The Writing on the wall

Tuesday, August 1, 2069

Three years of trudging away and not asking questions, all for my name to be lost in an everlasting daydream. I was all alone, always by myself; a girl who lived in dreams. My ambition is to get enough money to turn myself into somebody and I've been a nobody my entire life. I wonder what I want most? Do I just want a friend or do I want enough money so that having people in my life doesn't matter?

Well, I guess choosing to work my way up the corporate money ladder by being a delivery tech for the Pennsylvania boxing company was my way of choosing my fate.

Friday, August 4, 2069

I like to think that being born into a ruined time has made me strong. I’ve been on my own for the longest now so I don't think I need anyone in my life. I have forgotten my parents almost completely, probably due to all of the cold gases they pump into the cities in order to make sure people don't melt away.

It’s been nearly two decades since heat began to engulf the Earth. Every man made structure began to melt away like butter in an oven. I suppose it's worth the memory issues if that means we don't burn away everytime we go to check the mail.

Thursday, August 17, 2069

Being a delivery driver is not what it's all cracked up to be. When your name appears on what everyone calls the fortune list, you get enlisted for a position that incites higher wages for yourself. This was unheard of in Pennsylvania, today.

Pennsylvania is one of the most poverty driven provinces in America; so, when there's a rear gig that pays enough to dig your way out of the streets comes open, then you’d better believe that's the job in town to have.

Unfortunately, getting on the list is nearly impossible for those of use in the business that can’t pay our way to the top. I guess I'm fortunate enough to be a driver and grind my way into fortune.

People would rather take their chances mining out coal, doing manual labor for a salary adequate enough to keep food on the table. I’m personally not cut out for work like that, I could never subject myself to literal slave labor.

Instead, I would rather ride around the cyberpunk land of Pennsylvania, delivering crap items to even crappier people. So here I am, delivering mail during the apocalypse.

I’m one of 12 mail drivers in the entire province of Pennsylvania and I’ve met a lot of interesting characters in my travels. Most of these people either had their head too far up their ass to give me the time of day or were plain old crackheads.

It might sound like I'm being cynical but I swear it's not me, it's the world we live in.

This state of mind is not artificial by any means, as a matter of fact, it is the normal persona for any person of this day and age to be in. The world as we know it has gone static; people now-a-days sorta just drift by one another like a bunch of ghosts haunting the grounds of a long deceased Earth.

Making deliveries to these phantom people is easy enough, I suppose. I'm just a plain old delivery driver delivering some of the weirdly shaped not so plain packages imaginable. I’m sure they’re some Sci-Fi looking weaponry or commodities of exotic poisons or something in there. Who really knows. . . Not me! The job is bizzare to say the least, but I've grown numb to the weirdness.

I was told when I got the job that taking a peek inside one of these packages that I carry would blow my mind. literally, opening a package would kill me. For security purposes, we mail carriers are chipped with a device that shocks the brain into oblivion once a body holding a chip removes the electromagnetic seals on the packages.

Yes, it's extreme, No, I don't like living like this, and Yes, it's worth it for a chance to get my name on the list.

Monday, October 3, 2070

David is my only friend in the world. I met him when I drove all the way to his worn down farm house in Lancaster county. I think I delivered him some night vision goggles (maybe heat vision, I can't remember). When I got there it was the middle of the night because it took me a full day to get down there, so David invited me inside for rest and some tea.

The interior of the farm house looked as worn down as the exterior, just neater and cozier.

He showed me what was inside his package; that was a real treat for me because I was always curious to see what intriguing items were inside those packages that I've been delivering for a living. The old man explained how the device worked and how it was used before the world started melting, and how they were apparently incredibly difficult to find on the market nowadays. He would say, “I paid top dollar for these little wonders”, He went on and on for the rest of the night, I didn't mind at all.

David ordered some other strange gizmos in the coming months. I live closest to Lancaster county, so I’m the gal that took all of his deliveries. I’m not sure where he had gotten the money to afford all of these high end gadgets, I never bothered to ask simply because David is my only friend, and bringing up money would make it seem like I was trying to swindle my way into his wallet or something horrible like that. so, I never brought up his wealth or mine in our conversations.

