Congratulations !
You have been awarded points.
Thank you for !
- Story Listed as: Fiction For Adults
- Theme: Science Fiction
- Subject: Science / Science Fiction
- Published: 07/08/2010
It started like any other day before, alarm clock, five-minute shower and a government bar. This day would be different. I was born in Springfield, Illinois on March 20th 1970. My family was upper middle class. We had skateboards and hand me down cars. My parents were pretty much the norm. Mom was always self-improving and Dad worked too much and yelled at the T.V.
Then our country went crazy and I never saw it coming. In the year 2022 diabetes and obesity had become such an epidemic that the government had stepped in. It all happened very quickly, which is unusual for any government. Sugar in its purest form was rationed. All baked goods had to be made with sugar substitute. Hostess company quickly switched over but no one would buy their goods and within six months they filed for bankruptcy. The other bakery companies soon followed suit. In January of 2023 the government put out their own line of breakfast bars and other foods. The breakfast bars were the least offensive but still difficult to eat.
Every family was given one pound of sugar a month. If you were single like I was you got a quarter pound of sugar a month. That was ridiculous, how could I live on so little sugar? That’s when I decided I needed more. My dreams at night were of the days when the store shelves had bags and bags of sugar? What I wouldn’t give for sweet tarts or a snickers bar. Just to put a full teaspoon of sugar into my coffee without any regrets.
My girl friend Amy knew some guys. The kind that could get me illegal sugar. When the government had closed the borders they not only stopped the import of sugar but also illicit drugs. Unfortunately it was easier to purchase drugs then to buy sugar. Amy set up a meeting at the Holy Seplucher gravesite. It was a two-hour drive but to me it was well worth it. It was also fifty dollars for a pound of sugar, also well worth it. Amy gave me a picture of her friend. He was tall dark and handsome, this could be fun. I knew in the southern states some people were growing sugar cane in their back yards. The sugar on the black market had come from Hawaii.
I started out in my red car with a few planted flowers and a small shovel. It was my day off so leaving didn’t look suspicious. The first traffic light had people cams; it was a video system to watch for criminals. At least that was the official reason it was there. The government had way too much information on all of us. I headed northbound towards Chicago, the traffic was light today. The message boards flashed at me from the side of the road. "Feel good with Government bars," and "We are looking out for your children’s health." If only we had realized back when it was cigarette smoking and the spotted owl conservationists. If we had stopped them then, we would still have our freedoms now. I focused on the road and the two hours sped by quickly. Soon I was turning onto 111th and Ridgeland. I saw the black iron gates to the cemetery and the large sign read. HOLY SEPLECURE. My heart was racing; I decided I would not make a good criminal, too much stress.
I parked the car on the far south side of the cemetery, mostly older graves were there. Less people and prying eyes to worry about. I went up to one of the graves with the flowers in hand. Randomly I picked out one of the graves. I hope that Mary Thomas appreciated my flower. I knelt down and started to dig. The black earth was moist and smelled good. Putting in the first group of pansies I stealthily looked about, no one was here. Perhaps I was early, no the clock was right eleven thirty as agreed.
Suddenly I noticed a shadow hovering over me. I turned slowly to see Amy’s friend in a light brown over coat. "Hi," he said, "Are you Jenny." "Yes, I am, Amy sent me," I replied. "Do you have the money," he asked. "Do you have the sugar" I replied. He handed me a gold box made of metal, it was very beautiful. I opened the box and there inside was a sight for me to behold. Immaculate white sugar, perfect granules at least a pound. I closed the cover and handed over the money into his palm. He shook my hand as if we were saying goodbye and headed off down the road. I finished planting the flowers and rose slowly brushing off the black dirt from my knees. All the time wondering what to do with my sugar. I could bake cookies and eat them all at one sitting or make a cake with baker’s chocolate. That would need a lot of my sugar. I could put it on a piece of toast with cinnamon and eat it the way I had as a child. I was so elated, the ways I could use this sugar were mind-boggling.
Back in my car I placed the gold box in my glove compartment carefully. I started off back towards my home. Outside the cemetery was another people cam, I gave it little notice. Soon I was back on the freeway heading south to Springfield. I had done it; I had gotten away with buying sugar from the black market. There was something naughty about getting away with a crime. Make’s you feel like you’re tough and bad at the same time.
I watched for the signs to get home and breathed a great sigh of relief. Then I saw the lights behind me I looked in the rearview mirror. The sirens blarred, maybe I was speeding. I pulled to the right and watched the policemen come up to the car. As I rolled down the window I heard him say, "license and registration please."
"Yes sir," I muttered in a terrified tone. I handed him my license and registration trying not to make eye contact. My mother had always told me I was a bad liar. "Step out of the car young lady," he told me sternly. The other policeman came up on the passenger side. He opened the car door and to my horror pulled out the gold metal box. He opened the box and with his smallest finger shoved it into the sugar and stuck it in his mouth. "It’s pure ," he told his partner. The next thing I knew I was in hand cuffs and being taken into the police car.
In what seemed like a dream I saw my mother and father come to see me. Crying and horrified my mother told me she would pray for me. A judge imposed the least restrictive penalty on me the next day. A two thousand dollar fine and five years in prison. Which meant five years of no sugar. Here I sit behind these bars for breaking a law I feel is inane. When I get out it will be 2027 and then I will have my sugar.
2027(Diana Jeanne)
It started like any other day before, alarm clock, five-minute shower and a government bar. This day would be different. I was born in Springfield, Illinois on March 20th 1970. My family was upper middle class. We had skateboards and hand me down cars. My parents were pretty much the norm. Mom was always self-improving and Dad worked too much and yelled at the T.V.
