by Thomas Reiner, ©2024
(Sep. 27, 2024) — It was a dark and damp day in early November when a distant clock struck thirteen. Karen Smith ambled into the third Starbucks along the street and ordered a $13 “mucho mocha java uplifter.” Karen had to walk because her car had been repossessed for non-payment and she was now penniless. Times had been tough for her and Julia, her transitioned, now lesbian lover. She used to love Little Brother who had overthrown The OrangeMan many years earlier. The OrangeMan had devastated America with poverty and pestilence and everyone hated him. To love him made a person guilty of Thought Crime. A plot was uncovered by the Ministry of Truth, headed by Liz Cheney, that Little Brother was actually an agent who worked secretly in collusion with OrangeMan. The MSM arm of the Ministry ordered a One-Month Hate of Little Brother who then was disappeared forever.
But that was all forgotten with The New TruthTM of Big Sister. Almost.
Big Sister has always been the leader of America but Karen remembered differently, which made her a Thought Criminal. Once politically apathetic, Karen began to suspect that Julia and she were victims of a despotic government whose only goal was perpetual power which existed solely for power. Karen secretly started watching NewsMax and evening FoxNews but she still held unburnished fear of OrangeMan. Karen and Julia read the banned printed version of the US Constitution and she realized that Big Sister was a lie and a Communist in Capitalist clothing. She became a Republican but only spoke with RINOs.
This ended with her arrest by the Thought Police for Insurrection and she was charged with being a Threat to Democracy. What Karen didn’t know was that her television and cell phone were two-way, constantly uncovering her treason to Big Sister. Karen and Julia were imprisoned in the Ministry of Love where dissidents are beaten, tortured and converted to love Big Sister. The torture was to use the greatest fear of the Thought Criminal to convert them. Karen was sent to Room 101 in the basement where her biggest fear converted her.
A MAGA hat.
Upon release, Karen returned to Starbucks and sat silently by herself. Julia entered and sat beside her. “I betrayed you,” said Karen. “I betrayed you, too,” replied Julia. They silently departed and Karen remained sitting, blankly sipping her now free drugged coffee.
The television suddenly blared loudly with the thunder of trumpets. A bodiless woman’s voice proudly and sternly declared, “Comrades, a great message is forthcoming!” The Ministry of Peace, headed by newly appointed Dick Cheney, declared, “We have always been at war with East Asia. A great victory has been achieved and we are winning!”
A stirring came from deep inside Karen as she stood and saluted the television screen.
She loved Big Sister.