Saturday 8 May 2010

DISTOPEIAN SCRAPBOOK :Lidless eyes

here is my next story from my distopeian scrapbook, a collection of interlinked science fiction story
link to my other story can be found  in the sidebar (over there>>>)



Lidless eyes

Mary puts her dusty trophies in to a box with all the other stuff that had been pushed to the back of her shelves. She looks round her bare pink room which hadn't been painted since before she had won those trophies in the under twelve gymnastics championship. the door bell rings Mary walks out of her room and in to the living room where her dad and sister are arguing “I'll get that then” Mary opens the door “hay Liz come through” Elizabeth comes in to the flat “ your not shaving your head” Mary's dad and sister don't same to even notice Mary and Elizabeth “ you don't stop me shaving everything else” “I don't want to know what you shave” “good”  she grab her transparent handbag from the sofa and storms out of the flat. Mary and Elizabeth disappear into Mary's room and reappear holding a box each . “I'm off to my new place dad I'll be back after work to pick up the rest of my stuff” “ok I'll see you later”
The double decker bus stops and Mary and Elizabeth struggle down the stares and off the bus with the cardboard boxes. they walk through The Old Pond Estate to the last building. The lobby of Blind Man's House was painted an off white but most of the paint had flaked off or had been painted over with graffiti. The girls start walking up the stares to Mary's new bed-sit on the 50th floor. The door swings opens and the girls enter and drop the boxes Elizabeth looks at her watch “is that the time we need to be leaving for work” “we've only just got here” “well the it took us three quarters of a hour to get up the stares”
Mary and Elizabeth arrive at work 10 minutes late “were have you been” Berty the owner was behind the counter and a very large queue for the time of day  “bus was late” Elizabeth said “what's wrong had to do some work for a change” Mary added “you don't buy a dog then bark your-self” “are you calling us dogs?” “just get to work and I need one of you to stay later were still short staffed and Rosey just called in sick” the girls put on their aprons and start serving quickly clearing the queue. Mary shift passed slow and her lunch break which she used to unsuccessfully shop for some curtains passed too quick.
“oh love spare some change” a man with dirty blond hair and a matching dog approached Mary as soon as she got off the buswith a box of here stuff “sorry no”  “you just moved in round here?”   “just got the keys today” Mary replied “well I should show you round, fill you in on all the gossip I'm Kip by the way” Kip held out his hand Mary's hands were full and she was glad of this fact because Kip's finger were covered in blood  probably from scratching his left eye which was swollen  and dripping a translucent yellow liquid. Kip lowers his hand. Mary start walking and kip walks along side her at her hurried pace  “all these shops are empty a part from that one” he points at a shop with his blood stained finger. “ it's a human rights group in that one spend all there time standing on street corners complaining about those things” he swings his arm round to a CCTV camera that was following them down the street with a quiet hum . Mary felt a little relived at the site. The two kept walking kip tryed to be informative but there wasn't much to tell Mary about. a suicide where some girl had thrown her self off on of the building, some police raids mostly on the home of members of the human rights group and a guy who went missing, they get to the entrance to Mary's building Kip and the dog follow through the door and walk along side her up the stares “he was one of them human right nutters too.” Kip said picking at a scab near his eye. Mary could no longer here the hum of the CCTV camera she hope this junky wasn't going to follow her all the way to her door “sorry who was” the guy who went missing, soon after that bomb it was I don't think that's a coincidence” they reach floor 50. “this is my floor” Mary opened the fire door and Kip said buy and continued up the stares. As Mary walks down the long corridor she keeps looking over her shoulder to make shore Kip wasn't following her.
Mary lays in bed having only unpacked her bedding so she could sleep her alarm clock so she could get up and her kettle so she could have a “Instant porridge pot” for breakfast. She looks at her alarm clock the glowing green digits informed her its 1:75 in the morning but the light was already filling the room. Then she herd a humming turning to the window she sees a CCTV camera facing in drop out of  view. Mary flings the covers off and peers out the window the camera was no were to be seen. Mary goes back to bed and tries to forget it.
Elizabeth walks up to Mary's door drops two large plastic plant pots one inside the other and knocks on Mary's door. Mary opens the door dressed in just a extra large t-shirt. “you only just got up” Mary looks over to her clock which was claiming it was 1:63 am “we must have had a power cut, come in” Mary took two steps from her front door and was in the kitchen area. She fills the kettle up and plugs it in. once it has boiled Mary pours the water into the “Instant porridge pot” Mary stirs the grayish slush “so where do we start” Mary put a spoon full of the slush in to her mouth and swallows “Well we need to get the pots filled up first” Mary puts Down the porridge pot and fishes into her jacket pocket which is hanging on the back of the door “what with” she takes out a hand full of sugar packets and starts poring them in to her porridge “ well rotted bird shit”
when they got to the roof Mary didn't need her key the door was already open. Mary and Elizabeth walk out on to the roof covered with solar panels and pigeons. The nearest solar panel was smashed and a woman was sweeping up broken glass and used syringes with a dust pan and brush. “Doing some planting?” asks the woman seeing the plastic plant pot “yeah I've just moved in i need to get growing before I spend the larst of my money on food” “we have free food at our meetings if your interested” she pulls a small pile of flyers and hands them one each “am Danika I started the grope with my friends Gilda & Arthur” her voice trails off a little. Am Mary and this is liz” Danika tips the broken glass into tin bin than shakes their hands. “well I hope to see you at our meting” she picks up the bin and makes for the door  “can you make shore you shut this door when you finish a junky got out here last night and tripped the power” then Danika disappears down the stares. Mary and Elizabeth start shoveling the bird droppings into the plant pots .
