The voice prevails
Short-form fiction: Dystopia of today?
Editor’s note: Over the next few months, I’ll share some of my short-form fiction with you here, as well as updates on my Kindle Vellas. The following was written during a 10-minute writing sprint. My inspiration came from the old Apple McIntosh TV commercial.
The line was endless. Miles of bodies dressed in white linen marching towards …. What? Oblivion? No one knew. All they knew was that the voice told them to get in line. Dan didn’t trust the voice. Yes, he grew up with it, telling you what to do and what not to do. It’s all he knew. His family motto was “the voice is right.” His mother punished him only when the voice told her to. He HATED the voice. So now, all grown up with his own family, when the voice told everyone to line up for a better tomorrow, he doubted. So when he, his wife, and two daughters got in line, he had a plan. They’d double back and run down into the embankment.
He got ready and just as they passed a corner, where the watchers weren't looking, he whispered, "NOW!" The four pushed through the sands and ran down the embankment. They slid down the sands to freedom. To a new life away from control. To .... what was the smell? Like meat, but they hadn't had meat in a while. He saw the fires and piles of bodies too late. The watchers had seen and had prepared a trap. His mother’s voice echoed in his head. “The Voice is Always Right.”