Food for Thought

November 2nd, 2222

Today is the beginning of the end. We’ve been waiting so long for this. My nerves make me want to run away into the forest and never return but there is too many lives in my hand. I know my conscious wouldn’t let me live with that. I feel the rough bark on the branch I’m sitting on and look out over the city that is bustling a few miles away, just beneath my feet.

From the outside it looks peaceful somehow. Why is everyone always in such a hurry to finish the day? I feel sorry for them in a way. I would be lying, though, if I said I never laid awake at night wondering how my life would be different if I didn’t know the truth. Ignorance is bliss, or however the saying goes. My nervous thoughts are interrupted by a crunch of a branch. I whip around too quickly and almost fall out of the tree. At first, I don’t see anything and brush it off as a wild deer but then I hear the faint rustling of leaves and the feeling of being watched, creeps over me. I narrow my eyes and scan the forest below me, once again. A few yards away is a large tree with a wide trunk, big enough for a bear to hide behind. I slink down from my seat amongst the trees and unholster the gun on my hip. I slowly raise it to eye level as I take calculated steps to the base of the enormous trunk, careful not to breathe too loudly. As I round the right side of the tree, I’m met by a scream that startles even me.

For a boy he really did scream like a girl. He had bright blonde hair, that in the light almost looked white and curled in every direction. His skin was fair, and he had freckles sprinkled across his body. His eyes were so blue in comparison, it looked like they were glowing. He was taller than me, but only by a little. He was lean and sculpted though, meaning he’d be a fair fight. Something about him made me want to look at him in awe, he seemed like an angel in a way. I expected him to fly away. He was so different compared to me. His features looked even more intense when next to my wavy dark hair, deep green eyes and tanned skin.

“Who the hell are you and why are you watching me?” I ask, as I put the gun closer to his head.

“ Er-…Ernest Poplar, now will you put the gun down I’m literally unarmed.” He said as he lowered his hands. I lowered the gun.

“Well… now would be a great time to tell me who the hell you are” he said with a smirk.

“Elizabeth Truett, but I go by E. Why were you watching me? ” I demanded, my eyes still watching his every move. I had never seen him before, and I was weary.

“ I usually go for walks later in the day but this morning I woke up early from a nightmare and thought I’d start the day earlier than usual. I didn’t mean to stare but you looked so tranquil and I didn’t want to startle you. I apologize.” He said, as he blushed.

I narrowed my eyes at him, but he seemed to be telling the truth. He appeared to be lost in the clouds with his thoughts and had dark circles under his eyes like someone who hadn’t slept well.

“ Well Ernest-“ I started.

“ You can call me Ernie” he interrupted and then smiled “that’s what most people call me.”

I smiled back; he was contagious. “Well Ernie, I haven’t slept well either and was about to eat breakfast would you like to join?” I asked, half expecting him to say no.

“ I’d love to, if you tell me what you were looking at over there,” he teased.

“What the city? I just like to see the sunrise behind the buildings it’s kind of pretty in the morning,” I lied. I didn’t fully trust him yet, and I wasn’t about to tell him my inner thoughts and feelings about what was to come.

“Well let’s not miss it then!” he exclaimed as he grabbed my hand and made a start for the tree, I was just in.

We climbed up the tree and sat on the branch together sharing the berries I had picked earlier in the morning and the coffee in the thermos I brought. We talked and wondered aloud what the people below us in the bustling city were doing to start their day. I had never let anyone come with me to my perfect view of the city. It was my spot and I didn’t want to share that experience with someone else, but with Ernest next to me and his leg touching mine I kind of liked the company. He was handsome and it made my palms sweaty, I didn’t know what to do with my limbs or what to say next. I let him lead the conversation. He talked about the animals he saw in the woods and the beauty of nature that helped his night terrors. His eyes were captivating, and I held on to every word. Suddenly I found him leaning into me and his lips came together. I had kissed other boys before but none of them had the deep connection to this spot and nature the way I had. It was like he was saying what I was thinking before I thought it. When our lips met, I felt my stomach do flips and I wondered if this time I would fall out of the tree. When he pulled away his eyes lit up again and he had a brilliant smile on his face like he just won what my ancestors used to call the ‘lottery’.

“ I’ve never had these before, what are they?” he asked with his hand outstretched.

