Sunday, November 08, 2009
Those Dan Deer
Story By Lloyd Bradbury
Date: September 1, 2009
Title: those deer – those damn deer
Running and jumping about – there are many of them. They would eat anything now. One of them even approached Ray, as he was going down the trail – to bite him! Ray quickened his pace now. He saw the deer and they seemed to be closing in on him. It was getting toward dark and he hurried home from work, from the company. He was hurrying down the path. He wished he was home – his home that was so safe and so neat to him. He had built it himself. Well, that was all there was to be – his home and the company. At the meeting they told him that the company was everything. It was not what you could do for yourself, but what you could do for your company. It was one of those strange meetings that occurred everyday. He worked in the morning and went to meetings at night – or at least toward dawn. In this meeting it was accompanied by the recording machines – the display machines – and a few of the workers. There seemed to be fewer and fewer as he noticed, as he looked around the room. But then that was work and now it was time to come home to his beautiful wife. He loved her so. She had another job. It was also part of the company's expansion program.
Thinking about home, he had slowed down a bit. One of those crazy deers tried to come up and bite me. Luckily he had his cane with him. He hit him, the deer, as hard as he could. The dumb animal looked at him and gave him one of those stares and ran off. The others got the idea too. They ran off into the woods. Those damn deer.
He was happy to come to his home. He had built it very lovingly into the side of the hill. It had natural grass on the top. This gave it an insulation both to cold and hot. He had made the windows too. They were those protective type of windows that had the plastic laminate inside of them. They were very strong for defense against the wild creatures.
He came to the door. This door he had made too – of the best oak. Now, this oak was very hard to come by. It had been used for so many things. He inserted his card, his id card. The door sprung open. He went in very quickly. All of a sudden, lights went on. These were the sterilization lights that allowed him to enter to and from nature – and to his closed environment.
He headed for the chair, his recliner, his everything. It was a recliner chair that he had built and long gone and it was all the things that he needed. Even his food processor was there. He could put on his earphones and listen to the forbidden music that he had recorded long ago.
His wife called out lovingly from her recliner which was very close by. “Is that you Ray?” “Yes, it is I. I just had a run in with those deer. I hope the company doesn't punish me for whacking one of them.” “You actually hit one of them?” “Yes, they're getting more and more aggressive. They will eat anything if you allow it.” “Well, I hope they don't eat the grass on the top of the house. It would be very uncomfortable, if they started eating the house.” He ate his processed food and switched on to the screen. The screen showed various things that the company wanted you to see. There was the news. There was the story of the good employee. There was the story of the bad employee. There was a story about the good company. All was this over and over again. Well, he decided he'd put on his earphones so the company could think that he was watching but he was really listening to his forbidden music.
She too, his wife, his beautiful wife, had learned to use this trick as well. And she was listening to her opera of long ago.
Two, he awoke. He had slept very well in his recliner. He also had a processed breakfast. And then he wished his wife good-bye as he left his wonderful environment that had fresh air, and was filtered and all the nature irritants were left out. But he had to go through the sterilization doorway again so he could face the outside environment. It was dark and he hurried down the path. It used to be – this path used to be so nice. He had to stray it every once in a while to keep the plants from invading it. The plants over the years had become very aggressive as did the deer. They seemed to be all in combat with each other. The beautiful flowers had now been really like tiger lilies – they were like tigers to the other plants. Even the trees seemed to be in combat and seemed to push away from him as he went down the trail. He didn't see any of the four legged creatures or the two legged creatures as well around the forest.
At dawn the sun was pretty warm. The sun, now, had become very hot, so he had to use his special glasses and he had to use his special covering so that he was not burnt by it. All the other creatures and even the plants, were trying to take cover from this sun. The company had told him not to worry about the sun anymore, but just make sure you had your protective coating on. He had noticed that there were very few clouds and those, they were kind of blackened. He remembered when the clouds were blue and the sun was not so hot.
He arrived at the company and put in his id card in the lock. Again the door opened and the sterilization process and he walked in. Now, he looked around. There were not too many people here – just mostly machines, machines everywhere. He went to his cubicle, his workstation, and he checked in with his id card. The machine sprung to life and in front of him. There were buttons to push. He didn't know why he pushed the buttons but he pushed them. He pushed them in a way he was told many times. Then a sound went off. It was the dinner sound. So he stopped and turned his machine to neutral.
