ALARM CLOCK DAWN (An Original Novel - Part 6)

In yesterday’s installment of Alarm Clock Dawn we learned a little about the anxiety-inducing financial system that keeps millions from realizing their dreams. Today we catch a glimpse of what life is like in the world this hellish system has helped to create.

Did you miss Part 5 of Alarm Clock Dawn? If so Click Here to read it.

---

Part 6

You sadistic bitch, Adam thought, wishing more than anything that he had the courage to say it.

Adam often thought how ironic it was to him that people always said children are cruel, but they have it all wrong. Ms. Finch was a perfect example of how the art of cruelty just begins to be honed as the playground fades into memory. In the adult world, after years of practice, it becomes a sleek and strategic weapon with lethal aim. As sad as it seems, at some time or another, we all have our finger on the trigger.

Adam was nervous but determined not to let anything ruin tonight. He had been communicating with a woman with the screen name of “VerbalTag7” online for weeks and was feeling as though he had just about gathered the courage to ask her out for coffee. This was monumental; he hadn’t had a real date in years. He was married to his job at XenTek, and he had just sort of settled into what had become his daily routine while time continued to rush by. Six-day work weeks were the norm, and on Sunday all he wanted to do was relax his mind.

Adam glanced at his vintage watch, gathered his things, swiped his Consumer ID card, and made a mad dash through the lobby and downstairs to the subway station, all while doing his best to avoid eye contact with any of his coworkers. He rarely passed anyone on the stairs because most people didn’t bother with them and rode the elevators. The Consumer Identification Card, or C.ID, was the universal card now used for everything from identification to making purchases.

As he reached the subway station, he looked for the turnstile with the familiar green triangle and, as much as he tried to suppress it, he couldn’t help but feel a certain pride as he scanned his card to enter the train platform. As with every other aspect of society, the C.ID with the Green triangle on it was a ticket to first class. If your C.ID bore the Orange circle, you boarded different train cars all together.

As Adam neared the train, he heard a baby crying. As he looked in its direction, he saw a young mother, shabbily dressed, holding the baby in her arms with a toddler in tow. “Please let us board,” she pleaded with the railway employee. “We’ve been waiting for over an hour, and my son is tired.”

The man in his black uniform checked the turnstile they stood behind to make sure it was still locked. “It’s rush hour. What do you expect? You know the rules. Reds can only board if there are empty seats after the Orange Consumers have boarded.”

This particular afternoon the wind and driving rain were merciless. A top-note of acrid petrochemical pollution hung in the air, but when the wind shifted just right Adam caught the calming scent of burning wood that wafted into the city from the camps.

As Adam neared closer, the interactive billboards on either side of him started displaying micro ads targeted to the consumers within a few feet of them. XenTek had developed this technology just a few years ago. Advanced algorithms determined which ads to displayed based on the browser history of the consumers within range. Cameras embedded in the billboards could even read eye movement and personalized the three-second ads to whoever was viewing them.

Research showed that three seconds was just long enough to implant an idea to buy into their subconscious. Adam reluctantly tore his attention away from an ad for a certain luxury wristwatch that he had been lusting after to board the train. As he stepped into the car he noticed thick fog clinging to the tops of the buildings like a damp shroud. Above the door in bold, black letters were the words that had been so deliberately ground into their collective consciousness. These were the same phrases that were posted in public spaces throughout the cities: “A Good Citizen Is a Good Consumer” and “Treat Yourself, You Deserve It!”

Adam quickly moved to the back of the car and took his usual seat. He turned to glance at his reflection in the window and sighed as staring back at him was the same thin, uncoordinated stutterer as the day before. In many ways Adam felt marked by his genius even more than his stutter. He had figured out early on that those who were kind to him usually weren’t without a motive. Most times his desire for companionship was so great he didn’t care. The same intelligence that would allow him to effortlessly pluck advanced concepts from the highest branches of the tree of knowledge sometimes wouldn’t allow him to find the words to carry on the simplest conversation with a stranger.

For as long as he could remember he felt different from most people. He found himself daydreaming and bored most of the time. More than anything he wished for the companionship of an equal, someone who could keep pace with the virility of his mind. When he was a young boy he would sometimes cry himself to sleep at night, asking God to bestow this curse on someone else and allow Adam to experience the rest of his days as a normal person.

As the train pulled away from the platform, Adam slipped off his shoes and rested his feet on a massager that warmed and kneaded them. Soft music played and the delightful fragrance of lavender filled the air as he was bombarded by advertisements for everything that interested him as well as and ad for the drug Serenity. The music that played almost unnoticeably in the background had the uncanny ability of making him forget about whatever was on his mind when he first boarded the train.

It seemed that Serendexhamine, or Serenity as it was more commonly known, was the world's drug of choice. All of their commercials contained an obnoxious laugh track followed by their slogan, “Serenity will give you your smile back!”

Serenity was a potent antidepressant. For only pennies a day it would dull you to the extremes of your emotions. Between the lack of sunlight, insomnia, and taxing daily schedules, a majority of consumers were given prescriptions for Serenity in varying doses. Even those who weren't taking their dose through the drinking water.

The news headlines flashed on the television screens mounted just above the subway car's windows: Storm Alert ---> WEATHER WARNING! Air travel halted for two days until major storm system dissipates. These cells have the potential of creating strong tornadoes and large hail. The government recommends staying indoors until the warning is lifted . . . > XenTek releases ground-breaking new product, Holo. Industry experts say it will revolutionize life as we know it. Fans are already camping out at stores to be the first to get their hands on the Holo, which will go on sale to the public in two days . . . > Stocks are mixed but gaining on favorable profit projections from XenTek on the announcement of the Holo . . . .

To be continued...(the next installment of Alarm Clock Dawn will appear at the same time tomorrow!)

---

Alarm Clock Dawn is the first novel of a trilogy. The sequel entitled, Truth Is Stranger, will be published in the Spring of 2017.

Please visit my website to sign up for my author newsletter. My newsletter subscribers will receive exclusive updates on the release of the sequel and other special offers.