Ep 2: The Independence Project (Short Story)

From Ep 2: Reflecting on My Past Dystopian Fiction

Podcast URL: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4NS22MdFsKdh4j9FCHsTlp?si=4i2jpkTsQO2k6sA-Dxtcog

Hello there! And thank you for visitng my blog. :)
Here, I will be posting my works that I share with you in the podcast.

In this episode, I recited a short story that I wrote in middle school (I know, many years ago!).

I remember I was greatly influenced by the novel, The Giver by Lois Lowry in writing this work. This book was one of the first dystopian novels that I had ever read and now I am a huge fan of the genre!

I have also mentioned City by Clifford D. Simak in my podcast. Please check out these two books if you are interested!

The Giver by Lois Lowry: https://amz.run/3eMG

City by Clifford D. Simak: https://amz.run/3eNO

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The Independence Project

It was almost December, although the weather was always dim. Rain poured on the windowsill of the grey houses, where the people stayed. People hurried through the streets, speaking of nothing, nor making eye contact. Luke was alone at his house, pondering on about how much of an repetition his life had been. He had felt something he couldn’t quite express in words, although he knew it depressed him. Then his mind flickered with a saying he once heard:

“you’ll feel it someday. It’s called loneliness. Everyone should feel it, but unfortunately, it’s only us.“

He hadn’t understood who it was that told him this, nor what the saying meant, but something told him that was what he felt. The rule restricted the residents of this community from having any connection or relationships between each other, although he or the others never knew what connection or relationship meant. All they knew was ‘speak of nothing, nor make eye contact’.

Days passed with no change. And one day, the email came. The leader of the community let every citizen email one person every month, with a very strict rule of “no private information shared”. It was the only opportunity for people like Luke to communicate with others, although even names weren’t allowed to be shared. The email he got that day, was slightly distinguished from the others he got in the past. It stated:

“Hello. I’ve finally found you. I’m Ginger, what is your name?”

Luke was astonished by the email he had received. It was illegal to share your name, or ask for anyone else’s. Should I report this? Luke wondered. But before he could do anything, he received another email. It was from Ginger.

“Don’t think about reporting me, I know a big secret. If you want to know, tell me your name.”

Luke was stunned. How in the world did she email me twice? He knew this Ginger was different. Something about her email stood out, making him want to tell her his name. Maybe it was because of this whole ‘big secret’. He didn’t know, but he replied:

“Hey Ginger, it’s me. Luke.”

Everything changed after the name exchange. Ginger told Luke about the procedure of hacking into the community’s system to be able to email anytime they want. Time passed so quickly after he’d known Ginger, as if something made the earth spin faster than before. Then one day, they decided to take a risk. Luke agreed to Ginger about meeting, face to face.

His brain was uncertain of this choice, but his heart was ready. He couldn’t bare the repetition anymore, he wanted to break free of the cycle. So, he went.

“You’ll find an entrance to a small underground room. I’ll see you there.”

The instruction led Luke to the underground room.

“Hey” he heard a voice. 

Standing in front of him, was a slim girl, with wavy brown hair that went down until her shoulders. Her hazel brown eyes stared right at Luke’s eyes, filled with happiness and wonder.

“I’m Ginger, and you must be Luke.’ she said.

Before Luke could say anything, Ginger held out a thick note book with a stained leather cover.

“This is my grandfather’s diary, I found it in my house, and I knew I had to show you this.” Ginger said, as she flipped through the pages of the old stained book.

Ginger flipped to a page, it said:    

The Independence Project

The text read:

October 28th 3019,
Independence Project must be stopped. It will erase any connections and relationships between people, as well as taking away emotions. We must find the hidden phone in the community, and call the outsider of elsewhere. When that is done, the project will be over.

Luke picked his head up to look at Ginger. Ginger was almost in tears.

“My grandfather died from the project” Ginger spoke weakly.

“My grandfather and yours.” Ginger added.

“What do you mean by that?” Luke said in surprise.

Ginger explained everything to Luke, how ‘grandfather’ shared the same blood as you, how his grandfather told him the saying, how both of their grand father had died from the project and the only way to stop this was to find the phone.

“Don't you feel like something's missing in our lives? something... taken away from us?” Ginger said. “It’s all the emotions, connections and relationships.”

Luke thought about this when he went home, and the next day told Ginger.

“I’ll help you find the phone.”

Not only he wanted to help Ginger, he wanted to find the piece that was lost in his community, the connections and emotions.

He went to the underground room to meet Ginger, and stared his hunt for a ‘phone’. He had heard from Ginger what a ‘phone’ was, and he was ready to go. But as soon as the hunt started, the robots weren’t going to make the job easy for them.

“What do you think you’re doing.” The robot said in it’s emotionless voice.

The robot went after them two.

“Find it, end it.” The robot told the others, as if their lives meant nothing.

All Luke could think about now was to find the ‘phone’, no matter what it took. He didn’t want people to suffer the way he was, and that was probably what his grandfather thought as well.
   
“I found it!!” Luke suddenly heard a voice.

It was Ginger, holding the rusted phone. But there was no time for any joy. The robot had captured Ginger, and was dragging her away from the phone.

“Hurry Luke call!” Ginger yelled with the rest of her might.

Then she collapsed.

“Ginger!!!” Luke screamed, fear and anger ripping through his throat.

He ran to the phone and dialled a number that came to him like magic. The phone rang loudly through the emotionless community. Then suddenly, he thought he heard a voice from the other side, or perhaps it was only the robots, signalling his departure from life. 

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(I'm struggling to speak at a constant pace throughtout...)

I'll see you in my next blog post. Drink lots of water!