Although lots of my products and creativity is available, either for free and some for sale, I thought I would give people of the option of leaving a tip or contribution to my site if they would like to. I create and post for free and do not expect financial reward for any of it, and appreciate the time people have taken to read and like my various photos, articles and assortment of items I throw at you every day. But if you would like to, then please do, it would also be appreciated 🙂
From my new book of short stories – A Short Walk and other dark short stories, I thought I would share this one with you for free in case you fancy a little read today…
‘Dear Ms Malone,
Congratulations, your application has been accepted for an apartment in Smart City Alpha.3’
She couldn’t believe it, and such good timing too. The application had been so easy, so they must have had loads of people to choose from she thought, maybe her luck was changing. It had asked a few family questions and one about what work experience you had. All very easy to answer, newly orphaned and estranged from remaining family. And one previous job as a waitress. Since the recent upheavals had closed all the hospitality outlets and they weren’t a thing anymore, it seemed irrelevant.
But these new cities were to be a safe haven from the madness that had overtaken what used to be society. The new normal was anything but. Selected individuals would be allowed to be separated from ‘the rabble’ as they called it. The daily briefings were enough for you to see how unstable everything had become. Pockets of rioting always breaking out, high unemployment, addictions were rife and it seemed on a downward spiral with only one way out for a shot at a decent future. The smart cities.
The letter went on to give her new apartment number, moving date and even that they would send a vehicle and driver to collect her. Rent payments would be low and work provided to pay for bills and food.
Both her parents had succumbed to the new virus that had crept through the population, causing confusion, economic collapse and varying degrees of illness and mortality throughout the population. She had ended up in a high-rise block of flats in a deprived area of the city, with banging doors, sirens and shouting at all hours. People coming and going all the time, and although the illness had mostly passed, it still loomed in the background of everyday life. Where there were people, there could be a threat. The idea of a nice quiet secure life was appealing. Especially with it only being selected people, maybe they wouldn’t let in any undesirables. It seemed so unfair that they survived and her parents didn’t.
There wasn’t much to pack, having only been a student living in halls when the emergency measures started, and had to stay there for the best part of a year. It was only after the cure had been introduced that the students were released. Her parents passed away shortly after and the family home had to be sold to pay for bills and costs, neither her or her brother could afford the upkeep or to pay for anything. At least the authorities had helped, otherwise she probably would have ended up on the street. Her first two nights had been in a hospital as that was the only emergency accommodation available until they could find somewhere. She still had nightmares about that place, and occasionally flashbacks during the day, remembering how odd it all seemed. Faintly hearing distant screams, screeching and scraping of trolley’s being pushed around in echoing hallways.
Three days later and it was time to move. Luckily the driver app she had been asked to download informed her he’d arrived and would assist with her bags and personal effects. A picture of the driver came through, showing only a facemask, pair of eyes and a hat. It would have to do as an ID she guessed. Hopefully you didn’t have to wear masks in the city, she hadn’t thought to ask and the information didn’t specify. It was such a part of her life now but the idea of not having to wear one was appealing.
She took a last look at the dingey flat that had been her home for the last couple of months and felt relief it was over now and a new phase could begin. A knock at the door and a few bags handed to the pair of green eyes. Door closed and gone. Not even a glance back, just looking forwards trying not to look at anyone or their pitiful lives on a downward spiral. If she had looked back though, she would have seen another lonely person with a few bags in hand, being shown into her old flat. Now to be their temporary home until their application gets approved.
It was about 20 minutes out of the old city they had built the new one. A massive fortified city with huge walls, security checkpoints and scanning technology to get in. It seemed to be the only way to ensure you would be safe, the adverts showed how much easier everything was in there. Friendly happy people, helping each other realise a new safer future. A new normal, where you could minimise risk and live better. She didn’t understand why the people outside wanted to live like the old way. It seemed so far away now. There was no way to tell who was going to be ok, millions had perished. But safety beckoned and knowing the madness of the old world was being left behind was a relaxing one. It was a shame she hadn’t told her brother she was leaving, but he wasn’t himself anymore.