“ You’ve never had a raspberry before?” I looked at him still in a daze from the kiss. It all happened so fast.

The resistance had made me very fond of raspberries. There wasn’t a whole lot to eat that was sweet. My grandmother used to tell me stories about the decadent sweet treats that used to be in stores everywhere. Cakes covered in icing and sprinkles, fried dough with glaze on top and something called a ‘Twinkie’, that sounded magical to me. When the government took control after the pandemic, there was a never-ending supply of food, or so it seemed. Every corner had something sweet and filled with icing or meat covered in cheese and wrapped in more meat. My grandmother explained, that at first the people were overjoyed. She, herself, used to walk every day to the convenience store for a small cake and a fizzy syrupy drink. But after a few years, my grandmother was no longer able to walk to the store because her feet had swollen to painful balloons. Many of her friends were diagnosed with cancer or heart attacks and were hospitalized for months, racking up bills their families couldn’t pay back. Announcements came shortly after that fruit and vegetable crops had become scarce and that they would no longer be sold at stores but would be rationed out a few times a year when in season. But soon enough, there was just no more fresh food. It was all processed and there wasn’t any choice. My grandmother's feet kept swelling, and each day another choice, another freedom, was taken away. It started with food but soon everything was controlled, regulated, and chosen for us. Nothing was ours, not even our own thoughts. The news told stories of the country tearing each other apart over religion, politics, skin color, and anything else you could think of. A head of state started the ideology that the founding fathers had caused this strife between us because of the principles they created the nation with. Soon after the second civil war, the government decided to start a new nation and lock away the documents that America had been founded on, to be forgotten. After a couple of years, my grandmother had reached her breaking point, she could no longer bear the pain. The resistance came just in time to save her with the truth. They fed her food that grew from the ground that they harvested themselves, and in turn taught us to grow our food. Within a month, my grandmother’s feet stopped swelling and she was back in the garden with us again. We were taught new ways to live. We were taught the truth. The government had cornered us into eating things that caused illness. The system couldn’t profit off of healthy people, only the sick, so it made us sick. Our freedom wasn’t outright stolen like other nations with dictators. Instead, it was stolen piece by piece in front of our faces. For many this was a utopia, the hungry were fed, the homeless didn’t need to beg on corners anymore, no one had to wonder what to cook for dinner because each corner had bagged food already prepared. To the resistance this was anything but a utopia, humans were the only species that paid to live on earth and were paying to die faster. We had forgotten how to live.

Tomorrow would be the beginning of a new age and it all relied on me. Tomorrow was the nation’s election day. Tomorrow a fresh young man would take the place of the leader and would continue to control the cities by making the people think they hand-picked him, keeping the delusion of the ‘free nation’ alive. What they don’t know is the ceremony will be disrupted by the resistance and I will be killing the next leader for the heart -shaped locket around his neck that will be passed on to him from the current leader. One can only imagine what the key inside the locket unlocks, but the resistance is hoping it holds the key to the documents that prove we are a free nation. I hope they’re right and it’s worth me taking a life.

I tune back into what Ernie is saying, “…these would be great at my ceremony tomorrow! I’ll have to tell Charles to add this to the menu, it would be a great dessert for –“

“What ceremony tomorrow?” I ask.

“ The election? We only get a new leader every 70 years; you’d think you’d remember,”

“ You’re going to the ceremony tomorrow?” My heart began to pound, is he not a part of the resistance?

“ Well it’s kind of for me, so I have to be there! I’m kind of nervous but I’m sure everyone is before they lead a country, ” he said with a laugh and a big grin on his face.

My heart began to sink, and it felt like I was fighting for air. I had just kissed the new leader. I just kissed the man I was supposed to kill tomorrow… and I liked him. I liked him. How could someone so pure, be the leader of something so evil? I really did want to run away and never come back. I couldn’t kill him. I couldn’t watch the life drain from his eyes as I stole a locket that may or may not contain the proof we need. He didn’t even know the truth and I couldn’t tell him, not yet anyway. The resistance was relying on me and I didn’t want to let them down, but maybe there was a way to save him from being the government’s next puppet. I wanted him but I needed the locket. It became clear to me what had to happen tomorrow. I just hoped I had the heart to do it.

-E