Dear Diary.....

Dear Diary……….

Its March, the weather here is so unpredictable. Freezing temperatures one minute and then scalding hot the next. We are adjusting though. The artificial gardens are producing fresh vegetables, and we are adjusting to the artificial proteins in our diet. I have not been feeling myself. I have been keeping with the strict sleeping schedule. But the fatigue is slowly wearing on me. I have a slight tickle in the back of my throat. I keep clearing it, but that is about it. Adjusting to this new climate and atmosphere is harder than I thought. I spoke to Ken the other day; he is one of the “elders” here. Nice guy. He has a great sense of humor and makes me laugh. It has been a long time since I have laughed. We have all come so far, and yet still so far to go. Private documentation is not allowed here. Only the “elders” are allowed to supervise documentation for the colony. But with everything going on, I can’t help but feel that an “non-doctored” documentation should exist, somewhere at least. So, I’ll keep this hidden, along with a few things I brought with me. My lucky rabbits foot, a picture of my parents with my sister, and of course most important my heart shaped locket…………..

It wasn’t always like this. Priscilla had grown up with a wonderful childhood. Two loving parents and a big sister to keep her in check. They had a little yellow house at the end of the cul-de-sac, white picket fence and everything. A sheep dog named Max, and lots of friends in school. Those were the days, back in 2015. Everyone walked around without a care. Faces buried in their cell phones. Talking to friends, and boys. She was only 13 at that time. Not a care in the world. But life would soon change, and not for the better. It wasn’t long before the trials started regarding the police departments use of “excessive force”, the COVID-19 pandemic, National holidays were added, and some were removed from the pages of history. Over the next 5 years, new laws would take effect putting yet more restrictions on the people of the United States. But it wasn’t just happening in the US, across the world, civil unrest started. It started slowly at first, a few riots here, a few changes in the law there. In just a few short years, those small changes turned into hell on earth. Pretty soon it was blacks against whites, Catholics against protestants, Homosexual against Heterosexual and ended with the government against the people. Civil war broke out. Civil war that was so terrible that nobody knew who exactly was fighting who. There were those that didn’t know what side to take, or even what “sides” were even involved. Governmental financial debt crippled the citizens of every country, causing widespread poverty. People had to abandon their homes, live in refugee camps. Then the banks owned everything, but then there still wasn’t any money to put in the banks. The government bailed out the banks, but it didn’t help. The government ended up owning everything, with no way to finance taking care of its citizens. The Looting started, then the killing. Priscilla knew this first hand. Her family had been massacred when the looters tried to take their car. The lack of vehicles and gasoline, made no effect on the shortage of guns and ammunition. Her small frame was able to hide under the car, while the offenders shot and killed the rest of her family. They didn’t even notice when they pulled away and she was still laying on the ground. She clung to her big sister’s body and sobbed until her sisters body lost all warmth and rigor had set in.

At 13 years old, she had never been to a funeral. She didn’t know that she should have buried the bodies of her family. That would have been the “civilized” thing to do. But then again, these weren’t “civilized” times. She wandered the streets for days, not remembering how she survived. But heres the happy part, she was saved. A group of survivors found her sleeping on a rug in an abandoned burned out house. Sleeping or passed out from starvation, who knew. She was rushed to a refugee camp hospital run by the National Guard. Well, what was left of the National Guard. After three days of recovery, she was doing well. She was an orphan now. So, they set her up with a representative from NASA. It was 2020 by this time, and due to the unrest of the world, the Mission to Mars, was being pushed up. Candidates were subject to genetic screening for health reasons. The Governments answer to the current situation on Earth, was to get the survivors that were in good health and at a good age to make the trip, cleared to resettle on the planet Mars. Priscilla didn’t quite understand the whole thing. But hey, it sounded like a good idea at the time. Anything was better than this. It only took a year for the health screening and genetic testing. Genetic testing was to ensure that “genetic illness, wouldn’t be a thing on Mars”. The plan was to create a “Utopian” society on Mars. No illness, no war, just peace and tranquility. Rebuild the human race, if you will. But they were wrong, man oh man were they wrong.

