Chapter 19 — A Mother’s Letter
A serial novel in the form of correspondence among a family while the world as we know it collapses around us. I recommend you start at the Introduction:
https://readmedium.com/climate-for-change-introduction-5331d5ab9313
But you can start anywhere you want.
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Chapter 19:
Hand written on lined paper (delivered by Charlie):
Dear Benji,
Your sister and I could not contain ourselves when Charlie delivered your letter. We were both sobbing with joy that you are alive. Please thank Charlie from the bottom of our hearts for bringing us this news. We think about you every minute of every day.
We gave Daisy and Jeremy’s families the news today. They are ready to form a posse and go get you all. Your Grandpa talked some sense into us. We are all going to bide our time, for now. In the meantime, they are all sending letters with Charlie.
First off, you should know that VeRU lives. I helped Melody and Jorge put together an issue where we interviewed people who had come from other cities. We left copies on public transport, just like you did. It turns out that each major city is run differently. The Circle is a group of Generals who each also manage sections of the U.S.A. The rights that people have in each region are decided by that region’s ruling general. Our area seems to have the fewest rights. After our VeRU issue came out, General Stewart stopped all inter-city travel to and from the city. Maybe we are getting to him?
We are planning to do a whole special edition with stories from the Mothers of the Disappeared. We have so many stories that we will probably make it into a four-page issue. The last page of the issue will include the photos that Mel took of the children being forced to go into the General’s mansion and the photo of what looks like a body bag being carried out of the mansion. It will take a lot of black market printer ink and paper, but it will be worth it. None of us smoke cigarettes anyway.
People have been reprinting our VeRU issue and the two issues that you put out. I even heard someone has translated them into Spanish, Hmong, and Somali. There are other underground newspapers, too, and they all seem to be imitating the work that the three of you started. There are also whole coded languages on social media for people to talk honestly about their lives and opinions without being censored.
After speaking with some of the Mothers of the Disappeared, I want to ask you for something. I want you to see if your guard friend can smuggle out a list of all the inmates in your camp and Daisy’s camp. It would mean a lot to the people in our group to know if their children are alive. Of course, I don’t want to get anyone’s hopes up, because there are probably other camps, but I know what your letter did for me. If we can bring some good news to even one other family, it will be worth it.
Life in the city has been mixed. On the one hand, I love our neighborhood more than ever. People have really come together to help each other. We have potlucks, work parties, and skill sharing sessions. I got that last idea from your grandma and grandpa. We make every weekend into a skill share and swap time. Last weekend Melody and I showed people how to build a chicken coop. The Circle has instituted nationwide full employment, and people are working in factories, in greenhouses, and all over the city. It feels like we are all pulling in the same direction.
On the other hand, food and heating fuel rations were cut again last week. People are constantly complaining about how cold and hungry they are. People shouldn’t be able to see their breath inside their own houses. Many people have decided to lock up their houses, drain the water pipes, and to double up with friends and family in order to share heating fuel rations. Having to use public transportation in the winter in Minnesota also means that I spend a lot of time in the cold waiting for a bus or a train. The snow in the city has turned to a dirty brown slush. Our freezer full of garden vegetables and farm-raised meat is dwindling rapidly. I can feel pretty desperate on a bad day.
Mel and I are keeping in touch with your grandma and grandpa. More and more I think I might want to try to move out there. I am worried about our tracker chips though. What if we escape the metro area and somehow find a way to Grandpa’s house, only to have General Stewart send his secret police to bring us back? They would probably try to punish Grandpa for harboring fugitives. As far as I can tell, there is no way to get the tracker chips out, and if I did get it out, then we would lose all our money. Without money, the National Bank could take away our house. Even if I could get the chip out and escape the city, it would be a one-way trip. City life is impossible now without a chip.
I am also worried about the war in Europe. Between climate change, the global refugee crisis, the famines, and now the war, it seems like the world is spiraling into a place I would not want for anybody. High school and university in the city have been canceled, and General Stewart has all young people between 15 and 25 reporting daily to neighborhood military training centers for basic training. Failure to report gets you sent to a reeducation camp. I don’t think they have the facilities to house all the new soldiers, so they stay at home at night, and they train in the parks during the day. You can hear the drill sergeants shouting at the new recruits every morning. If you weren’t in a prison camp, you would be here, preparing to go to war. I don’t know what would be worse.
When I spoke with Daisy’s family, they said that her cousin Antonio is training in their neighborhood park. The young people are being trained to be loyal to General Stewart. In the training, the instructors say little about the Circle and mostly praise General Stewart. It sounds like your camp. I wonder if these people are being trained for the war in Europe or some other war that General Stewart is going to personally fight with this private army? I think our next issue will be about basic training.
We love you and miss you and wish we could send a truckload full of warm clothes for you and your cabin mates.
Love,
Mom and Mel
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Next chapter:
https://readmedium.com/chapter-20-resistance-lives-in-the-north-3b8cdbdbf9b0
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Author’s note: And if you are not yet a Medium member and want to find out what happens to Benjamin, you have two options:
- Join Medium. I think it is worth it! Use my referral link: https://gaertner-andy122.medium.com/membership
- Email me, and I will send you a friend link: