[Jim wants to know more about the animal and listens in to Spock's moments... soaking in that feeling of love and adoration, that friendship only an animal can bestow...]
Right right.... my turn.
The following years Jim behaved just enough to get along with Frank. The man started to joke with him but all his lines were repeated phrases and they weren't even very funny. They were stupid bits of humor and Jim honestly knew he was smarter than this man already... people who weren't smart became bullies instead, he figured. To make sure people don't notice how dumb they are and because they can't do anything else.
Still, Frank wasn't important. Frank was only someone he had to endure. And he did. For five long years he did and finally he was sent off elsewhere. Jim wanted to go to Tarsus. Alone. His school thought he was an excellent candidate academically and wished he'd be someone else's problem for a while. Frank was all for sending him to be exiled on another planet at least for a while, and his mother... well she took about two months' convincing but finally he was headed to this planet with relief in his heart and adventure on his mind. He could start fresh here, even if just for a little while.
When he got there it was everything he wished it would be. People were kind and welcoming, smart, pretty, the color were brighter he swore. The food tasted better. The air was cleaner. He was on his own adventure and there was no Frank and no anvil-mother to weigh him down. He met Kevin Riley in school there and they made a lasting friendship. He was in his house nearly every night. He had a dorm provided by the school but it was boring. He had great times with Kevin and better meals with his family. Jim felt for a time like he could imagine what a family was like... what his family might be like.
Then the food shortage started. Response teams were mentioned in the news as fighting the fungus with various treatments, all with valiant hope and all of the citizens' faith. No one really talked about it at first. It was handled. Until it wasn't. Then there were whispers between the adults and Jim felt only slightly nervous. These adults were different. They'd handle it, there was backup supplies already en route...
That confidence was a perfect backdrop to his experience with Kevin and his parents watching the news when Kodos' voice sounded over the scheduled programming, announcing the food shortage. Jim kept expecting it to be a joke. Even Kevin's parents didn't take it seriously at first. But officers made regular patrols after that. No one roamed freely after that. There were checkpoints all over the colony manned by guards inquiring one's destination, purpose, and estimated length of visit. Jim was advised to avoid various places including the domestic district that Kevin lived in. But as the food ran out, society began to decay very quickly... Jim learned a lot in a short amount of time.
Paranoia, greed, and self-preservation fueled everything from then on as if good will and generosity were only stage shows people put on to attract emigrants to this planet. Jim felt himself a stranger once more in a surreal world where neighbors quarreled over slices of bread and singular vegetables. Teachers abandoned their classes and finally there were the promised executions the voice on the tv has spoken of.
Slowly his classroom emptied. Children didn't show up or did so in tears claiming they'd been orphaned the night before. More and more of them crowded the school dormitory as parents and guardians on the list were taken away one by one. Officers came to each door nightly bringing packages. Some were food. Some were handcuffs and bags to take people away with, some were weapons. Everyone answered their doors in fear, or some not at all. The body count rose, the dorm was too crowded. He ran one night and darted to and fro to avoid detection from the patrol....
He remembers hearing Kevin's screams as he was taken away in the street in front of his house.
“JIM!! JIIIIIM!” he had tears running down his face. Two bodies were being tossed into the back of a van while Kevin was being carted off to the school dorm. