Dystopia

Those two wandered the rough patch of land for days. The desert had no water and no food, but they were surviving just fine. But it wasn’t always pleasant. There were days when they hated each other. Antonio used to pick up stones and hurl it in her direction. Maria wasn’t an easy woman to travel with either. She used to hurl abuses at Antonio who she felt was heartless and brainless. His walk was wonky and his eyes were blue. So was the retina and so were his eyelashes. Antonio had plants growing out of his skin which burdened him further. With no other human in sight, the frustrations were at an all time high. Maria once exclaimed during a fight, “You just have a functioning body. You are a walking corpse with a faulty DNA”.

Maria knew everything. Seeds of education grew from her hips and she was trying very hard to connect Antonio to her roots of wisdom, to pass on some to him. As the sun dawned on one of the many evenings that they had spent on the desert, Antonio and Maria were prepping to sleep on the barren land. They took a piece of cactus and inserted them in their mouths for a good night sleep. As they slept with barbed, pointy sticks touching the roof of their mouths; when both of them heard a noise, they woke up startled near the Trevi Fountain in Italy. It was Maria’s homeland. They both woke up in disbelief! Antonio exclaimed “Look at all the cars we stole. They are right here and guess what; we aren’t in the police station? Life is indeed great”. Maria frowned and walked away.

Srishti Hemmady