DREAM COME TRUE

The year is 2199. Buildings are tall and made of glass. All the land is nothing but dirt and desolation. The earth stopped revolving some time ago, so every day is 24 hours of sunlight. All vegetation has been moved into factories. Air is no longer free. Government is run by A.I. In fact, what isn’t run by A.I., come to think of it. Everyone has universal income. A nice little barcode, embedded into your wrist, lets everyone know your income base in an instant. With a little bit of backdrop out of the way, I guess that leaves you curious about me. Me? “Hi, I’m Alvin.” I’m nothing special. Scrawny, scrappy. I stand 5’10”, sandy blonde hair, light blue eyes, semi-muscular, long faced, strong jawed. I am an orphan, or at least I think I’m an orphan. I live in a basement of a building. Raised by an A.I. Her number is AI-VIN: MUM2002. I just call her Mum. Look familiar? AI-VIN… Alvin… So, mum raised me by being a peddler on the side. Now that I’m 17, I can help her find her wares, if you know what I mean.

I spend my days in a two block radius. Bumping into people, swiping what I can as quickly as I can. I haven’t gone far or traveled very much. I close shop around 8 o’clock each day. Long enough to get a meal in me. Looking toward the approval of Mum from the loot of the day, and daydream as the buildings go dark. You see, since night doesn’t exist anymore, the government felt buildings going dark was the answer. Whether you were ready or not. Whether you liked it or not. Buildings went pitch black at 10pm every day and would not reanimate until 7am in the morning. I hated this because I hate the dark. I lay lonely because Mum goes out with the lights. So, I am left alone with my thoughts. Sometimes I look around the room to try and figure out what the stuff is. Sometimes I think of lives I never had. Like being a prince in a country, or being a rich, happy billionaire. Finally sleep will hit me. I imagine I catch a few hours before finally, the hum of the lights powering, and the brightness hits my face. Off again to start another day.

Today I had the luck of running into a businessman. He was carrying a package with a lot of small boxes inside. Easy enough. I ran into him full force. Little boxes scattered everywhere. I quickly helped him pick up the boxes. All but one, that is. He was grumpy, and disgruntled, happier once sent back on his way. For me, the day couldn’t go quick enough. For some reason, I wanted to see what treasure awaited me. 8 o’clock came. I ran to my building. I greeted Mum; gave her the wares I had gathered in the day. All but the box, that is. 10pm came, buildings whirred down, Mum too. I snuck out into the daylight. I opened the plain black box. Inside was a blackish, grey heart-shaped locket with silver fleur along the outside edges. I was oddly drawn to it. The back of the locket was inscribed B. Ware. I opened the locket. There was a picture inside. It was a young girl around my age. She was long haired, fair skinned, had soft blue eyes, and flaunting a half smile. Again, so weird because I was drawn to her. I went back into my building, locket in hand. Now all I can think about is the girl in the picture. What was her name? What is her life like? Is she still alive? I drifted off to sleep with these thoughts.

I see lots of colors flash. I see a bunch of fuzzy bright spots. Then the picture becomes clear. I’m standing in front of a mirror, except I’m not me. I’m her. I’m the girl in the locket. I gasp. I start panicking. I pinch myself. I have a million thoughts running in my head. Is this real? How can this happen? I look around the cream tiled room with a toilet, a sink, and a mirror over the sink. I look down to my thin, now petite body. I have boobs! Still thinking this must be a dream, I venture out of the room. I make a right out of the room and go down this hall a short way. It flowed into a bigger room with chairs and couches. I saw a man on one of the couches. I greeted him. “Hello, what do I call you?” The man laughed, “I suppose the same thing you call me everyday would be fine. Dad will do,” he said. I smiled and said OKAY. I decided to venture further so maybe Dad wouldn’t figure me out. The room past was a two room in one. One side had a table with chairs, the other side had a bunch of cabinets, a cold box with food inside, and some strange gadgets inside. In this room there was a sliding window. There was so much green outside. I think I saw some trees. I slide open the window and stepped into the green. It was lovely. Next thing I know this weird, ugly, fuzzy thing came running at me. I froze. I wasn’t sure what to do. It jumped on my thighs then licked my hand. I’m, not sure what this is. We don’t have many animals. Most have long since perished. I hear the whirr of the lights. I’m snapped back to my own reality. I know what I must do. I start my day. I can’t get the dream out of my head. Was it a dream? Why did it seem so real? I still have the locket tucked in my pocket. I wouldn’t want Mum to find it. It’s mine.

