The New World Order

I stared down at the grey-colored pill sitting next to my breakfast. A conversation I had with my friend, Imani, was playing in the back of my mind. She told me she stopped taking her pills a few days ago just to see what would happen, she said that heterogeneity wasn’t a bad thing and that she wanted to experience it even though that way of life had been made illegal. She had been sharing a secret diary with me that was from a previous owner of her residence. She had found it hidden away behind a floorboard in her room when her unit moved into this residence. We would read a few pages together whenever we had some privacy. The diary looked like a black leather-bound book with a clasp to help keep it closed. It spoke about a time when everyone was heterogenous and how people actually fought to express their differences during her time. The diary was very fascinating to read, her way of life was so different from how things are done now. We figured the owner of the diary was a female because she talked about giving birth at one point in the diary. Either way, if we were caught reading this material we would definitely get in trouble. Now she was risking so much more than a slap on the wrist if she got caught not taking her pill.

Putting that conversion out of my mind I took my pill, ate my breakfast, and went to go call Imani. She said she had something she wanted to show me for my birthday and today is my birthday. We agreed to meet at Imani’s residence. I liked her living unit much better than mine, they didn’t really care what Imani did as long as she didn’t cause trouble for them. Imani’s residence is only 3 structures down from my residence so I didn’t need to go far to meet up with her. We no longer have what used to be called family, that model has been replaced by what is now called units, but if I got to have a real family I would want Imani to be a part of mine. As I approached her residence, she was already waiting for me with the front door open wide and a large grin painted on her face.

“Happy Birthday!!” Imani yelled at me as I approached to give her a hug.

“Thank you,” I said.

Imani whispered in my ear, “I think you are gonna love what I’m about to show you, just promise me you won’t tell anyone.”

“I promise” I whispered back.

Imani took me by the hand and we dashed off to her room, closing the door behind us. She immediately pulls the diary out. Flipping the diary open almost to the end, I noticed a small square cut out in the pages and something in the gap that I couldn’t quite see yet.

“Close your eyes,” Imani said.

I closed my eyes. A feeling of the tension of excitement and nervousness coiling in my belly.

“Open them”

As I opened my eyes I was shocked to see Imani holding a beautiful, delicate, yellow-gold, heart shaped locket on an equally delicate chain. My jaw dropped wide open as she opened it revealing a tiny picture of what looked to be the family spoken about in the earlier pages we had read. Imani passed the locket to me so I could hold it and take a better look. It was the most beautiful thing I had seen in awhile. Something this unique surely would have been confiscated at first sight if seen by the police or anyone else for that matter.

That’s when we heard a sharp rap at the bedroom door. We started scrambling around trying to hide what we were doing. Imani grabbed the diary, launching it under her blankets and pillow. I shoved the locket in my pocket just as she opened the door to someone from her unit coming to wish me a happy birthday. Such panic sent both of us into an adrenalized state we could only laugh as when we were alone again.

That was a close one, Imani said. We decided to read the page the locket came out of.

It read:

July 10, 2020

I never thought living through the apocalypse would be so anticlimactic. I always thought there would be some sort of chaos that would break out then everyone fighting to survive as the new world emerged. Zombies, nuclear bombs, a really scary viral outbreak… something but really there is a calm in the air, I don’t think people realize the world is ending. The government has started passing laws that are warping the very fabric of life instead. It started a month ago with removing areas know for one sex to being an area open to everyone then it gradually moved to the law that was passed today and will go into effect next week. No more families. We are now to be put into units according to purpose. Humans that produce seed are called breeders and the humans that give birth to the babies are called birthing people. It is said that when we are put into our new units that our familiar items would be confiscated so I am hiding my most prized possession inside my diary and placing it in the floorboards of my bedroom. Maybe one day I will be back to retrieve it I don’t know but for now, I must go before someone sees me.

-Love

“Wow, I can’t believe that according to this diary we are living in a post-apocalyptic world,” Imani said.

My brain seemed to be in a fog. The more I thought about what she had written the more I wondered… why do we take those strange pills? The diary never spoke of them but since I was born I’ve been taking that same medication. I wondered what would happen if I stopped.

“Imani, have you noticed a difference in yourself since you stopped taking the pill? I asked.

“No, not anything big but I did notice that I’ve been wanting to do something different.” She said.

“Like what?”

“I’ve been wanting to…”

Her speaking was interrupted by the sound of a warning siren. It was time for me to go back to my unit and see what was happening.