Quarter Century

Twenty-five years…

It just seems to be a small blip in time once you’ve reached my age. Young people always think that as soon as they hit a certain number that the party’s over. Well, that ain’t true. Not at all. Not a chance.

Look at me.

Yeah, well, I have done pretty good for a guy who spent so much of his life trying to please others that he barely knew how to please himself. After California burned down, people wanted to restart and rethink and redo everything that they thought was important (guess the landslides, floods and hurricanes helped, too). My ideas were just that…ideas. I had them saved in a folder and did not bother showing them to anyone because no one thought they’d be worth a damn. Okay, that was just me. But I had my reasons for keeping mum.

It was all because of the damn phones.

Yeah, yeah, I’m not that old. I remember when people could not seem to get away from the co-dependent relationships they were having with those small screens. You could not even make eye contact half the time – hard when you’re scoping out attractive chicks – and people would even walk into you if they were distracted enough (saw enough people get into fights and block traffic to know it was too real). But like all terrible things, this had to end.

Those fires…

At first, no one thought that the signals would all be blocked and cut off because of the burn out west (we called it “The Great Suck” then, and I will use it now). They thought it was temporary, like a bug in your computer or malware making things difficult for a company (remember “malware”? no one really does now). Then, the phones shut down…and people lost their minds. I guess I got lucky because I had no one to call – the secret is to have no friends – and I had a life before The Great Suck. All I did was read and hear rumours about what was happening. And man, it was something.

It really was.

Now, I did not do any of the hunting. Not my style. I was impressed by how quickly some of these tech nerds got got by the most disgruntled consumers you could imagine. They did not seem to have any sense that they needed to hide and get away from things while all those irons were hot and ready to strike. One CEO shot on the streets of New York (remember that story)? Child’s play. An open set of gallows and nooses for the worst of Silicon Valley (now more like Ashville – forgive my terrible joke) and Wall Street (some took the name seriously and took them out with their backs to the wall)? That was too gruesome for me or even the daily news.

Ah, them.

No one on either side of the debate bothers to think about them now. The news was what the public brought to the table. I somehow managed to survive all gossip and rumours because I did not play for either side. I knew that I had family to take care of, and I really did not care about political divides. Ain’t no red state or blue states when all states start to look the same and no one is really in charge of who does what. People want to be who they are, and they finally revealed their true colours once the state capitols were ransacked and law and order became nothing more than a TV show on reruns.

I make a joke about it. I have to…

Like I said, my life is pretty good.

No more social media for me…or for any of us. It is strange how quickly people forgot about the pleasures of uninformed opinions, public fights and pornography at your fingertips (last one really surprised me). A young girl asked me what a Facebook was the other day... People moved on very quickly and needed something new to distract them.

And guess what I did?

I became the distraction.

It was not hard to make sure that people knew there was a source of clean water, power, food supplies and a healthy environment. I could see where things were heading, and I was not alone. As many of the stories began to pour in, neighbours, online preppers (before the lines went down), and other schemers and cynics found that we could take over a very large patch of land in… Well, if you know, you know. And if you do not know, well, you are probably already dead or lost to the ugliness the scouts report back to us (cannibalism, violence, etc.) That’s why we are here.

And that is why I want you to find it in your heart to forgive me.

I am not sure who will read this message, but I understand the importance of saving these stories and making sure that history is not one of the casualties of this age. Many of the new inhabitants wonder why I care so much about books that I have encouraged them to bring them here. They simply do not understand.

Our future is there. Our lives are there.

And I have someone who deserves another chance.

She is my daughter, and I am not prepared to give up on her because of the stupidity of these times. If people want to see me as some sort of messiah or demigod because I have read a book, and can figure out how to grow plants, fruit and vegetables without soil while their children learn about math and sciences, fine by me. Why should I deny I have a talent that many of the other founders have not developed?

Why should I give up on her?

So, that is where I stand, and I hope that you find this message in this special… Well, as I said, if you find it…

I am hoping that in the next twenty-five years that there is another soul who can take over and give us another chance. I am too old for this role and will let my little lady attempt to lead the way her father had; the way her late mother always wanted me to.

Please, remember us.

K.

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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