I returned to David's weekly to deliver his mail, drink tea, and talk to make sure I wouldn't die of boredom and he wouldn't die of loneliness. We talk about his youth most of the time, every once and a while we will talk about how corporate greed is turning this already ruined world worse, but we mostly keep our talks light hearted.

Thursday, October 30, 2070

A few weeks have passed and David has not ordered anything from anyone lately, which means I don't have an excuse to go and see him. I am afraid he has died in his sleep, or fallen down the stairs, or something horrible; but I’ll settle on the conclusion that he has probably run out of money.

Wednesday, November 3, 2070

Today, I finished my morning deliveries and decided to pay him another visit. Undoubtedly something was indeed off, David seemed really on edge and had boarded up every single window in his musty post- farm house. I tried to inquire about his current state, but he would just change the subject and talk about how it was back in his day when the grass all over Pennsylvania was still green, and hadn't turned to the color of ash.

This carried on for a couple hours until the fear of my bosses catching me goofing off on a work day got the best of me. I explained that I had to be on my way and that I would be back next week. David put on a somber expression which made my feet feel like weights as I walked to the door. Before I completely left, David stopped me and reached out his hand with a clenched fist. As I reached my hand to collect whatever he held, I immediately thought “wow a tip for me? Delivery drivers don't get tips, especially me” .

David had handed me a golden heart shaped necklace with the initials MT engraved on top. “It was my daughters. . . you and her share a striking resemblance.” I didn't say anything. “I wanted to give you something to help with all your financial troubles, there's a shop not too far from here off the side of the road that buys trinkets such as this one.” He put his hand on my shoulder. “I am not long for this world, I am grateful that you came by to see me one last time.”

I was short on words, David looks to be about in his mid 50’s. Not like he's about to die or anything! He continued saying, " I need to send you away, but before you go please know that to me, you mean more than you know" . Before I had the time to take this all in he told me something that made my eyes start to well up with tears. “Thank you, for making me feel like somebody again” . I will never forget the warm sincere smile the old man embraced me with.

Friday, November 12, 2070

I’m really worried about David, my mind has been melting away all week, ( metaphorically of course). I have been skipping work for a little over a week now, and am now thinking of going back to Davids. . . oh God, why was he so afraid? He said I could make a lot of money with this locket, I think I'll go there tomorrow.

Saturday, November 13, 2070

I went to the shop David spoke of today, which reeked of dust and mold. It was almost as if the shop itself was rotting from the inside out, (which, now that I think about it might have been the case).

I approached a woman dressed in drag at the front counter. The store was full of antiques and artifacts from days of old, this woman looked like she was one of them. I couldn't look at her directly, not because of her appearance but because I felt as if I was about to commit a crime. “Is there somethin’ I can help you with missy?” I fiddled around with the locket in my pocket all the while, thinking that I’m poor and I shouldn't feel bad about selling the locket. “There's nothing to feel bad about '' ! Why do I feel so bad?

The woman slammed her hand on the table which broke my self induced trance. Quietly placing the locket on the counter, I inquired about the amount of money I could receive in exchange. The woman looked down at the locket then glanced at me for a split second. She snatched up the trinket and disappeared into the shop's backroom.

After what felt like over 10 minutes of waiting, the woman came back wearing a lighter expression on her face. She gently placed the locket on the counter, looked at me and said, “I’ll give you 12 million dollars for it . . .” .

Overwhelmed with emotion, the girl snatched the locket back and hurried back to her mail truck. With her brain on autopilot, she started the ignition and rushed back to David's house. Hyperventilating and sobbing with unfettered tears, she knows what she has to do. She is barely able to see while speeding down the highway towards David’s house. Her mind racing… that David is ok! Reaching her destination, she throws on her brakes, sloppily parks the truck on the line, and runs full speed to the house door.

The door was off its hinges, the girl immediately spotted David on the ground and ran to his aid. “David! David, it's me”, she yells! With no response, the girl began to water his face with her tears, “David” ?! “David”, She feverishly peeped, until his eyes slowly fluttered open.

"Michaela? Michaela, you've returned to me after all these years. Exhaling the last of his breath, David passed quietly away. His eyes remained on the mail delivery driver, still and peaceful. She opened the locket to find a happy mother and father smiling back, lovingly; and a girl who indeed, looked exactly like her.