Afterglow

Part I

Afterglow

The world is governed by trivial matters. Mad, insane, disoriented – these are the best descriptions I can come up to picture how this place they once called 'home' is doing right now. Perhaps the world has gone mad for real, but the planet itself has no consciousness, right? By what law of science can such charge be proven true? I know none.

Then I shall correct myself for saying such false accusations.

Here it goes: humans are extremely foolish creatures.

Fifty years ago, birds ruled the air and aquatic beings inhabited the sea. Man resided on lands, given the fact that they can neither fly and stay put in the atmosphere, nor breathe underwater and build their houses on the reefs. These people who believed that they are superior amongst all biotic entities, pursued a different level of knowledge that separated them from the beasts of the wild. Science, it is called. They explored such field in greater depth than those dead people printed on books, and after that the world is never the same.

The undying adage goes like change is inevitable. Be it in good manner or otherwise, it is not controllable. It has become an involuntary volition for the human race ever since the dawn of time. Majority of the population of Cloture believed that human beings evolved from the genus Homo of phylum Chordata. I hate discussing technical terms but I call these beings 'monkeys', because they strongly resemble them. And since Cloturians have this Darwinistic belief implanted in their shiny brains, I shall call them monkeys. Assuming the arguments of this widely accepted theory  in the tainted lands of Cloture, change has begun ever since humans evolved. Thus, change should continue.

Believe it or not, these monkeys went overboard. They started to change the nation fifty years ago, wiping out peace and order and replacing them with disruption and war. Their "science" brought them to heights no other human race, color or ethnicity has ever reached, and by the time the whole country was changed, Cloture was a state recognized for its superior weaponry.

The monkeys assuming the titles of leaders altered the system. After strengthening the military forces and seizing the rebellion within the territories, the leaders revised the system which run the country for century long. When the constitution was revised, these monkeys emerged to the throne and had all the people wrapped around their fingers.
"Long live Cloture! Long live the General!"

"Die," I snapped, grabbing the remote from the counter to turn off the TV. When the screen turned black, I hissed.

TV programs were so tedious and nonsensical that I grew tired watching any of it. All shows being aired were monitored by the government, filtering all of its contents. Actually all kinds of shows were permitted, so long as none of these programs could provoke resistance from the lower order. Yes, lower order or also known as the blue-collar workers and the rest of the starving people. Well, that was so typical. The oppressed were always the first ones to notice how unjust, corrupted and parasitic the system had always been. In a game of chess, they would always make the first move. In my case, the less important pieces, were pawns – that was if I put myself in a typical monkey's thinking.

They always come in greater number, but they were powerless. En passant, forward or diagonal - these were the only moves they could do. They were the only ones to complain. Less-valued but significant in some sense. They were the ones often sacrificed so the other pieces could advance.

"Isn't it too early to be in such sour mood, Miku?" the owner of the TV said, walking across the shop. Her fading blond hair fell a few inches above her waist. Cloturians with normal hair colors – let me mention a few: black, blond, brown, red and white – were receiving a fairly good treatment from the people. Those people who were magically born with a different color from the mentioned colors were - of course - considered vile or something. That's experience talking, mind to tell you.