They hadn’t spoken since the funerals. He kept insisting their parents were killed by the cure and wouldn’t accept it was the illness. Maybe he would come round and see that the news and media were right after all. That humanity was going to fall into ruin over the next decade, more people would be lost and the smart cities were the only way to build a new way forward. Technology would keep up safe.
As the car pulled up, vast metal fences surrounding the outer walls. There was a tunnel leading to the entrance so you couldn’t see into the city from outside at all. No guards, just screens and scanners, the driver removed his mask and turned to face the screen by his window. It beeped and turned green, the screen then slid to her window and flashed up the logo for a QR code. She suddenly realised it was on her acceptance letter and fumbled through her bag for it, suddenly flustered at not being prepared. A panic that they might not let her in after all, what if they had made a mistake and she wasn’t wanted in there after all? It beeped and turned green, nothing to worry about, she was fine.
As they started to drive through the tunnel, she looked at the lights lining the walls. Suddenly they flickered, and a long white hallway was in the place of the tunnel. Voices and hurried whispers, yet still the feeling of moving forward. The scene switched back to the car and tunnel, but the voices remained.
“We’ve got to get her out of here before she wakes up fully. They’ll know as soon as she knows, as long as we can get her out, we’re good”.
None of it made any sense. Maybe the radio was on, or maybe she was just tired, it had been a few months of sleepless nights and worry. Finally due to be over and a new life to begin. And with those thoughts drifted off into sleep, no longer worried what the driver might think, he could wake her when they arrived.
She woke with a start, a vague awareness of being someone tapping her info consciousness. But when she opened her eyes, wasn’t where she thought she would be. Her brother sat on the edge of the bed she was in and a couple of people she didn’t know hung back in the corner. She was so confused.
“What’s going on, where am I? How did I get here? Is this the city and you were here all along?”
He shook his head.
“No, this is just normal life now, I’ve been looking for you for two weeks after you went missing”.
Now it was her turn to shake her head.
“Weeks? Missing? What are you talking about! I haven’t seen you for months and was moving to the new smart city Alpha 9”.
She still couldn’t understand what was going on.
“I saw you three weeks ago at our parent’s funeral. I know this is going to be hard to take in, but you’ve been missing for two weeks and I just had to bust you out of a facility”.
She was dumbstruck and could only sit in silence as he unravelled where she had been.
It was called the Alpha Project but went under the name SMART – Serial Monitoring Augmented Reality Trials. People were being taken and drugged to alter their alpha waves to induce a switched state of reality where the REM state seems real and your body and mind react as if it is. But the whole time hooked up to machines keeping you in a comatose state and giving you a new concept of time, safety and reality. Weeks being turned into months and even years for some people.
“So, none of it happened? I wasn’t in a terrible flat for months feeling depressed and lonely? How can they do that, why would they do that to me? How do I know you are telling me the truth?”.
But deep down she knew he didn’t need to lie. It was written all over his face what he had been through, and suddenly the tunnel made sense now and the white corridor. That was her getting out. There was so much to work through and understand.
“I wasn’t going to let them take you as well, we’ve all lost too much to let them keep taking more”.
She felt extremely grateful to have a brother like him at that moment and leaned in to give him a hug, the emotion of it all creeping in and a bit of a tear started to form. She motioned for his two friends to come of the shadows and join them.
“I presume you guys helped? Just as well you three were there to come and save me! I owe you all one”.
They glanced at each other and back to her.
“It wasn’t just us three, there are others and being honest, we could use all the help we can get. Are you in?”
