Ravaged Land

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. Life used to be simpler back before the great recession. Several years earlier she and her boyfriend invested their savings into a diamond company. Her boyfriend, Luke, was given the option of working in a diamond mine and could further buy into the company. The pay was good and vacation bonuses sealed the deal. Now Kathy looked out the window to the ruins outside. It was the only way she could view the outside world. She was confined to the dwelling with a small bathroom and a bedroom.

Meals were planned, times of sewing garments were planned and timed. The new world order gave meals three times a day at exact times. The meals contained vital nutrients but tasted awful, the aroma alone drove people insane. However there was no other option. Women stayed home and had to sew garments eight hours a day with rest breaks in the middle. Men would go into the ruins and find scraps of metal or anything that had any value. They had to sort through ruins in biohazard suits with gas masks. It was unknown the air quality and often mounds of ruin were bedecked with feces.

Kathy in her younger years had often pondered death as being the worst imaginable punishment. Now. She welcomed death. Her only reason for living was Luke. He labored throughout the day in the ruins which were illuminated by a smoggy grey sky with very limited sun. Occasionally, she could see him when he first left, waving to her. However off into oblivion he would go after. When he returned home he was often exhausted from the intense labor. But he made time for her. She wished she could have more time with him but the harsh reality of the diamond stock scam had destroyed her world.

After sewing her usual eight hours and eating her less than appetizing meal she looked out onto the wasteland. A rat was worming around looking for dinner. The rat was almost as big as a cat. She envisioned herself as that rat looking for escape. After a few minutes of that pointless imagination, her dull life lead her wondering what the rat must taste like. She thought of the days she used to cook and imagined making a holiday meal out of the rat. She faded into deep sleep.

She dreamt of a different reality in her sleep. A reality where skies were blue and there was grass. Lush dark green grass so close by and realistic she could smell it. She dreamt of taking a bathe in a cool swimming pool nearby. The feeling of water on her body on a hot day. Her dream became so lucid she believed it was her reality. A young boy whom she had never seen in her life but she knew in this dream was her son came running to her. He was about to jump in her arms…

A crash woke her up. Luke had come home and dropped his gas mask on the floor. She was upset that her dream was over and had to face the harsh reality of the new bleak world she lived in. a world that was both a great depression’s world and her own. She looked at Luke and motioned him to come sit with her. His eyes were heavy and guarded. He was tired of this world too but knew he was powerless to escape it. Kathy motioned for him to lie down and close his eyes. She whispered imagery into his ears. The same imagery in her dream. They had each other and a vision of a better world. It was the one thing they got to enjoy for together.