Half Of A (W)Hole

We live in the Wrong Half of the Wind on a planet yet to be named, a place we simply call the outpost. Our Sky is permanently Clouded, the Stars no longer shine. Men who were once Men hunt us down in Mindless Obedience. The Overlords seek protection from their Conscience.

Solar Winds parch my lips and Weather my cheeks. We must live where No One wants to Live. We are safe only because we have Nothing worth taking. It's as if the Life Blood of the planet is Dripping away. What will we Do when it's gone? How will their Fancy Talk save them then?

Each day our True Face grows closer towards Revelation. The Ugly Men are losing their Fear, rising up out of the Dark. They rip away the suffocating Mask at last, unleashing Death and Mayhem. The lie is like a Burning Worm inside them they must Escape. But today the insane Worm sits upon the Throne, making the decisions of Life or Death.

Yes, I know we call it Life, but all that I see is Dying.

There's no Profit in People

Where does one go when the whole world is Mad?

My time in the Green Zones is spent as a Laborer. Without that Usefulness their Guards and guard Dogs would chase me right out. And if they knew my Mind they'd chase me out anyway. And so it was I found Myself walking through secret, endless Corn Fields, beautiful and Untouched. But for whom is this corn? Nobody. There's no Profit in People. Profit Lords deem it more profitable to leave food on the stalk in praise of the Pricing Superstition. In the Outlands is starvation but feeding them is against the Profit Religion. They bet the Lives of people on what they see as holy.

What is True profit? How is it to be measured in Reality? If we Exhaust this planet, who profits by that? And if we see profit in Doom, what Possesses us to believe so? Where are the Songs of tomorrow? But that's the benefit of any religion: it makes saints of Sinners and Testifies death is life. Religion will always be the Pervert's Playground. Everything we do is in the name of Profits, but the profit is a Myth.

I saw two men arguing, I was too far away to hear the Words. But the silhouettes Spoke to me as two figures fighting over a Last Morsel of food. It gave me a Vision of us Dying with our hands at each other's throats, refusing reality to the bitter End. And I thought back to my ex-wife who married a Profit Lord, and how she had Bloated so heavily I wondered if she was trying eat all the living food in sheer Desperation. We came to this Outpost over six thousand years ago and it seems we're devolving into Animals. I thought the plan was to evolve into Love.

"A Daylight Death"

"A Daylight Death". That's the name I gave to a writing I found by a Green Zone Boy whose zone had shrunk and he found himself on the Wrong Side of fate. In Green Zones, few concepts are more Revered than that of the Holy Soldier. Thusly, never are they Prepared when the Power Lords turn the soldiers Against them and Rape them for their Resources.

I'm oddly fascinated by Green Zone ruins. Maybe it's because I'm hoping I can find Artifacts like this one. The water stained Notebook I found would mean Nothing to most but is most Precious to me. I don't know Why this Story hurt me so Badly when I've heard of a thousand Tragedies already. I just Know I felt I was there as one boy's existence went from Blue Skies to Living Hell.
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"It's true, the Apocalypse really does come in the Twinkling of an eye.

"A bunch of girls were moving in across the street so me and the guys helped them move in. Man, were we happy to see them! And I think they liked us too. It's so different to be in a house where everything is pink and frilly. I was excited and filled with anticipation. I didn't know exactly what but I knew something good was coming! My dad needed some tools to help repair one of their shelves so he sent me back home to fetch them. Walking outside I remember thinking it was the bluest sky I’d ever seen.

"I was noticing how finely manicured Mrs. Crenshaw's lawn was kept when I heard the low drone of planes in the distance. Warning bells immediately went off inside me but against my wishes I fought them back to silence. We'd all heard the rumors we could be a target for Takeover but no one wanted to believe it. Everyone laughed at the crazy man down the street barricading his house. This has always been a totally safe Green Zone and always would be. That was the general feeling. But then I glimpsed the Soldiers Without Souls and my world turned upside down.

"They were coming up the street wordlessly, marching in double time. They seemed to take pleasure in the shock and surprise they caused. I just barely escaped notice. Luckily, I was wearing my green camouflage and it actually came in handy as I jumped behind Mrs. Crenshaw's hedge. After the running troops passed, a second set came through searching more thoroughly. I knew what would happen if they saw me. I'd be drafted in and fed drugs to keep me obedient and forced to the front lines as shields for the veterans. I wish all soldiers would die.

"I saw them invade the girls' house and heard the screams and shouts. My brothers were taken away in an army truck and my father handcuffed, headed to a detention camp. The girls went from innocent thoughts of boys to dire thoughts of survival if they were ever to see food again. That's what this was all about after all: who has food and who does not. Frozen in a fear more terrifying than I knew fear could be I watched a soldier post a sign stating, "Destroy your pets or we'll kill them for you." Pet feeding is strictly forbidden in a Takeover zone. Once the hell starts it never stops coming. And what once was is never again. This was never supposed to happen to us. I don't know where to turn."