Things are progressing, and it does not appear to be for the greater good of anyone on the ground. The continuation of a breakdown of society and ultra-sinister methods being employed to keep people stressed, unsure and worried for their safety. As they well should be, there are ever more concerning reports coming out of various countries that should worry anyone. Canada (Quebec specifically), taking over parental rights. Infanticide up to 28 days after birth in some US states. Assisted suicide for mentally ill people. You can check out my article – More Than Sinister – if you want to hear more on that type of thing. They are going for money, food, housing, health – they are systematically dismantling them and the systems around them. Being headed by global organisations looking to fulfil statistics and targets they have set themselves. And we are the pawns. For no humane reason other than they want everyone hooked up to their plan of digital monitoring and identity. Again, check out my piece – Monitoring – for a more in-depth view on that, but I’ll brief it again shortly. They keep saying it’s ‘for your safety’ but do the complete opposite. Like someone drowning you, while telling you they are trying to save you.
The digital prison they are setting up for everyone isn’t a conspiracy either. It’s talked about in a very open and public way. ID’s, health information, finances, education, friendships, experiences, all controlled, influenced and monitored once it’s in place. We have been heading towards it for decades now and it’s coming to a head. The conditioning, the programming, the desensitising all coming together under one very controlled ‘shared event’. I believe this is important for them to lay the foundations for a set future. The Great Divide covers that too a bit and my speculation of what that group energy may be used for, but as a tool of manipulation and co-ordination, it can work wonders. People bond over the shared experience, it keeps it in living memory longer and can be more effective as a method of keeping people traumatised. Perhaps.
But after going for our health, and family and social units, they are now focusing on food. There have been various advertisements from the planners about bugs on the menu, synthetic meat, and lab grown products. Farmers are being encouraged and incentivised to retire, multiple food processing plants have been destroyed in the US in recent months, and leaders are warning of food shortages as they set them up. Ships being held in port, truckers being delayed, fuel prices set up to screw everyone. Farmers are also feeling the squeeze with fertilizer prices going through the roof, pushing them further into ruin. These are the guys that literally put food on your table, well, them and truckers. But imagine your food is grown in a lab, and driven to you in a remote vehicle – no person or animal required. That’s where it’s headed. Many are talking about it, but I also see many asking what they can do to prepare for something this life changing. And make no mistake, this is a life changing event we are in, and only part of the way through. It may sound dramatic to some, but it doesn’t change the fact it is happening, and it has happened on our watch. Plan as best you can with the ever-changing information you have and can speculate upon. Try and guard yourself mentally and physically for any scenario you can imagine, and if you can’t imagine, find other people’s ideas to work with. When it comes to items you have or might buy, I now have a rating system. Things will fall into 3 categories if it gets as bad as people say it might. Is it edible, useable or tradeable? The EUT scale I shall call it. And to be fair, I should have been thinking along those lines anyway, the system of money, prices and inflation is a stupid system you can’t help be a part of, but it doesn’t mean there isn’t a better way.
And that’s what many have recognised here recently, the old way wasn’t working. So, I don’t want the old system back, and only slightly miss the familiarity of it. Really, it’s exciting to think there could be something new and different, but not for the sake of it, and not for the benefit of only the few. People and humans are not meant to be mechanical pieces of software and hardware to be used to satisfy others needs and strange visions. We are not compatible with their system, so they are trying everything they can to rewrite us and integrate us with it. Like I said previously, it may sound dramatic to someone else, but if we don’t steer this in the right direction, we might not be human for much longer…
I now have another shop page as well as the one for handmade salves, this one is for my MKW designs all over print totebags for sale. Only a few available at a time, and one of each design…
After a walk and a forage of freshly opened daisies, we have a new salve on the horizon. Wasn’t expecting to find anything so a nice surprise. Was just reading yesterday how good daisies are for the skin, so I will look forward to that one being ready in a couple of weeks 😁
I’m getting there, finally finding my own style rather than trying to copy other ideas. Still loving the blue and white as you can see, but trying to give it some form.
MKW Publishing 