I remember when....

I CAN REMEMBER WHEN.....

The year is 2048. My name is Tayron. I live above the equator in Sector 6 , section F.

This part of the world is always gloomy and overcast ever since the sun partially burned out back in 2045.

I work as a plastics recycler. In 2035, almost all the waterways on earth began to solidify due to the dumping of toxic chemicals and ordinary household plastic into each of the 5 named oceans. The toxic materials slowly seeped into the global ocean which covers 71% of the earths surface.

Since the “second coming” in 2026, which wiped out over half of the earth's population and the world's economic structure, capitalism and individual rights were outlawed. The government now decides where you will live, what profession you will work in, and almost every other aspect of your existence.

Without capitalism money became obsolete. These days you literally work for food. It is against global law to own any personal property. Everything you get is provided by the government on an as needed basis.

The “second coming” completely leveled the world's playing field. No one person had more than anybody else. Being caught with any type of personal property is now punishable by death.

It was just announced over the distorted public announcement system that my section was having a surprise cubicle inspection. I sat on the floor of my tiny cubicle fingering the small heart shaped locket between my thumb and index finger. Where could I hide it was all I could think of as the inspectors got closer and closer. This locket meant everything to me. I had kept it tightly clenched in my mouth for the last 4 months.

My heart was pounding in my chest. I was in danger of being found out. This locket represented the only sense of love I had ever known in my entire life. I really would rather die than be without it.

I was born 2 years after the “second coming” Myra had told me that when she was young “second coming” referred to a wide held belief that a historical religious figure would one day return to earth to save all of his followers from sin and deliver them into a beautiful place that had been promised to them if they had faith and led good, honest lives.

In 2048 the “second coming” refers to the second outbreak of a virus that first caused a global pandemic in 2019. Many lives were lost but scientist came up with a vaccine that seemed to work until the spring of 2026, when scientists discovered that the vaccine had actually mutated with the original coronavirus and now was so infectious and potent that it could not be contained before nearly half of the people on earth perished, including almost all of the world leaders in power at that time.

The economic devastation was immediate. Being in government was no longer a coveted aspiration. Since money was no longer significant, food became the incentive to serve. It was not that government workers got better food , they just got to eat before everyone else and perhaps have a chance at seconds.

By 2028 childbirth was no longer a personal choice for women. Reproduction by a female not designated as a surrogate was not permitted. Strict laws dictated when new children were added to the population. Family was no longer created by blood. At birth a decision was made by the government as to what profession the child would work in and then the child would be placed into the care of that professions community. From birth that child would be learning that profession and would remain in that profession until death.

I was one of the last children to be born before those laws were imposed.

My mother died giving birth to me. Myra , the midwife who delivered me, took me into her care. I did not come to live with the plastic recyclers until I was nearly an adult. I fell through the cracks.

Myra was already an old woman when she took me in and her health had begun to fail. I dont know how she did it but she held on up until 4 months ago. She died in her sleep.

When I was growing up there were no other children for me to play with so to keep me entertained Myra would tell me stories about what the world was like before the “second coming”

She would say “I remember when....... as she told her story, all the while fingering a beautiful heart shaped locket. I dont know where she kept it hidden but she would only wear it at night when we were alone in our cubicle.

She would tell me stories about people being in charge of their own lives and of endless days spent in the sun. She spoke of family gatherings held in parks and at beaches where people actually got into the ocean and swam without being covered head to toe in protective gear.

She told me that in those days people were encouraged to resist government having too much control over their rights as individuals. She said that people would take to the streets by the thousands to protest actions taken by the government that the majority of the worlds citizens saw as oppressive and undemocratic.

Myra remembered when the world was divided into many regions known as countries instead of the 2 regions that we now have (above the equator and below the equator) Each country had their own set or system of beliefs and the autonomy to govern its own people as it saw fit.

Back then, Myra lived in a country called The United States of America, which was made up of 50 or so smaller regions called states. Each state had its own governing laws but they all fell under the rule of the country as a whole.

The main guidelines that each state had to follow was called the Constitution and Myra said that almost every citizen of the United States of America was willing to die to defend the Constitution and the freedoms that it set forth. The citizens of the United States of America were even willing to travel to other countries to help those citizens defend their rights to be free of oppression and government interference.

I would sit for hours listening to Myra talk of the world as it used to be. On the days when the sun was out the shiny heart shaped locket would sparkle and gleam as she ran her thumb and finger over and all around it. Just as I was doing now while racking my brain trying to think of a place I could hide it from the prying eyes of the cubicle inspectors.

Myra had received the locket on her 18th birthday from her father. He had told her that it represented her freedom and independence to live her life as an adult but to always remind her that she was in his heart.

Myra had risked death for more than 20 years to hold onto the gift her father had given her.

She told me that whenever she wore it, no matter where she was or the circumstance she found herself in she was reminded that she had once had freedom and independence. And most of all it reminded her that she had been loved.

Myra had given the locket to me the very day she passed away. Although I had never known freedom or independence, the locket gave me faith and hope for a future that may one day restore mankind back to individual rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

As the inspectors were just feet away from my cubicle I snapped out of the daydream I had been in trying to remember if Myra had ever told me where she kept the locket hidden. Without hesitation I opened my mouth. Instead of tucking it into my cheek I took a deep breath and swallowed the locket, chain and all.

As the inspectors entered my cubicle I let out a long deep burp. I had swallowed a mouth full of air along with the locket. The head inspector stood there looking at me for a long time before beginning his inspection. His final area to inspect was me. He checked my private areas, my ears, my hair, and then finally he came to my mouth.

As I opened wide, I prayed that the chain had gone all the way down and could not be seen. The inspectors would not hesitate to have my stomach pumped if there was the slightest suspicion that I may be hiding something.

After what seemed like an hour the inspector told me to shut my mouth. He then thanked me for my cooperation. Then he and the other inspectors were gone.

I made my way to my cot and shakily sat down. I could not believe that I got through the inspection without being found out.

It was at that moment I made the decision to begin the long journey back to the world Myra had shown me through her wonderful stories of personal freedom and self determination.

I began to share her stories with other people in my section. Some of the elders also remembered the world Myra had spoken of and could corroborate the stories I told.

The younger workers were fascinated with the idea of freedom and would stare in wonder at the locket I would show to them. They thought I was very brave to risk death to hold onto the locket.

The locket was a beautiful piece of jewelry but its value to me was not in its shiny allure. Its true value to me was the hope for the future that it represented.

It also reminded me that I too had been loved.