I stumbled over a Question and fell into a Time Well.

I stumbled over a Question and fell into a Time Well. The question was 'Why?' Why am I writing this anyway? At first it seemed obvious to report on the Outrageous Behavior of these Lying Times. I had a vague Feeling my journal would be Useful as a testament to our Misguided Ways. We'd look back on this as a Close Call as we started an inevitable Healing Process. But, really, will Salvation come without us Seeking it?

I've lost all interest in the Political and Topical Issues. When I hear such discussions now it's like seeing two people argue over a sand castle as a Tidal Wave approaches. Everyone misses the Big Picture. So it got me Thinking: will These Words ever be read? Am I truly serving a Greater Good?

Scary part was I was happy sitting at the Bottom of a Time Well. What meaning has Time for me? How can I save the Sand Castle unless we all Strive for it together? My hand Hesitated with Hopelessness. I had started to write of the Call for More Power by the Overlords when it Struck me I may as well be on one of the Moons. But my Job is to Live and this journal keeps me Alive.

And I must Strive for that Regardless of the decisions of others.

I met a War Man and he was Alive with Fire.

I met a War Man and he was Alive with Fire. Rarely do you see a soul so Confidently Blind. There will be War, he said, until the Final Time. Those of war would be Useful and all others, Deserving Casualties. He spoke of the Glory of the War Machine and how no man could Resist it. In fact, you could hear his Contempt for anyone who failed to Worship his war god.

Vibrant as only a True Believer can be, he explained how he was doing God's Will, preserving the Good and Righting the world. The solution to our Ills is obvious: more war. War Fixes things and gets us where we Want To Be. It's a Zero Sum Game, kill or be killed. Thus Preached the true believer.

He knew as a Man of War praise could always be had. Those with Resources would love him and declare him Holy for his War-making talents. Like all Fools who believe they have found the Answer To Life, he loved to share his Joy of the As-Yet-To-Be-Realized-Myth of his evil being a Necessary Evil - the Holy Grail of all Losers.

Victory for the War Man meant never having to Love.

I listened to the Pulse of the Planet and I heard a Lonely Heartbeat.

I listened to the Pulse of the Planet and I heard a Lonely Heartbeat. Millions of Souls crying out for Freedom. In the Outland they talk openly of our Eminent Demise but such talk is Stamped Down in the Green Zones. But the Power Lords know someday the Shortages will reach even them. This leaves them Isolated for their solution is to Never Share. They get away with this because as a Whole we Believe the same. And that makes our Heart race.

"Anything that makes you want to Live is the Enemy." I am Haunted by these words from a Dying Outlander. Fed Starvation Wages - a virtual Slave - his only reward for work was a guaranty of More Misery. The Power Lords preached his labors were Godly and Good. Some of the Slaves even Drink this preached Poison as a substitute for a Meaningful Life. But the Overlords are merely Parasites - and in the End slaves to the Slaves who Feed them.

We are the Architects of our own Destruction - therefore only We can Undo our doings. Many Solutions That Do Not Solve are proponed for our Salvation. Everything from Mystery Technology to Fictional Facts to the Religion of Men are meant to keep our Eyes Closed to our Doom. We fear No One Will Love Us if we Admit we are Wrong. I fear No One Will Be Left if we don't.

"The truth is for losers."

"The truth is for losers." These Words of Enlightenment came to me at the end of a conversation with a Living Liar. His kind are particularly Alive in these times, feeling the Winds of the Times at their backs. Sanctioned by a feeling of Official Approval, these Beady-Eyed bastards feel free to Seek Out and Exploit any Weakness they can find. Nothing brings a smile of Satisfaction to the Power Lords like seeing these Sowers of Chaos ply their trade. It's good for keeping the Little People in Tangled Webs.

His eyes brimming with vibrancy, the Lying Man chastised me for Defending the Truth in my conversation. He told me I was behind the Times and truth held No Meaning anymore. Smart People, he said, are the ones who can Lie the best. He claimed if I stuck with truth I'd be Swallowed Whole and Left Behind. Reality exists only in the Mind, he insisted, and the object is to win the War of Words. He then went on to Brag how he'd successfully Defended an argument espousing the Earth Is Flat.

But the more I listened to his game of Self-Deception the more I Amused I became - until finally I Angered him with a Laugh.

Yes, I could see he was a Master at pervading the Prevailing Thought and this Perversion was his god. But, dude, while it’s true Changing Peoples' Minds can change Our Reality it sure as hell won’t change the Laws of Nature! Somewhere Inside you still have to Know that. Love requires No Lying.