The Heart Shaped Locket

The Heart Shaped Locket

By Roy Rhoades

(A Post-Apocalyptic Dystopian Fictional Story)

After years of watching a world come undone, I sat and reflected about the hope of a new world. My desire for reflective time found me sitting on a beach watching a sunset for the first time in years. The waves were coming graciously to the shore, and I was at peace. I took time to reflect upon a whole new world coming back into being. Recreating a world when the previous world was gone can be both threatening and invigorating. In this post-apocalyptic world, I was reflecting on the part that I was playing in this new world. I had been part of recreating something from my past and suddenly I realized that it resonated with all of society. I would discover a simple solution to helping people get back on track in this post dystopian world. My contribution came about because of rediscovering something I previously possessed, that had been lost. I also realized that in the future, governments would eventually get tired of controlling everything. Leaders would return to the idea of being servants rather than power brokers. Hackers stopped hacking. People focused on prevention and cures rather than treating disease for money. Climate change was not the apocalyptic disaster that everyone thought it would be and realized that weather just changes. The media and politicians stopped using climate change and other pandemics to bring about fear. People had spent so much time in lockdown and isolation that they started to think about what was essential in life. The future brought about change.

I also changed and I developed something called “relationship modules”. These modules are places where people go in and get reprogrammed to relate to others in a meaningful way. I spent my whole life studying love and peace and relationships. So, I started putting into practice what I had learned. I learned that satisfied people had made memories in their time on earth that usually involve key relationships and icons. Those universal and meaningful icons as well as treasured relationships are what lead to future satisfaction. One of those icons that is particularly meaningful is a heart shaped locket. It is universally iconic of love and relationship. It often evokes a memory of a long-lost love. It is something we hold onto from the past to help us navigate the uncertainty of the future.

After my reflective moments on the beach ended, I ventured back home. The door of my house opened automatically with my voice recognition software acutely installed to the sound of a familiar tone. Shortly after arriving, I noticed my friend Daniella coming up the walkway to greet me through my portable viewer. She stepped out of her electric flying motor vehicle and came inside to greet me. Her hair was glowing to match her magnificent smile. She calls her vehicle an orbitron. The orbitron is a flying car. It contains an auto pilot feature, voice commands for just about everything imaginable, a turbo jet electric speed monitor that track speeds of up to 400 mph, and a gourmet chef feature that allows you to order online and have the food delivered directly to your home. Long past are the days of cars and roads and fossil fuel. McDonalds and Burger King are a thing of the past. Nuclear powered vehicles are the current popular mode of transportation. The world has changed. There is little pollution and green spaces have replaced deserts. Technology and robotics have replaced people for many functions, but there is still a need for one thing, relationship. As Daniella came in, I was reminded that I wanted a deeper relationship with Daniella, but it seemed so far out of reach. What was the problem? Was it me or was it something else? We spoke for a while and then she left.

The next day, I was looking through my “junk” drawer and I found an old heart shaped locket with a picture of my first love. Inside the locket was a picture of Cynthia. Cynthia was my first love. Daniella reminded me a lot of Cynthia. Cynthia gave me my first kiss. Cynthia was the first girl to make my heart go pitter patter. Her long locks of blonde hair looked like daisy fields flowing in the wind. We often strolled through the grass hand in hand, and we walked in the rain together. She was my first love. With her I experienced an encounter with emotions that were beyond my control. When I was around Cynthia my brain was replaced with a heart felt love that defied logic and reason. I picked up the locket and just gazed at her face inside it. I was riveted with thoughts and emotions. Then I thought of Daniella. Could I recapture that first love with Daniella? This was my quest. My mind was racing. Did finding this locket jolt me to a course correction for a life change? Could this locket find set me on a path to discover the secret to relationships? Yes, it did. I started to dig deeper into what needed to happen for me to go to the next level of relationship. After much study and experience I was reminded that relationships are mostly about three things. Allowing yourself to feel deep emotions, listening, and loving back. I tried it out on Daniella, and she fell in love with me. It was even better than my first love and I was hooked. I knew I could not keep this to myself, so I started sharing the ideas with others. The relationship module idea was born. From its humble beginning with Danielle and I it would go on to become the place where people would go to rekindle first love. What started out as a simple idea became of place of discovery and adventure. I realized that virtual reality is not as meaningful as an actual experience of people talking and listening to one another. There needed to be in a place to build memories that last a lifetime. That was my secret. So, I told people the truth about the power of relationship, and it spread.

In the relationship module there are no cell phones, no computers, no images to gaze upon. In the modules people are returning to a sense of community. There are no artificial intelligence gadgets and no technology distractions. People just talk and listen to one another. Conflicts get resolved. These relationship modules are in large cities and rural villages. There are no borders and limitless possibilities. In the modules people recreate memories with icons that are meaningful. They explore heart shaped lockets, collages of early childhood memories, paintings of evenings of delight, and singing of old songs and new songs come forth out of the module times. Sometimes people just sit together in silence. They joyfully delight in one another’s presence.

After the initial finding of the locket, Daniella and I began the first relationship module. I listened to Daniella. I asked questions of her and genuinely wanted responses. I looked in her eyes and noticed how beautiful she was. We fell in love. Our love spread to others. People started coming to me and we showed them how to continue with relationship modules. The love started spreading. People were healed of emotional trauma and relationships started deepening. The relationship module idea was growing. It started spreading like a wildfire. All because of the discovery of a locket. A heart shaped locket waiting to be a catalyst for real love. The future is looking brighter.

As I ride in my orbitron. I ride across the skies and see relation modules at campfires, in downtown parks, in gazebos, on greenways, in bedrooms, and living rooms, and in fields of daisies. I see them in countries all over the world. I think of Cynthia, and I think of Daniella. I think of the limitless possibilities for love. I am content. I am loved.