The Man Who Watched The World End by Dietzel Chris

Author:Dietzel, Chris [Dietzel, Chris]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Chris Dietzel
Published: 2014-01-12T05:00:00+00:00

January 3A yellow Labrador sunned itself on my patio today. I looked out my dining room window, as I do a thousand times each day, and it was lying there on the deteriorated deck without a care in the world. Other dogs were barking from within the forest, but this was the only one out in the open. It didn’t look concerned for its safety at all, as though wolves and bears weren’t constantly roaming for more food. I loved seeing an animal be so carefree. It would have to be a clever dog to still be alive if it chose to relax in the open by itself. The days of animals respecting the boundaries of each other’s kingdoms, even if that rule was limited to the yards where they lived, have been replaced with a daily lottery for ownership.

I told Andrew about the dog as a way to apologize for getting mad at him today. It wasn’t anything he did (of course). The fault lies solely with me. All he does is sit in the same spot until I move him to another position, so nothing is his fault. Our situation, our isolation, our ticking clock, is no one’s fault really. Maybe that’s why I get frustrated sometimes, because there’s no one to blame for how our lives have turned out. I wouldn’t change any of the things I’ve done, but at the same time I wish things were different than they are. I have no regrets, but there’s also no satisfaction in where I am. I guess that’s why I snapped at Andrew today.

His nutrient bag is timed with his body in order to regulate the number of trips to the bathroom, but every once in a while, like today, he goes in his pants at the most inconvenient times. All Blocks wear diapers, but the diapers can only do so much, and Andrew seems to have a knack for defeating them. Everything was fine when I walked by him on the way to the kitchen. The next time I passed, though, the familiar stench of crap was in the air. It’s a particularly putrid smell—something about the combination of chemicals in the nutrient bag really makes a Block’s shit smell like… well, shit.

“God damn it,” I yelled. “Can’t you do anything to make my life easier?” I stormed off before slamming my bedroom door. After finishing a chapter of the book I’m reading I went back out to the living room. The stench was even worse than before. That, too, was no one’s fault except my own; it was my temper-tantrum that gave the excrement an opportunity to spread into every inch of open air. And yet I slammed my door again and left him sitting in his waste until another chapter was finished.

Alone in my quiet room, images began filtering into my head of various Blocks being abandoned and left to die while regular adults moved further south. I thought about what it would be like

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.