Time

One of the short story that I wrote when I had nothing better to do...

The sidewalks were covered with snow, few hungry stray dogs were wagging tail outside local restaurant, expecting some meat and bones. There was a huge flag waving above the tower, it was the tallest tower in the vicinity. Few men dressed heavily in formals were smoking cigarettes outside bar, if you take an aerial view, all cars will look alike because of the thin sheet of snow that has covered the whole city. The clock on the towers were considered very much accurate. Clocks were everywhere, in every government building and they were gigantic. You can see the time from miles away. Designed for doom, we were all chosen to be the destroyer. People kept changing the time on their devices as per the clock. If you are lonely and have no work, which is pretty much impossible in this country you can observe the reaction on the faces when people adjust the time on their devices. We lived in constant bewilderment of the future that never ticked. Time inequity. They murdered the man who wrote about this in his journal.  

Denying is crime. You won’t see anyone who is disagreeing with the government. Denial can break your bones, your early morning bath may leave you scathing on a floor or an asylum to cure your thoughts. There were warning boards everywhere, which read “Open discussion is not permitted”. You see men smoking and drinking, but there is eeriness in the air. You can hear the clattering of plates from the kitchen, if you listen hard you can hear the thump every time someone finishes their glass of ‘treated’ alcohol and then slowly bangs. You are not supposed to argue or create a public nuisance if you didn’t like your drink or food. Pay and leave. You have right to complain if the restaurant/café is private.

They caught a man other who was reading 1984 by George Orwell. The book was banned here, in a newspaper the article was printed ‘A MAN WITH THE BOOK FROM FUTURE’, we all laughed hard in our head. We have never heard of this author. Some of us were English major. We knew every book written is scrutinized well, a record is maintained, which includes original manuscript. How do I know this? I am working in a department that analyze books. When I went through my record, I was surprised to see the book in our record. But, the book was banned. Indeed, I was shocked to see the publishing date. I gulped down the remaining tea in my cup, lit another cigarette and sat in awe. How did The Party find out about this? How do they know about the future books? How did they keep an eye on this vagrant? There must be manuscript available in our archives if we have publishing code. I have full access. Only if I could manage enough time to find & read this book. 

 

How can I find out a book in the archive which is not yet publish in our country? What kind of future is this? I saw the time, lunch in ten minutes. It was 13:30. Lunch will be finished by 13:00.

The moment Harvey started walking towards the mess, the clock was adjusted and it was 13:50 again. In a spur of the moment he said “F**k Thought Process”, the word “F**K” has never been heard or used before. The authority was alerted, an eye started following Harvey.

 

 

 

 

    

Reviews

[Nishtha]

Very Well written Mayank! 👏

[Mayank]

thank you Nishtha!

[Ruth]

Ah, as I was reading this, I thought of 1984 then came across the mention of it :) In such a world even time is a tyrant...hush is the new voice it would seem...a story that holds as much impending "doom" and wisdom as indeed 1984 did...well thought out and written, good to read you again hon :)

[Mayank]

Yes, 1984 is the major inspiration on most of the work.

[Dayran]

A write about change that is almost something from the science fic shelves ... of mystery and foreboding wonder. But it also says about a simple common sense approach to handling it by the use of an expletive. A future begins from the past ... and in understanding our past we understand the future.

[Mayank]

Thank you Daryan, we can't save ourselves from impending doom.

[A. Amos]

Very well written, I was glued to the story from the very first line...book from the future...need more!

[Mayank]

Thank you Amos, it's the first story after a long time I would spend some time developing next part.

[A. Amos]

It's a great start and my guess was right you're ready to create magic. All the best and you're most welcome!