Anthology

Stardust

The economy of the entire world was thriving. Humans were working like robots. Robots fueled with the hunger for money and prosperity. "Sex is boring, I don't have time for that," said a teenager. He was living in the capital. A concrete jungle. When you look up, you could see the sky covered with black clouds. Black not because it's going to rain but because they were formed by the industrial smoke. Every living being looked like a robot following the same schedule. No one had a moment for emotions. Social interactions were limited to office hours. Any kind of social contact other than work was highly disregarded. It became like this not because of the law but because of the hunger of humanity for money. Everyone has turned into a workaholic.

Babies were now made in a factory and raised until they are eligible to work. Human life expectancy was over 100 years. The development of medical science has developed a cure for every known disease. The world was colorful but the life of every person living here was now black and white. They had forgotten the meaning of fun and adventure. Music is now a way of focusing on work, dance is now an exercise to keep the body fit for work. "Fun? working is fun." said an office lady who wakes up every day at 6 am work till 10 pm and sleeps.

Those who were different, who couldn't focus were abandoned on a lone island or slaughtered. So much money, but nothing to buy. The clothes were still made. Food was still served in the restaurant but no one had time to go there with family. Restaurants and Hotels have become a place only for carrying meetings. The whole world is now turned into a factory. A baby takes birth, studies till 19-year-old, works till the last breath and gets replaced by someone else. This is a new way of life. Humans have colonized on Mars and are now moving towards IO, Jupiter's moon.

Alice, a new working man. A 20-year-old graduate. He topped in every subject in the school but his major field of interest was politics. He had studied the history of politics. Modern politics was nothing like that. To be exact there was no politics at all. Whoever found eligible was made the president for 10 yrs. It was Alice's turn to be the one this time. He was the best potential candidate to have that job. He was throned. There was no work for the president or the government but to look after the foreign trade. The terrorist and mafia groups have been neutralized ages ago. The crime rate has come down to zero. A few weeks after becoming president, Alice was sitting in the living room all by himself. It was midnight. The sky was as black as Vantablack. There was a small hoke in the clouds through which the glimmering moonlight was falling on his swimming pool. He was analyzing the economic growth of the country. Something fell on his forehead and went through his skin. He got scared. "A biological weapon?!" He thought. He didn't want to die already. But it wasn't a drug, it was something else. He ran outside and looked at the sky. A thin brook of dust was pouring down from the sky. The dust surrounded him. And the continuous brook of dust started to fall on his head getting through the skin. It was bright dust felt like made from stars. The stardust. His skin started to glow. He levitated high up in the sky. He closed his eyes. He was too scared to move. The stardust getting through his skin was giving him a tingling sensation. "What is this?" he asked himself. He opened his eyes only to find himself on his bed. "A dream??" he thought"Too vivid to be a dream.". He felt an urge to listen to music. He started playing music but he wasn't working nor he needed to focus on work. He was enjoying it. He danced to the beat, had something new for breakfast. The change was noticeable. He wasn't the same Alice. He had changed. He understood the meaning of fun. His colleagues noticed the change in his behavior. They were frightened by the change. Change is something that has always frightened humanity.

"Another one." said the Home minister.

"This would make it 30 presidents who had gone crazy." said the army chief.

"No one lasted more than a month. They all just go crazy over a night mysteriously" army chief replied.

Alice was captured and executed in front of everyone to scare those who were different or wanted to change. by D-Kun