Against The Sun

Mousekat Says: Take Your Pills Kids!

White. Grey. Concrete. Blank faces. Blank minds. Even the trees were trimmed to an unnatural uniformity. It was smothering and endless. And it was all the young boy had ever known.

The sights on his daily walk vaguely annoyed him. The monotony of it grated on a nerve deep inside of him. He didn't know why it annoyed him so much. Why should it? Everything here was perfect. Everyone had a place and a job to do. Everyone belonged. Better Living Industries promised to look after them all. All you had to do was take your pills, smile and get on with it. And that's what he did. He woke up every morning, he took his pills, and he went to school. So why wasn't he happy? Everyone else was happy.

He pushed the nagging thoughts out of his mind. He didn't have time today. He was on a mission. He had his allowance in his pocket and the new Mousekat comic should be out. He smiled at the thought. Soon he would be back home sitting on his bed with his little brother devouring the one bit of colour that they had in their lives.

Something in the back of his mind told him that it wasn't to be trusted. 'Propaganda' it whispered. But that was an illegal word, so he did as he had been told to do and pushed that thought from his mind too.

He had been getting into trouble lately at school for thinking too much and asking questions. He didn't mean to be a bad kid. It was just sometimes these thoughts popped into his head and then burst out of his mouth before he had a chance to stop them. It had happened before so they had upped his dose of the Better Living Pills and the thoughts had gone away.

But they had been back for the last month or so now.

'Good', the voice inside his head said, and the boy cringed.

Why couldn't he just be normal like all the other kids at school. He so desperately wanted to just be normal and content like everyone else.

Last night he had overheard his parents whispering about him. He knew they were worried about him. His teachers said he was 'too creative' as if that was the worst thing he could be. They had taken away his sketch books. People were starting to whisper that he might be a burnout. He didn't want to be a burnout. He just wanted to make his parents proud and not be an endless source of worry and disappointment for them.

His younger brother made them proud. Mikey made everyone proud. He was the star pupil at their school and had been accepted into all the best programs. He was learning all about electronics and how to fight so when he graduated, early probably, he could be recruited into the Better Living ranks and help make the world a better place. He didn't have to worry about a nagging voice in his head telling him to doubt everything that he had ever known. And yet Mikey never once judged his older brother for his less desirable personality traits.

The boy sighed. He was thinking too much again. He really needed to stop doing that.

The store he was heading for was just up ahead, as white as everything else with a sign featuring the word 'NEWS' in bold black letters.

Opening the door he smiled politely at the store owner. "Morning Mr. Jenkins".

"Morning Gerard," the man replied with the same polite smile on his face. The smile everyone always had.

"Is the new Mousekat in yet?" the boy asked hopefully.

"Sure is", Mr Jenkins replied with a practised enthusiasm and pointed helpfully to the back of the store.

The boy wandered over looking for today's prize. There it was. A pop of colour in the monochrome world of Battery City. Mousekat was on the cover in all his vibrant blue glory. And in Gerard's favourite colour, red, bold letters spelled 'Mousekat says: Take your pills kids!'