Life as we know it

The afternoon was hot, her forehead felt damp, unsure if it was from her overheating body or the outside rays of the hot sunlight that beat more and more neutrinos into her body. But she was grateful for the heat, the uncomfortable feelings of barely there nausea in her belly where the slightly stale veggies stirred, they were only a few days old. Just enough to make them edible but also just enough to sit uneasily to cause discomfort

Santa Fe, though a well known hot spot for tourists due to it’s southwestern charm and old adobe buildings, was not her favorite place to visit, even during her annual childhood trips to see her grandparents. To her, there was something lonely and unspoken about those red and coral colored Mesas, the shadowy figures that flitter back and forth in the distance. Just far enough away to make their shape indiscernible but close enough to feel their eyes watching you. Her grandfather liked to revisit his tribes roots and share the stories passed down from his tribe to her and her brother. Theirs were founded in the green, cool forests of Michigan but there was a string of unity that tied this tale to that of their southern kin.

The Wendigo, as her grandfather’s people the Ojibwa called it, was something of a scary campfire story that she found uncomfortably creepy as an 8 year old. This creature took an all too real figure as she and the rest of the world would later find out...a much more subtle, insidious form.

This mind disease preyed upon those who were already weak to its call, cannibalistic and insatiable and completely blind to its own disease. It was devastating to watch picked and tore apart people, family, friends, lovers. It had no mercy for human emotions and relationships.

Her father had been one to always make sure the family was provided for in a material way, and to him, that was the end of his parental obligations. His mind was ready for Wendigo’s fangs to sink into, though it was a blind disease, it was cunning and the mind’s ripe for reaping called out to Wendigo like pinging flashes of red in the darkening twilight of their modern consumer culture.

A shiver tingled down her body as the dry wind of the desert ran across her sweaty spine. At least she still had one...Flesh that was synthetic, motherboards for brains, thoughts and emotions, the cold feeling of steel where a warm heart used to beat…

She pulled out of her shirt, the gold heart shaped locket, it was the only metal object she would wear on her body. She enjoyed the natural fibers of her cotton shirt and denim jeans against her skin, a daily reminder that she could still “feel” hers. She pressed the locket tighter in her first, fighting away the memories of those images and ads of people lining up for the “Fountain of Youth” upgrade.

What they didn’t know would lead to the beginning of the end of her world, the world she had grown up in and though ordinary, a place she had known love and felt comfort. This upgrade made it all too easy for Wendigo to plant its mind sickness far and wide, there was no fight to be had. “Immortality Day” as the governments had so benevolent declared it, was the sealing of their caskets, but no bodies would be found inside. It was their human nature, their Souls that would be buried in shiny cybergenic mausoleums. Creating empty, horrifying shells of the people she once cared for and adored.

No one warned her that the true apocalypse would be one that people would fall into willingly. There was no alien invasion, no earthquakes opening up to the magma core of the earth, swallowing victims in its wake. No, people were told by their scientists, politicians and favorite celebrities that this was the answer to their prayers! No more diets, sickness, death or pain, replace your broken pieces and parts with a metal frame!

Her family and friends had mocked her when she made the decision to stay mortal, telling her that she was missing out on the opportunity of a lifetime! The opportunity of Eternity!

Something didn’t sit right in the pit of her stomach about the whole thing, death was a part of life, she had learned that the hard way a year ago when her grandfather had passed away from cancer. And it soon came to light, not even a year later when the problem became “Breaking News” that fateful Saturday morning...These cybergenic human suits were energy costly, very energy costly, one that required a human battery source.

Unfortunately, the 6.3 Billion immortal people that found themselves in this energy crisis, outnumbered their mortal human companions 10,000 to one. And try as the scientists might, through solar panels, wind turbines and Hoover Dams multiplied times ten, there was no substitute for the human soul’s natural connection to the energy of life.

Her family and friends were the first to bare their sharp, bloodthirsty Wendigo driven fangs when they realized her mortal condition was the solution to their problem.

It now seemed like years ago that she had left the city of beautiful zombified automatons, though according to the season, it had only been 6 months ago. Avoiding the big cities was easy enough, it was running into the factory farms set in the middle of nowhere that proved to be problematic. At least they were keeping people alive, if you could call that kind of life “living”.

She had her own run in with Wendigo at that factory, when he had been captured and even her fellow humans seemed to be turning against her, she glimpsed Wendigo’s face. In the mirror.

Her eyes looked feral, sunken in her sockets and the spark that used to light up her soft green eyes barely resembled an ember. That gnawing hunger in her stomach and racing, circular thoughts in her brain that to her to survive, no matter the cost...But that little chain around her neck would burn, bringing tears and life to her eyes again. It was a stinging reminder, she was alive and she still felt her soul, her connection to life. One, she would not give up or take and fall into the hands of the Wendigo that had already stolen the mind, body and souls of so many.

She sat up against that little juniper tree and cupped her hand above her eyes to gaze up at the unforgiving sun. And she thanked it, for the sunlight that gave light and life to her surroundings, the gritty sand between her fingers and somewhat annoyingly in her teeth. She would live her life present in her body, with the energy that flowed around and through her and the new little life that was growing inside her. And like the little seeds inside her golden locket would one day grow to be a field of food, she and her child would be a testimony to life and the gift it is to truly be alive.