There was a treat in his processed food. It was something called apple pie. He remembered the name. It rang a bell somewhere in his brain. OK so the bell rang and he knew what he had to do now. It was the afternoon meeting. So he went into the meeting. In the meeting was mostly machines, and there was a screen. Today a special speech would be how the company is good for you and how you are good for the company. He was so bored with this stuff. It seemed to be always in the favor of the company. Nothing about him and the other workers. Then a bell rang and it was time to go. He looked around the room, the meeting room. He didn't see his supervisor. And a lot of the workers seemed to have disappeared as time had gone on. But he shrugged and thought “oh well, they're probably out on another part of the company, another part of the building, or working at a different job somewhere else. So he got up and exited. Again, the damn sterilization as he exited.
He thought when he went down the trail that the company had been there, it seemed, a long time, and he had worked for many years for it. It had changed over the year. It always said the company was something better for you. The company was voted in by his other inhabitants. They had voted in to take the place of the government because the company said it would protect both the natural and the unnatural beings that covered the earth. They had all accepted that for life had become easy. They had processed food. They didn't have to work for it. They just had to work for the company and the company provided for them what they needed. But he had rejected some of their ideas. But he hid it well. He had kept a lot of the old things that the company had said was not important. He had kept some of his music. He had kept a lot of the books that he hid. He had also one of the few homes that he had made by hand to protect himself both from the company and nature.
As he entered his home he had noticed he had not seen any of the deer. That was not very clear to him why had they not shown up at least to look at him. So as he entered and was sterilized, he went and sat in his chair. And he called his wife's name out, “Marija, where are you today?” “I'm in a chair too and how was your day?” “Well, the company sent me to this lady's house where I was to take care of her and make sure she ate her processed food. I tried to talk to her but the machines were droning on – that were keeping her alive. She said so, suddenly a timer went off. And the machines stopped. And the lady that was protected by them, and kept alive by them, died.”
Marija said that this lady had lived very long, almost two hundred years, with the aid of the machines. And the company made her an example of the long life they could provide. Marija said she was spooked at this. She rolled her in the white sheet provided. And put her in the disposal unit, pressed the button, and then ran out the door. She was very disturbed. She had wondered, if this too, would be her fate. I told her that nature has a way, a natural and real nature, and the laws can not be neglected, they can just be delayed. She accepted that and smiled at me, smiled at Ray, and said “Ray, I love you for I am so proud of you for giving us this home and a life outside the company.”
The next day again, I left my home. I noticed that the woods and the creatures were all in disarray. They were running about. There seemed to be a disturbance within the woods. I didn't go and look for sure for there were many dangers if you left the path. Upon approaching the company I noticed something strange. The company seemed to be dark. I entered through my keypass, of course was sterilized, and entered into my cubicle. I noticed and looked around, that all these years, I noticed that there were less and less people but then I noticed there was just me. What had happened to the others? I wondered about that. I was going to ask my supervisors but then my workstation bell rang. I went there and pushed the buttons and I pushed the buttons and I pushed the buttons. Then the bell went off again for my meal.
Then it rang again for the meeting. I went to the meeting. And again, there was a picture on a screen and the title was “The Company Lives Forever”. And it showed the lady who had lived two hundred years and you too, can live this long. I wondered about that as I saw there were not employees around. Where had they all gone? It was against the law to miss a meeting. I looked around further and there were many of the machines but they all seemed to be turned off. Even when this last machine of the meeting, it turned itself off, which is kind of strange because all these machines were on at one time or another.
I looked around the building, for the meeting had been short. I thought, maybe I can explore. I explored a little bit around but could find no one. There were many rooms, all forbidden to go into. I went back to my station, and I saw the intercom. It was still on. I pressed the button. It said, “View employee.” I pressed the button and viewed myself. And then it said, “View his home.” A button was there. I pressed the button. And what did I see, my home, and I pressed the intercom as well. I said, “Marija, are you home early?” She said, “Yes, it was kind of strange. I went to the company and it said there was no work for me to do. To go home.” “I looked at my workstation as well, she said, but it was turned off. I looked around at the other people. They were not there. So I came home and was glad to have some time to sit here and listen to my music. Ray said, “Marija, I'll soon be home and we will both listen to music and we'll both touch hands and we'll think about the past. We will not think about the future right now, and the company and the path but just our home. And not about nature or not about the unnatural things. You know, I even have some books I'd like to read to you. One is about Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. It is an old book that I saved. One that is about the philosophy of long ago.
Thanks Lloyd. That was very interesting in a chilling sort of way.
