New Order

At 86, David often felt confused with things he saw and heard. He had to make new sense of new norms that seemed to change like the weather.

Walking to the nearby park, it wasn't long before he saw a group of folks standing around a crying woman. Sobbing uncontrollably, her frame shaking with each shudder of grief that seemed to crush her, as the others tried in vain to console her.

David didn't get too close to the drama, but a man standing beside the woman looked up and caught his stare. "It's her phone. The service is down. No one can tell her when it's returning.", the man explained, then looked off into the surging traffic. David nodded nervously and kept walking, a bit faster now to get away. How did things get like this, he wondered. When did it all change? When exactly did folks stop being free?

At the park's entrance David saw a masked woman with a masked dog strolling across the wet morning grass. David chuckled to himself, thinking about how you just can't be too careful in this age of viral mania and paranoia.

Finding a bench, David sat to rest. He closed his eyes and envisioned his late wife, Yolanda, gone a year now. This is typically how he relaxed his mind, since loneliness had become enemy #1. Her kind face was always smiling, always hopeful, he sees her clearly in his memory. He's accepted that his existence will never again be comfortable, not in this foresaken realm of solitary dysfunction.

Suddenly, the quiet was shattered by gunfire somewhere very near David. Five, six, maybe ten shots booming out in pure staccato hatred. He then heard folks running, shouting, apparently something happening a few blocks down. But, David didn't even look up. All so commonplace now, so daily, what's the point in panicking? Who's life gets saved?

David remained motionless, deep in his thoughts as the sound of chaos bounced around him like a fire. No, it wasn't strange or crazy. Not some sort of harsh and violent fantasy. It wasn't even a crisis to most people.

It was just 2030, that's all. No one seemed too concerned about anything, despite the rising crime, constant wars, and rampant, global depression, now among the top five fatal diseases. This is just reality, plus the world's various cultures, civilization, everyone sees it.

But, to David, 86, it was all nothing he ever really needed to understand. Sure, he was still in the world, going about his day. But, so much of it had become senseless, irrelevant, or sadly confusing. Disorder becomes the New Order for David, there is no other plan.