Mary steps out of the shower and grabs a towel and raps it round herself. She opens the bathroom door and the camera was back outside the window pointing straight at her. It hung in air for a moment then turned and quickly went on its way. Mary decided to get dressed in the bathroom. once dressed she grabs her bag and heads out for her free meal. Outside a number of people was hanging around chatting outside the shop Kip had pointed out to her yesterday. Mary felt a little guilty because they all had trays of food and she was empty handed. Another thing that maed her feel uncomfortable was they were all dressed in baggy trousers or long skirts and hooded ponchos all in earthy colors were as she had on a yellow hi-viz pleated skirt with litalle flowers embroidered on it and a matching top
when she picked out what to ware she thought she was dressing down the skirt was almost down to her knee and she was showing hardy any cleavage at all. “hay your not going in there are you” Kip had come up behind her “free food is free food” “no free food is just a way of getting you through the door so they can play with your brain” Kip scratches his bad eye “I'm new here I need to start making friends” she walks off  kip call after her “I'm your friend”
she walks In to the old shop, people are stood round in small groups. Mary stands to one side behind her was a table with food on most of it in airtight tubs. Danika comes out of a door at the back of the shop and claps loudly “lets get started” everyone sits down cross legged in a large circle Mary joins them but chooses to nil. The meting wasn't very interesting but after Danika had finished everyone helped themselves to food and sat around in groups eating and chatting. Danika sat down with Mary “good to see you came what did you think of the meting?” Mary unsure how to answer simply said “ it was interesting” “ your right it was dull I just can't holed peoples attention like Arthur” “who's Arthur” “he set up the group with me and Gilda” “so where are they” asks Mary “ we got a dvd in the post and it seemed to show Arthur planting a bomb out side the Effecter building but he was with me and Gilda Arthur went missing soon after. Then Gilda jumped off the roof I miss them both so much” “any idea where Arthur would go” “ Chagos Archipelago, Ascension, Saint Helena, Gough island, any where he can go with out needing a lot of paperwork ”
the shop slowly emptied as the food run out. When the Mary and Danika was the only people in the shop they headed out. As Danika locks up the shop a camera floats over and follows them across the estate. “do you fancy a ice cream” Mary asks seeing a ice cream van parked on the end of blind man's lane
Mike sits in the ice cream van reading “Mr Baker's golden brown adventure” which Robin had left in the van. Mary and Danika appear at the window “two 99s please” Mike starts making the first ice cream “ are the cameras here always so intrusive” Mary said looking at the camera” it's a very intrusive technology” “ but looking in peoples windows is just bit too creepy” “looking in peoples windows ?” asked Mike handing over a ice cream “twice I've had one looking through my window” “do you use alibi?” “No I don't have a computer yet I shared with my dad and sister until i moved out” Mike hands over the second ice cream “ hold on” he ducks down Danika and Mary exchange looks as Mike bangs about in the van. He reappears with a laptop in his hand. “ I think this one is working now” “I can't afford that I only just scraped a deposit together for the bed sit I can barely afford the ice creams” “who said anything about paying”  “ so your giving it to me?”  “Yeah I don't sell any computer me and my brother are rag and bone men...and ice cream men” he added unnecessarily “we sell on what we can apart from the computers which I fix up and give to those who need them. Everyone to needs be able to see what the watchers are watching.” “wow thanks” as Mary said this Kip comes up behind her and Danika and put his arm round Mary “hay do you want to go for a picnic in the woods” Mary removed his arm from her shoulder” Danika chipped in “there are no woods we cut them all down” “oh so where do them little people with the wings live now” kip's good eye was dilated and his voice calmer than usual so Mary and Danika ignores him “ thanks again for the computer” Mary pays for the ice cream and she heads off with Danika followed by the camera
“ do you want me to put some antiseptic on that eye”  “fairy or is it Pixies” "get in here" said Mike opening the back of the van Mike know from experience that the affects of the Uv42 will ware off in ten minutes or so. “I'm guessing you didn't get that done on the GHS” Kip didn't reply as he climbed into the van” Mike moved his laptop which was recording the feed from the nearest camera as it moved up the building watching Mary and Danika through the stairwell windows off the passenger seat and on to the freezer “ sit down”
when Mary opens her door the camera was already out side her window Mary and Danika sit down on the bed with there backs to the window “ i'll show you that dvd" Mary didn't really want to watch the dvd but talking about  Arthur seemed to make Danika happy. She takes a the disc out of her bag and puts it in Mary's new laptop.  on the screen Protesters march up and down slowly the protesters drift away as the sunlight fades a man walks on to the screen and stops by the bin  “is that Arthur” “yes I think it was cut from a protest a month or so before” “I think i've seen him” “Do you know were he is!” “ I know someone who might he was with Phil”
on the screen Arthur takes something out of his bag and puts it In the bin then walk off in the direction he come from five minutes later the bin explodes”



No comments:

Post a Comment