Richard (In Champaign)
Date: September 1, 2009
Title: those deer – those damn deer
Running and jumping about – there are many of them. They would eat anything now. One of them even approached Ray, as he was going down the trail – to bite him! Ray quickened his pace now. He saw the deer and they seemed to be closing in on him. It was getting toward dark and he hurried home from work, from the company. He was hurrying down the path. He wished he was home – his home that was so safe and so neat to him. He had built it himself. Well, that was all there was to be – his home and the company. At the meeting they told him that the company was everything. It was not what you could do for yourself, but what you could do for your company. It was one of those strange meetings that occurred everyday. He worked in the morning and went to meetings at night – or at least toward dawn. In this meeting it was accompanied by the recording machines – the display machines – and a few of the workers. There seemed to be fewer and fewer as he noticed, as he looked around the room. But then that was work and now it was time to come home to his beautiful wife. He loved her so. She had another job. It was also part of the company's expansion program.
Thinking about home, he had slowed down a bit. One of those crazy deers tried to come up and bite me. Luckily he had his cane with him. He hit him, the deer, as hard as he could. The dumb animal looked at him and gave him one of those stares and ran off. The others got the idea too. They ran off into the woods. Those damn deer.
He was happy to come to his home. He had built it very lovingly into the side of the hill. It had natural grass on the top. This gave it an insulation both to cold and hot. He had made the windows too. They were those protective type of windows that had the plastic laminate inside of them. They were very strong for defense against the wild creatures.
He came to the door. This door he had made too – of the best oak. Now, this oak was very hard to come by. It had been used for so many things. He inserted his card, his id card. The door sprung open. He went in very quickly. All of a sudden, lights went on. These were the sterilization lights that allowed him to enter to and from nature – and to his closed environment.
He headed for the chair, his recliner, his everything. It was a recliner chair that he had built and long gone and it was all the things that he needed. Even his food processor was there. He could put on his earphones and listen to the forbidden music that he had recorded long ago.
His wife called out lovingly from her recliner which was very close by. “Is that you Ray?” “Yes, it is I. I just had a run in with those deer. I hope the company doesn't punish me for whacking one of them.” “You actually hit one of them?” “Yes, they're getting more and more aggressive. They will eat anything if you allow it.” “Well, I hope they don't eat the grass on the top of the house. It would be very uncomfortable, if they started eating the house.” He ate his processed food and switched on to the screen. The screen showed various things that the company wanted you to see. There was the news. There was the story of the good employee. There was the story of the bad employee. There was a story about the good company. All was this over and over again. Well, he decided he'd put on his earphones so the company could think that he was watching but he was really listening to his forbidden music.
She too, his wife, his beautiful wife, had learned to use this trick as well. And she was listening to her opera of long ago.
Two, he awoke. He had slept very well in his recliner. He also had a processed breakfast. And then he wished his wife good-bye as he left his wonderful environment that had fresh air, and was filtered and all the nature irritants were left out. But he had to go through the sterilization doorway again so he could face the outside environment. It was dark and he hurried down the path. It used to be – this path used to be so nice. He had to stray it every once in a while to keep the plants from invading it. The plants over the years had become very aggressive as did the deer. They seemed to be all in combat with each other. The beautiful flowers had now been really like tiger lilies – they were like tigers to the other plants. Even the trees seemed to be in combat and seemed to push away from him as he went down the trail. He didn't see any of the four legged creatures or the two legged creatures as well around the forest.
At dawn the sun was pretty warm. The sun, now, had become very hot, so he had to use his special glasses and he had to use his special covering so that he was not burnt by it. All the other creatures and even the plants, were trying to take cover from this sun. The company had told him not to worry about the sun anymore, but just make sure you had your protective coating on. He had noticed that there were very few clouds and those, they were kind of blackened. He remembered when the clouds were blue and the sun was not so hot.
He arrived at the company and put in his id card in the lock. Again the door opened and the sterilization process and he walked in. Now, he looked around. There were not too many people here – just mostly machines, machines everywhere. He went to his cubicle, his workstation, and he checked in with his id card. The machine sprung to life and in front of him. There were buttons to push. He didn't know why he pushed the buttons but he pushed them. He pushed them in a way he was told many times. Then a sound went off. It was the dinner sound. So he stopped and turned his machine to neutral.
