Mother Moon's Job by Liz Jensen

Author:Liz Jensen [Jensen, Liz]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: short stories, Stop Climate Chaos, climate, future, Joanne Harris, nature, environment, ecological problems, British writing, vision, dystopia
Publisher: Oneworld Publications
Published: 2013-03-05T00:00:00+00:00

When I tell Grandad who’s out there in the kitchen pigging our protein, he goes oh this is the last thing and has a word with Lola’s mum who stands up quick and says thank you for the meeting everyone, time to go, and Grandad says best get to bed, Maxwell son, and I don’t argue like I usually do but when I’m up there I still hear them even without my ear to the floor, cos soon they’re yelling.

‘You mean you think it’s acceptable?’ If oldsters shout, they might have a heart attack and zap out, that can happen, true story.

‘Radical problems demand radical solutions.’

‘And you played no part in inflating the index?’ Still yelling, which he mustn’t or he’ll—

Gigabeep.

‘I was eighteen, for Christ’s sake. She told me she’d had the op and I believed her because she had a skin-stamp. OK, so I was naive. She wasn’t contributing so she must’ve known she’d get Zero-rated and end up as a uni-breeder in some loserville.’

‘So I imagine you rejoice in this new initiative of our enlightened system, then? So-called therapists who use the airwaves to encourage islanders to top themselves?’

‘Islanders. Come on, Ramsay. They’re Zeroes and sub-Zeroes. So yes. I think, hey. Whatever it takes.’

‘Forced ops are bad enough, to my mind. But human culls? There’s a boy here—’

‘About that. Look, why I came. If you fingerprint this, he’s yours.’

There’s no noise for a bit and then the voices go quiet and then the door slams shut and I put the pillow over my head and I lie awake thinking, I didn’t hate anyone till tonight. But now I hate two people. Mother Moon and the blue-eyed beephead who beeped my Ma.

Maybe I could get an iris tint.

I’d choose red. That’d scare him.

But next morning Grandad promises he’s never coming back and it’s just him and me from now on. So high fives. That’s one down and one to go.

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