The day was a blur. I kind of flopped. I mean, can you blame me? All I could think about was 10pm coming around. Will it happen again? 8 o’clock came. I think Mum was disappointed with me, but she didn’t say much. I retreated to my area with my thoughts waiting for 10 o’clock to hit. Just before the lights went out, I stared down at her picture. I was replaying the dream again like I had all day. Then the blackness fell. For once I didn’t feel lonely. For once, it didn’t seem dreary. I wanted dreams to come.

White lights met my eyes. Flashes like a picture being taken hit. Then I’m in this bed. A comfy bed with flowers printed all over the blanket. There is this big box with a mirror on it. I look in the mirror to see that again I’m her. I get out of bed to venture down the same hallway, into the big room. The big room with the chairs and couches. There Dad was again. This time I just say, “Hi Dad.” He then responded, “Good morning, sweetheart. I made breakfast.” This low bearing table in front of the couch had a plate with round flat breads and these white circle things with yellow circles in the middle. Not sure what it was, but oh my god, it was amazing! Dad seemed like a nice guy. He stood so tall. Maybe 6’ even, soft brown and peppered grey hair. The same soft blue eyes as her. He had a gentleness to his face. I’d say he was in his late forties with the greying in his beard. He wore glasses. They were thin, so maybe just for reading? He smiled a lot but wasn’t big on conversation. I wasn’t upset though. I didn’t know what to say anyway. I felt myself slipping. I wasn’t ready yet. I just got here, damnit! I don’t want to go!

The whir of the lights coming on. I was back in my bleak existence. One where I had no one to smile at me. No green to look at. No one to even notice my existence other than if I knocked them off their feet. I had to change my world. I had to gain more to life than this. The answer flipped on in my head like a light switch. If you become her when you dream, then why not make yourself permanently dream? There was a drugstore on the 3rd block. I didn’t go there very often because not many people pass with wares there. I go into the store looking down sections. Not sure what I’m looking for. An A.I. noticed I kept scanning isles, so the odd talking box approached me. In a very robotic voice, it asked “May I help you find something?” I replied, “Yes, sleep please.” It shuffled me to a middle section of an aisle. So many boxes said sleep. I don’t know what to get. I’m not sure, so I grab a box of this, a box of that, and one more box of another just to top it off. I scan my wrist to pay for my goods and I happily wait for 8 o’clock. It comes and you know my routine. Except this time around nine I start eating the sleep meds. I take them like candy. I couldn’t even keep count. 10 o’clock will be the last 10 o’clock I have in this life. I want her life. The lights go out. Darkness hits. I had the locket in my hand. A smile on my face. I had something to look forward to. The brightness came. The flashes happened. I looked into the mirror. I was her. I knew now I could have a better life. There were so many things to do. So many things to see and figure out. I was elated that my plan worked.

7am peaked, the power whirred. No Alvin. Mum ventured over to Alvin’s spot. She saw him laying on the floor, locket in hand. He wouldn’t wake up, but he had an eerie smile on his face. She picked up the locket. Curiosity crossed her circuits. She opened the locket and inside was a picture of Alvin with a half-smile on his face. She didn’t know how that could even be possible. Pictures aren’t taken anymore. These days memories are stored holographically in file form. Any photography left was preserved in art sanctuaries. A.I. can’t have a full understanding of what happens when life ends. Only what you can find surfing the web. Her last thought was that wherever Alvin was in the universe, or whatever time he may find himself in, may he have found his paradise.