There was a treat in his processed food. It was something called apple pie. He remembered the name. It rang a bell somewhere in his brain. OK so the bell rang and he knew what he had to do now. It was the afternoon meeting. So he went into the meeting. In the meeting was mostly machines, and there was a screen. Today a special speech would be how the company is good for you and how you are good for the company. He was so bored with this stuff. It seemed to be always in the favor of the company. Nothing about him and the other workers. Then a bell rang and it was time to go. He looked around the room, the meeting room. He didn't see his supervisor. And a lot of the workers seemed to have disappeared as time had gone on. But he shrugged and thought “oh well, they're probably out on another part of the company, another part of the building, or working at a different job somewhere else. So he got up and exited. Again, the damn sterilization as he exited.
He thought when he went down the trail that the company had been there, it seemed, a long time, and he had worked for many years for it. It had changed over the year. It always said the company was something better for you. The company was voted in by his other inhabitants. They had voted in to take the place of the government because the company said it would protect both the natural and the unnatural beings that covered the earth. They had all accepted that for life had become easy. They had processed food. They didn't have to work for it. They just had to work for the company and the company provided for them what they needed. But he had rejected some of their ideas. But he hid it well. He had kept a lot of the old things that the company had said was not important. He had kept some of his music. He had kept a lot of the books that he hid. He had also one of the few homes that he had made by hand to protect himself both from the company and nature.
As he entered his home he had noticed he had not seen any of the deer. That was not very clear to him why had they not shown up at least to look at him. So as he entered and was sterilized, he went and sat in his chair. And he called his wife's name out, “Marija, where are you today?” “I'm in a chair too and how was your day?” “Well, the company sent me to this lady's house where I was to take care of her and make sure she ate her processed food. I tried to talk to her but the machines were droning on – that were keeping her alive. She said so, suddenly a timer went off. And the machines stopped. And the lady that was protected by them, and kept alive by them, died.”
Marija said that this lady had lived very long, almost two hundred years, with the aid of the machines. And the company made her an example of the long life they could provide. Marija said she was spooked at this. She rolled her in the white sheet provided. And put her in the disposal unit, pressed the button, and then ran out the door. She was very disturbed. She had wondered, if this too, would be her fate. I told her that nature has a way, a natural and real nature, and the laws can not be neglected, they can just be delayed. She accepted that and smiled at me, smiled at Ray, and said “Ray, I love you for I am so proud of you for giving us this home and a life outside the company.”
The next day again, I left my home. I noticed that the woods and the creatures were all in disarray. They were running about. There seemed to be a disturbance within the woods. I didn't go and look for sure for there were many dangers if you left the path. Upon approaching the company I noticed something strange. The company seemed to be dark. I entered through my keypass, of course was sterilized, and entered into my cubicle. I noticed and looked around, that all these years, I noticed that there were less and less people but then I noticed there was just me. What had happened to the others? I wondered about that. I was going to ask my supervisors but then my workstation bell rang. I went there and pushed the buttons and I pushed the buttons and I pushed the buttons. Then the bell went off again for my meal.
Then it rang again for the meeting. I went to the meeting. And again, there was a picture on a screen and the title was “The Company Lives Forever”. And it showed the lady who had lived two hundred years and you too, can live this long. I wondered about that as I saw there were not employees around. Where had they all gone? It was against the law to miss a meeting. I looked around further and there were many of the machines but they all seemed to be turned off. Even when this last machine of the meeting, it turned itself off, which is kind of strange because all these machines were on at one time or another.
I looked around the building, for the meeting had been short. I thought, maybe I can explore. I explored a little bit around but could find no one. There were many rooms, all forbidden to go into. I went back to my station, and I saw the intercom. It was still on. I pressed the button. It said, “View employee.” I pressed the button and viewed myself. And then it said, “View his home.” A button was there. I pressed the button. And what did I see, my home, and I pressed the intercom as well. I said, “Marija, are you home early?” She said, “Yes, it was kind of strange. I went to the company and it said there was no work for me to do. To go home.” “I looked at my workstation as well, she said, but it was turned off. I looked around at the other people. They were not there. So I came home and was glad to have some time to sit here and listen to my music. Ray said, “Marija, I'll soon be home and we will both listen to music and we'll both touch hands and we'll think about the past. We will not think about the future right now, and the company and the path but just our home. And not about nature or not about the unnatural things. You know, I even have some books I'd like to read to you. One is about Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates. It is an old book that I saved. One that is about the philosophy of long ago.
Thanks Lloyd. That was very interesting in a chilling sort of way.
Richard (In Champaign)
Comments:
I love your art. In images. Words. All of it.
# posted by SandyCarlson : 6:57 PM Post a Comment
I love your art. In images. Words. All of it.
# posted by SandyCarlson : 6:57 PM Post a Comment