Then our country went crazy and I never saw it coming. In the year 2022 diabetes and obesity had become such an epidemic that the government had stepped in. It all happened very quickly, which is unusual for any government. Sugar in its purest form was rationed. All baked goods had to be made with sugar substitute. Hostess company quickly switched over but no one would buy their goods and within six months they filed for bankruptcy. The other bakery companies soon followed suit. In January of 2023 the government put out their own line of breakfast bars and other foods. The breakfast bars were the least offensive but still difficult to eat.
Every family was given one pound of sugar a month. If you were single like I was you got a quarter pound of sugar a month. That was ridiculous, how could I live on so little sugar? That’s when I decided I needed more. My dreams at night were of the days when the store shelves had bags and bags of sugar? What I wouldn’t give for sweet tarts or a snickers bar. Just to put a full teaspoon of sugar into my coffee without any regrets.
My girl friend Amy knew some guys. The kind that could get me illegal sugar. When the government had closed the borders they not only stopped the import of sugar but also illicit drugs. Unfortunately it was easier to purchase drugs then to buy sugar. Amy set up a meeting at the Holy Seplucher gravesite. It was a two-hour drive but to me it was well worth it. It was also fifty dollars for a pound of sugar, also well worth it. Amy gave me a picture of her friend. He was tall dark and handsome, this could be fun. I knew in the southern states some people were growing sugar cane in their back yards. The sugar on the black market had come from Hawaii.
I started out in my red car with a few planted flowers and a small shovel. It was my day off so leaving didn’t look suspicious. The first traffic light had people cams; it was a video system to watch for criminals. At least that was the official reason it was there. The government had way too much information on all of us. I headed northbound towards Chicago, the traffic was light today. The message boards flashed at me from the side of the road. "Feel good with Government bars," and "We are looking out for your children’s health." If only we had realized back when it was cigarette smoking and the spotted owl conservationists. If we had stopped them then, we would still have our freedoms now. I focused on the road and the two hours sped by quickly. Soon I was turning onto 111th and Ridgeland. I saw the black iron gates to the cemetery and the large sign read. HOLY SEPLECURE. My heart was racing; I decided I would not make a good criminal, too much stress.
I parked the car on the far south side of the cemetery, mostly older graves were there. Less people and prying eyes to worry about. I went up to one of the graves with the flowers in hand. Randomly I picked out one of the graves. I hope that Mary Thomas appreciated my flower. I knelt down and started to dig. The black earth was moist and smelled good. Putting in the first group of pansies I stealthily looked about, no one was here. Perhaps I was early, no the clock was right eleven thirty as agreed.
Suddenly I noticed a shadow hovering over me. I turned slowly to see Amy’s friend in a light brown over coat. "Hi," he said, "Are you Jenny." "Yes, I am, Amy sent me," I replied. "Do you have the money," he asked. "Do you have the sugar" I replied. He handed me a gold box made of metal, it was very beautiful. I opened the box and there inside was a sight for me to behold. Immaculate white sugar, perfect granules at least a pound. I closed the cover and handed over the money into his palm. He shook my hand as if we were saying goodbye and headed off down the road. I finished planting the flowers and rose slowly brushing off the black dirt from my knees. All the time wondering what to do with my sugar. I could bake cookies and eat them all at one sitting or make a cake with baker’s chocolate. That would need a lot of my sugar. I could put it on a piece of toast with cinnamon and eat it the way I had as a child. I was so elated, the ways I could use this sugar were mind-boggling.
Back in my car I placed the gold box in my glove compartment carefully. I started off back towards my home. Outside the cemetery was another people cam, I gave it little notice. Soon I was back on the freeway heading south to Springfield. I had done it; I had gotten away with buying sugar from the black market. There was something naughty about getting away with a crime. Make’s you feel like you’re tough and bad at the same time.
I watched for the signs to get home and breathed a great sigh of relief. Then I saw the lights behind me I looked in the rearview mirror. The sirens blarred, maybe I was speeding. I pulled to the right and watched the policemen come up to the car. As I rolled down the window I heard him say, "license and registration please."
"Yes sir," I muttered in a terrified tone. I handed him my license and registration trying not to make eye contact. My mother had always told me I was a bad liar. "Step out of the car young lady," he told me sternly. The other policeman came up on the passenger side. He opened the car door and to my horror pulled out the gold metal box. He opened the box and with his smallest finger shoved it into the sugar and stuck it in his mouth. "It’s pure ," he told his partner. The next thing I knew I was in hand cuffs and being taken into the police car.
In what seemed like a dream I saw my mother and father come to see me. Crying and horrified my mother told me she would pray for me. A judge imposed the least restrictive penalty on me the next day. A two thousand dollar fine and five years in prison. Which meant five years of no sugar. Here I sit behind these bars for breaking a law I feel is inane. When I get out it will be 2027 and then I will have my sugar.
Kevin Hughes
06/14/2018Aloha Dianne,
I am a sugar addict...especially for tea and soft drinks, okay, and donuts and waffles with maple syrup. Oh, an cupcakes, pancakes, an cake cake. So this story was way more believable to me , than most. Great job! Smiles, Kevin
Help Us Understand What's Happening
JD
06/13/2018Sugar = crack cocaine in the here and now. The only difference is that one is a cheap and easy fix, and the other is illegal and therefore expensive and difficult to get hold of. But that does not stop the afflicted addicted from doing whatever they have to do to get their hands on more of it. Once the multitudes are addicted to sugar, it won't be hard to start raising the price and regulating it until the future case scenario in this story becomes reality.... Thanks for sharing this story on Storystar, Diana! Well written and well imagined! : )
Reply
COMMENTS (2)