Dear Diary………

Ken stopped by today. He brought me “artificial cheesecake”. I’m really not sure what exactly it is, but I guess it was the thought that counts. He does have a great smile. Chocolate, I really, really miss real, chocolate. There are a lot of things I miss. We got an update finally from Earth, things aren’t much better, the population is just about non-existent. Just a few stragglers here and there. Things are quiet though. Who knows what will happen next? I wonder if it will be like that show that used to be on TV, the one about the world after the end of the human race. The one where nature actually takes over again, starting the evolutionary line all over. It could happen I guess, you never know. I know the first reports from Earth took so long to get here, and it didn’t look good. Coming to Mars, we all knew that it was a one way ride. We would all live out our days here, supposedly rebuilding what we destroyed back home. These days though, I cant help but feel like things aren’t that different from what was going on at home. See, here women wear white and men wear black. Each, separate “community” is separated by race, religion, and genetic make up. You wont find a white woman with German genetics sleeping in the same part of the colony as a white woman with a Polish genetic background. The thoughts are that each race and ethnicity are all kept separate. We tried living in harmony on earth remember, and look how that ended. So now we are all kept separate. Our “duties” are also segregated, the “elders” are all what would be called “minorities” on earth. Whites here are basically the minority now. The whites make the food, tend the plants, and tend the children. Oh, yeah and you cant shack up with someone from another genetic background. “That’s what caused all the problems on earth”, that’s what they told us anyhow. They keep everyone separate, for our own good. But, you didn’t look at that when you made the decision to come here. All you knew was that the end of the human race was coming, at our own hand, and all we wanted was out. The Mission to Mars, was the only way out.

Each person has to adhere to strict health guidelines. Sickness is considered the ultimate sin. If you are found to be sick, they lock you up. Separate you from everyone else. After all, they cant subject everyone else. COVID-19 killed so many, all because of exposure. So if you are sick, that’s never a good thing. You are screened for this. Your not supposed to get sick. They picked the healthiest of the healthiest. Its bad, lets just say that much. That’s why this fatigue and stuff is really starting to worry me. That tickle in the back of my throat has now manifested into a full blown cough. Its hard tending to the children when your holding back a cough. If anyone found out I wasn’t feeling well, id be locked in quarantine. Long enough to either die or miraculously get better. Medicine was saved for the ‘elders’. Even if all else fails the ‘elders’ have to stay healthy so we have a working functioning government. I guess that’s it for tonight. Kissing my heart shaped locket, I say my prayers and turn in for tonight.

Dear Diary………

I guess it is what it is……..

This morning I coughed up blood. I took the bloodied tissues outside and buried them. God, I hope they don’t find them. The sweats started last night. I was up half the night with vivid crazy dreams, I guess from a fever. I’m supposed to go do my duties this morning, but I just don’t know how I’m going to do that. My flushed skin and the sweat pouring down my face will give me away. My God, they will lock me up. I know what this means. I know this is my death. What will they do, when they find my body? Are there others? This was supposed to be “Utopia”, but its not. I found a white substance at the bottom of my water pitcher. They have the women bring us water from the water room. Why is there white stuff at the bottom of my pitcher? My mind wanders to my sister, my mother and my father. The fever is setting in again. I can see them. They are reaching for me. Its warm and the sun is out. They are calling for me. I can see……………………………………………………………………………………………

Priscilla died on the 3rd of April 2035. The Mission to Mars was supposed to be a “Utopian Society”. We as humans conjured up this idea that “segregation” was the answer, and that “integration” was the enemy. When in fact, Human nature and the act of “fee will” is the enemy. Priscilla was murdered, poisoned. The moral of the story is that no amount of “genetic testing”/classification, segregation, integration, will ever trump “free will”. “Utopia” is fiction, “Dystopia” will always be the condition of the human race. No matter where we are, Earth or Mars. As long as there are humans, we will always live in a dystopian society.