The Jelly Bar

Z-slum was her new home, a desolate outpost beyond Zellen's walls where the last humans sought refuge in the planet's last habitable land.

To Mary, this was neither a haven nor a prison; rather, it was something far worse, especially since she once lived in Zellen.

"Please take a seat; dinner is ready," Joe announced.

He arranged the jelly bars on the dining room table. Mary fixed her gaze on the jelly bars before shifting her gaze to her husband. "Ugh. I will not eat any more human food; I am not a dog!"

"Please! Dig in and attempt to savour it, if only for the day."

Mary lifted the jelly bar with her fingers. For a brief moment, she felt nauseated, but quickly regained her composure and placed it on the plate. She leaned in for a whiff and a foul-egg odour invaded her nostrils. She recoiled in disgust and wished she could hurl it away. But she couldn't throw away the only food available to humans, or to put it another way, a Zellen trash like her.

"I am no longer at Zellen," she murmured. She took hold of the jelly bar and nibbled on a small piece. She gaged and slammed the rest of jelly bar onto the dining room table, nauseated. "Ugh".

Lise and Mark, her children, startled and locked their gaze on her, anticipating her next move. She immediately regretted her actions. She cast a longing glance their way. She could only see hollowed-out, hopeless eyes. She recalled their prosperous lives in Zellen, as well as the plentiful food she prepared for them. They were once heavenly beings who lived in an Eden-like city.

Mary turned to face Joe as he poured water into the mug beside her. As soon as she saw her husband, her spirits plummeted. She was not able to forgive him for his actions that brought them to the Z-slum. Life in the Z-slum had devolved into a tragicomic saga of never-ending violence between its damned survivors, who were attempting to survive in a world hotter than Satan's sauna. She then reached beneath her unkempt shirt and pulled out a heart-shaped locket made of silver, a gift from her parents. The locket reminded her of her final days as a Zellen citizen, before her family was exiled to this desolate, hellish place.

Joe was a well-known physician in Zellen before losing his high rank and being exiled to the Z-slum. He was found guilty under the Z-law of providing medical care to humans. Under Zellen's rule, humans were treated as slaves, deprived of all rights and humane treatment. He accepted his fate with dignity. In this hellish place, he found inner peace by transcending irrational desires and emotions. Mary was aware that her husband hid his compassion and pity for humans. However, she couldn’t bring herself to betray him. She found guilty of treason for failing to report her husband's acts and publicly humiliated.

She shoved the last of the jelly bar into her mouth and forcefully swallowed it, pinching her lips together and clutching her priceless silver heart-shaped locket close to her chest.

"It is a filling food. Please, eat up Mark and Lise," she uttered.

Her famished children snatched the jelly bars and devoured it in seconds.

Mary took the locket off her neck and then unlocked it. A hologram appeared of her family gathered around a table in her beautiful garden for a celebratory meal. She then closed her eyes and descended in time.

"TING!" She opened the oven. A rosemary aroma greeted her first, followed by a hint of caramel from the honey glaze. She carefully carried the glazed turkey to the table, which she had decorated with flowers she had picked herself in her garden.

Her family entrusted her with cutting the first slice of turkey. With her stomach clenched, she reached out for the knife, straightened herself, and slowly sliced the turkey. Steam burst out, dispersing the aroma of mixed herbs throughout the room. As she sliced deep into the glazed turkey, juices oozed onto her grandmother's platter. "Golden, crispy skin and tender, juicy meat," she exclaimed. She shoved a piece into her mouth, which prompted her to wag her feet and gyrate wildly in a dance of ecstasy. "Hum. Success!"

She blinked her eyes open and her gaze was drawn to the empty dining room table. She clasped her hands together and withdrew inwardly. She noticed her children staring at her and tried to hide her sadness with a reassuring smile before gazing wistfully out the window at Zellen, the city she adored and longed to return to.

The city of Zellen glistened under the blazing sun, towering over Z-slum. It exuded a sense of superiority. The Z-Tower arose above the wall in the heart of Zellen, a beacon of hope in this desolate land. Her grandfather told her stories about the founders of Zellen and their rise to power.

Zellenians were the next stage of human evolution, possessing a more developed physical appearance and intelligence. They ascended to the top species by gaining control of the planet's only habitable land and water resources. Zellen was then founded as a paradise for Zellenians.

Mary raised her eyes to the eternal cloudless sky. She cursed humankind for its failure to fix the ozone layer. For 300 years, Earth was at the mercy of an eternally blazing sun. The sweltering heat reminded the residents of Z-slum that there was no way out of this psychedelic stew of despair. Her mind tightened like bowstrings as she gazed out over the damned landscape, transforming her fears of dying in the Z-slum into phobias.

Hot tears streamed down Mary’s cheeks with the ferocity of a raging train. She was powerless to stop them. She leaned against the window frame, her head in her hands. With each sob, an undulating rack of quakes engulfed her body. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a crumpled cloth with which to blow her nose.

She rose to her feet and swinged open the front door. A wave of heat engulfed her. She released her grip on the heart-shaped locket, which rolled to Joe's feet. She looked at her children, giggling with sadness, and stepped onto the fiery sand. Her lungs were on fire with each breath. She gathered the last ounce of strength she could muster and sprinted ahead into the sand furnace, dancing joyously in her death agony. She paced through the sand, then onto dry land, and into her garden. "I am home," she squealed with delight.

The End