After a half year away, my travels finally brought me back to my home town. As I pulled in to the drive way, a few familiar and a few unknown faces stopped to great me. I noticed a friend who had just passed away. In this dream, he didn’t seem particularly phased by that fact.
As we sat and whiled the hours away, an intense storm gathered overhead and began to unleash its cleansing fury. We talked, we laughed, we smoked and played some games. Life was good.
But at some point, the explosions overhead turned from thunder to something more destructive and sinister. These were no bolts of electricity, they were conventional bombs whirring up above and crashing back down at a distance that sounded much too close for comfort.
We sought refuge in the halls and closets, and we tried to put on brave faces, but we all saw the terror in each others’ eye and we saw our own reflected.
Fallout
As the storm passed and the pandemonium of war died down again, we scrambled to asses the damage. The internet was gone, and in its place we turned to the radio for new information.
The news told us that the aliens had arrived, but that our brave military had fought them off. As a follow-up measure, they would be combing the poorer neighborhoods in search of people who didn’t belong there: people with too much education and not enough ambition for material rewards. College graduates found in the poor parts of town would be immediately suspected of collaborating with the enemy and brought to swift justice.
With that, I knew it was time to leave, but I wanted to take a token on the way out. I asked a friend for a bit of green leaf, and he was more than happy to supply a dime. But as I reached for my wallet and unfolded it, I remembered that there was no money any more. Long before the internet went down, cash had been replaced with certificates – certificates written in the owner’s name, and redeemable only for approved goods available at authorized banking institutions.
It was no problem, he insisted, and I could return the favor some other time… some other way.
Reborn, Refreshed
Walking outside, the world certainly did not resemble one that had been ravaged by an aggressive alien force. A few smoking craters showed where the gunpowder had landed, but the air was crisp and clean as would be expected after any good storm. The birds sang.
My deceased friend and I climbed in to my truck and headed off to a more pristine part of town. We walked around shopping mall parking lots, ducking in and out of stores, and even making a few approved purchases to prove our worth as consumers. We popped in to an illicit sandwich shop and I made a fool out of myself by ordering way too much food. What seemed on the menu like three sides ended up more like a meal big enough for three families.
As we took our leave, I said goodbye again. Goodbye to a friend, goodbye to the internet, and goodbye to the free exchange of goods and ideas…
Hello 2012!