Perhaps it was a dream, she thought. Perhaps, if she pinched herself, she would wake up. But she didn’t want to wake up.
Perhaps it was a dream, she thought.
Perhaps, if she pinched herself, she would wake up. But she didn’t want to wake up. She wanted to stay on this dream world where there were no cars, spewing noxious gas, just wide-open walks, and bike paths. It seemed a small corner grocer on each block, a couple of cafes, and multiple other small shops of differing merchandise up and down each side of the street. The Physical streets were exceedingly small and meant only for the bikes, maintenance, or emergency vehicles.
So quaint yet packed with the modern wonders of the world she left behind. A screen in each person’s hand, continual access to the net, and the ominous, ever-present, security force in the greyscale urban camouflaged, motorized suits of armor. Not the gleaming shiny type of armor from ancient history but sleek, molded, body glove type of modern technology. The wide-open walks, bike paths and quaint hamlet styled streets punctuated with large green spaces almost made one forget about the several thousand cameras, covering every angle, visible and not, as well as those whizzing about on the thousands of drones, the citizens of New World in concert with the Security forces, operated each and every day.
It was hard to complain though, Laura thought; there had not been a violent crime in New World, ever! No Rape, no murder, no terrorists exploding themselves and others, no theft, and no police brutality.
It had been a chore though getting past not being able to jump in the car and go see mom and dad. But New World was only a day’s space flight from the Earth, unlike Tanzelli One’s 2.5 years.
As she sat sipping her coffee wondering if she made the right choice and contemplating the new life she was embarking on, she decided to get her fifteen minutes of monitoring for the day out of the way.
Each citizen was required each day to log into the security network pick an area of New World that had yet to be monitored and observe the live security footage, she always tried to choose a green space, she loved the trees and bushes, playgrounds and people.
Citizen’s played a critical role in keeping an eye on their community as well as an eye on those they employ to help maintain peace, order, and security; reporting any oddities, social infractions, or misconduct of the security forces, was a right and responsibility of the citizens of New World.
“It is how we do our part to maintain a simple and secure life in our new home.” Her sponsor said during her orientation.
She took a deep breath and tapped on 32nd and State, her favorite park, it being highlighted grey indicating that it had yet to be monitored this morning. She leaned back, relaxed, took a sip of coffee, and enjoyed the fresh clean air, bright sun, and cool breeze so common on New World.
No need for a pinch, she thought.
New World is published in the Medium online publication Invisible Pillar. Please consider joining Medium as a paid subscriber. When you read my stories on Medium as a paid subscriber I get paid.
Copyright: T. Mark Mangum, 2020. All rights reserved. No part of my story may be copied, reprinted, or published without my written consent.
T. Mark Mangum, is the product of the 60s and 70s, his imagination, wonder, thoughts, and ponderings, emboldened by Star Trek, Star Wars, Conan the Barbarian, and The Hobbit. He loves a good story and hopes you will love reading his stories. Veteran, Father, TTRPG, and board Game Junkie. He spent 20 years in the United States Army, another 10 working for the government, before realizing he should write.