Enough to Feed a Family!
I daydreamed about Leeloo in The Fifth Element as I waited for dinner to be ready to serve my ungrateful family. Why couldn't I have a giant roasted chicken dinner?
What I was preparing was eaten quickly and every plate was literally licked clean. It was all mush, of course, but had different flavors. Tonight it was chipped beef flavor on rice flavor with applesauce flavor and real coffee flavor.
They lined up and I portioned exact measurements on each plate. Each member of my lovely family groaned and walked on. They were lucky to have anything and was it my fault we only got half rations? Nope! They just kept bringing people home and now we had to share with them.
If they irritated me too much, I would just poison them and they knew it, so they tried to be civil. I would kill the strangers first, of course, my husband second and then the kids. The damn kids are the ones who kept adopting people!
Dinner over, we sat around the view box and hoped some type of show my be aired tonight. Personally, I hoped they would discover some more seed banks and grow us some damn food.
Every citizen was required to be ever vigilant in searching for any type of growth they saw. There were Plant Alert Buttons on every block and all one had to do was push it and a team would come and collect the item.
That was my job, the PABs. I cleaned them and checked to see if they worked. I prayed to push one because I had found some plant one day.
I went to bed and dreamed of a quiet place with plenty of fresh food.
***
PAB patrol went well the next day and I even received a pack of juice chews from my boss. I ate one and hid the rest in my work pouch. What my family didn't know wouldn't hurt them. I felt energized now and hurried through my duties.
I stopped at the food depot and received my food allotment for the week. I asked a neighbor who worked there about extras for new household members. She gaped at me.
"You have extra people? You should have said something! How many new people?" I told her and my food was doubled. I gleamed with pleasure and thanked her. I didn't see the look of concern she shot at her work mate.
We ate well that night and every one was more pleasant. Maybe I wouldn't have to kill anyone.
***
Pounding awakened us before daybreak. I went to the door and jumped back as the troopers stormed in. They were cyborgs and very dangerous. They scanned every house member and took away the ones who were not blood relatives. My kids cried and begged, but their friends were taken. They would be dead very soon. Hell, at least I didn't have to kill them.
I hid the extra portions my friend had given me, but wondered why she had reported me at the same time. Oh well, water under the bridge. I dressed for work and said god bye to my sleeping family. No one else worked. They would sleep and moan all day and try to find my food hiding places. They hadn't found one yet and I had many.
There was something electric in the air when I hit the street. The street was also empty. Had I not realized it was a holiday? I decided to use my air scooter to check the office first. What could be my excuse? I loosened a wire so my lights flashed constantly.
The office was full and noisy. Something was up. My boss jumped in front of me when I entered and blocked the view box. I could see and hear excitement though and the other employees were smiling.
"Why are you here? Get back to work!"
"My lights won't stop flashing, sir."
"Go around back and a mechanic will meet you." I left, but listened as I refastened my coat.
I heard words: seed bank, food, new growth and other positive words. I wondered if they would come down to people of my level though.
The mechanic fixed the scooter and I went on patrol. If I found anything now, I would just keep it. Looked like the hoity toity folks would have their own soon.
I found nothing and went back home. My family was watching the view box too. A treasure trove of canned goods and seeds was unearthed in the mountains and it would be dispersed to all members of the city.
I sighed and my family turned to me.
"Mom? Will you still work after we have food?"
I thought about that and wondered if I would still have a job. "Yes, I will still work, for I bet it won't last long and we must always search for seeds and plants. There is work for all of you too, you know."
They looked me up and down and then ignored me again. They would just sit there and die probably. I wouldn't though.
"I will fix dinner and then I have a meeting." They shrugged.
We all ate full portions and then I left for my nonexistent meeting. I didn't take the air scooter, for it was tracked. I walked to the end of the town limit and then slid under the metal barricade. It was black as night and silent.
I leaned against the barricade until my eyes adjusted and then headed for the garden. It wasn't a garden by earlier standards, but it was life and growth for me.
Rolling back the steel plate, I could smell rich soil inside. I rolled back the plate and pushed a button. Low lights filled the space with an ethereal glow.
In the front were the new seeds. I had no idea what kind they were, but would see what developed. I walked on and the second group was shooting up through the soil. It was so exciting!
I ran to the back where the lights flowed brightest and saw colors. There was a round red thing and a green thing like a tube and all sorts of colors and shapes and I bet it was all food. I wanted to eat it all right now, but didn't know what to do with it.
Before I went back home, I decided to see if the Library was still open. I needed a book to tell me what I had in my garden.
It was open and empty as usual. I went to the library desk and asked for a book about identifying plants. Three titles popped up: Victory Gardens, Plants of the Twenty-First Century and Can I Eat This? I took them all and hid them in my tote.
I read them all, cover to cover and knew I would need to take them to my garden so I could label my plants. When though? I needed to sneak out since I could only pretend a meeting once a week. Maybe I could lace their food with sedatives again.
I filled them with sedatives in a pudding flavor food substance and crept out. My tote was full and I also had my pencil and paper for labels. No one stopped me.
I ate the round red thing, a tomato and swooned at the flavor. The other items I would save and cook at home somehow. I picked them and placed in wrappings in my tote.
Dropping the books in the return chute at the library, I felt I was being watched. The feeling persisted and I was glad I could take a break from the garden.
My boss and the troopers were outside my building. I stopped abruptly and gawked at them.
"Get the tote bag before you kill her." A cyborg grabbed it off my shoulder. Two cyborgs took aim and the last thing I saw was my family standing near my boss eating from my stash of food, pointing and laughing. They would be provided with an extra share of food for turning me in and even more perks for turning me in for everything else. They would be set for awhile.
I should have killed them when I had the chance.
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