on her smiling, welcoming face. Her skin was a smooth copper tone, like all of the citizens that walked the streets below her. She, like them, was a mix of all three major human races: Caucasoid, Mongoloid, and Negroid.

"Harmony is unity. Unity is peace. Be grateful for the world we have built together." Another animated billboard projected with the soothing face of the “Great Mother.”

The skies above the city were blue with only a few white clouds. From time-to-time Tilt-rotor aircraft and autonomous drones flew overhead. The immaculate streets below were alive with bustling citizens moving freely to their destinations.

At the corner of an intersection Harmony Officers had established a random check point. Citizens were being funneled through arched scanners, being checked for any items that may break the harmony of society. The majority of citizens passed through unhindered by the check and would all politely return the smiles of the officers.

Two young men with long hair were stopped by the officers. Their hair pulled back as the officers checked their ears. Satisfied, they allowed the young men to continue but advised them to cut their hair or tie it back, just as all the women on the streets had done. The men all had short haircuts; women had attractive short hair, or if they had long hair, they wore their hair up, tied into ponytails, or pigtails.

Annabelle carefully peeked between the venetian blinds of the one window in her hidden room. She was an attractive mixed raced 20-year-old, seemingly no different than any other citizen. For years she has heard the Great Mother repeat her comforting words - words that brought no comfort to Annabelle.

She turned from the window looking at her room that was only large enough for a single bed, one bookcase, and a desk with a chair and on the far end: a commode chair. Unable to empty it often it contained odor absorbent chemicals that turned human waste into solid gels. As an extra precaution a netted bag of charcoal hung under the seat of the commode chair, to absorb odors that may be detected. Pine fresheners in the room gave off a false smell of wooded inner walls.

She looked into the pinhole in her wall to the next room. “You’re running late, Corbyn.” She thought to herself. Knowing it was best to be silent at all times. She went back to her bed and picked up a book on her night table, trying to pass the time as she waited for him. It was not like it was the first time he had run late. She knew worrying would not make him show up any sooner. So, she focused on the copy of one of the “Ambassador Ford” books; a book that was banned for its “divisive nature” of portraying a future humanity with different racial and ethnic peoples.

Corbyn had enjoyed the series as a teenager and kept his hard copies hidden from the Harmony Officers. All electronic versions of the series, along with most novels and books of the pre-one era, had been permitted deleted. Hard copies of books were already rare before the Pure-Bred Wars. Corbyn even as a boy loved the feel and smell of old fashion hard cover books. The few copies he still owned were on the one bookcase in Annabelle’s room for safe keeping, hidden away as she was.

She had read his whole collection many times over. The Ambassador Ford series was one of her favorites.

Not much longer she heard the tumbling of the apartment’s front door locks being opened.

She returned to the spy hole, just as the front door opened. Standing in the doorway was a fit man in his late sixties pulling a two wheeled cart filled with groceries. He closed the door behind him and locked two of the three locks, leaving one open. A trick he learned when he was young from his grandfather. “It confuses unwanted guests” trying to unlock your door. As they unlock two, they end up locking one.

With the door properly sealed he rolled the cart into the kitchen beyond her view. She kept her eye on the spy hole, waiting for his return to the living room. She watched him approach the old stereo set. He played "The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel.

It was her cue to unhitch the hidden door to her room. Corbyn had already closed all the window shades and had the lights on. She exited with her chamber pot “You’re late. Is everything ok?” she asked purposely keeping her voice below the music.

“Sorry, I ran into an old comrade from my unit. We hadn’t seen each other for years. He wanted to catch up. I couldn’t be rude.” He answered also keeping his voice low.

She silently nodded with understanding before going to the one bathroom in the apartment to empty her commode and cleaning it out.

He entered after her. “I was able to get lobsters. Something we have not had for years.”

“You can afford lobster?” She asked focusing on her cleaning.

“My pension is enough for once and awhile.” He explained to her. “It is not like we have it often”

“You bought two?” she turned with a disapproving glance. “They know you live alone.”

He sighed “Don’t worry so much. I’m a war hero. They are not going to be suspicious of me. Take your shower.” Giving her privacy he gently closed the bathroom door for her.

Wrapping a towel around her she turned on the small washing machine that she had put her dirty clothes. She went back to her hidden room and dressed in her only other clothes she kept under her bed. Dressed she returned to the bathroom to hang the towel to dry. She checked the shower drain and cleared it of any hair in the tub. Flushing the hair in the toilet she made sure not to leave any evidence of her having been in the bathroom.

Joining Corbyn in the kitchen she sat at the kitchen table that was already set for two. The stereo was already on its eighth song. He quietly placed a steamed lobster in front of her. He gave her a small bowl of melted butter. He did the same for himself and sat opposite of her. He gestured with his eyes at the refrigerator. Knowing his meaning she went to the refrigerator. The light inside turned on as she opened the door and pulled out two bottles of cold beer. She closed the refrigerator door, placing one of the bottles in front of him.

He smiled at her in thanks, as she twisted the cap off her bottle. She returned to her seat to begin their very special dinner. Quietly she spoke as she enjoyed the lobster dipped in melted butter. “What is the occasion? Are we celebrating one of your victories back during the war?”

He held back from laughing out loud, “I need to buy you a calendar for your room.”

Confused she asked again, “What?”

“It happens to be your twenty-first birthday.” He bit his tongue trying not to laugh looking back at the refrigerator. “You didn’t notice when you got the beers?”

“Great Mother, I am losing my mind. There was a cake in the fridge.”

His grin exposed his perfect teeth. “Not just a cake; a birthday cake.”

She looked at him and began to get choked up. She held down her impulse to cry out loud. “Why are you so good to me?”

“Besides my promise to your dad, I actually like you. And if I have to admit it; I am attached to you too.”

She smiled as her tears silently rolled down her cheeks. She got up and gave him a bear hug where he sat. He gently patted her back as he returned her hug. “Go eat, before I need to reheat your butter.”

To continue please Download the full story.