Run The City

Chapter 1

The happiest moment of my life.

I sit at the old oak table, digging my fingers into the polished wood. I almost always hate being in the center of attention, but this time it feels different. I stare at the perfectly iced cake, topped with wax candles that declare that today I turn twenty years old. My best friend bounces over to the table with a big smile on her face.

"Happy Birthday! I'm so glad you are in my life." She leans across the polished table to give me a tight hug. I smile and return the gesture. She came all the way out just for my birthday. I'm so grateful to her and my other friends who came just for me. My best friend lights the candles on the pristine cake aglow and they fill the rooms with their soft light.

"Happy birthday to you !" My friends and family sang. I smiled and closed my eyes. I wish I could make this moment last forever.

"Make a wish!"

I blow on the cake and extinguish the flames, smoke filling the room. My friends and family cheer.

Could there be anything more perfect than this?

A disembodied voice fills my brain, distinct and feminine.

"Battery low. Ten percent remaining."

I bring my hand to my head just behind my ear and press firmly. The "family" and "friends" I have never really met fade from view, along with the birthday cake and table, and walls of the home that look like they could be anyone's childhood home.

The pristine scene in my hallucination is a stark contrast to my disheveled apartment, dingy and nearly bare, except for the chair I have been sitting on and a bed in the corner. I want to go out to obtain supplies, but it is past ten and the streets are too risky to navigate at night in the inner city. Still, they are much safer than they were before Euphoria.

Back in those days, getting mugged was not an uncommon occurrence, and gunshots rang out often into the night. The government tried to enforce gun control after uprisings started to occur, but citizens would always find ways to hide them when the government would come for the monthly checks.

Then Euphoria came into the picture. After the third world war, in which most South America was obliterated in a nuclear blast from Europe and everyone was suspicious of everyone else, citizens were weary, unemployed, and haunted by the horrors of war and things they never wanted to see again. There was a severe mental health crisis. Times were hard for the rich and poor alike. The government had their own "perfect" solution. Euphoria is a hallucinatory drug that is inserted just behind the ear. It releases endorphins into the brain and causes an intense feeling of happiness and hallucinations. The hallucinations can be controlled by a single thought and conjure a scene of your choice.

I guess most people do it to escape the depressing reality. I only do it because you are considered disloyal to the government if you do not accept the "gracious gift granted upon the common people by your generous leaders." I really can't stand our leaders, dictator-like figures that should have left positions long ago. I would rather live in the present reality, no matter how depressing it is. But euphoria is a good way to escape reality, but it doesn't solve any problems. I hate how easily I can grow to enjoy it if I am not careful. It doesn't really matter what I like, I have to participate to deflect suspicion.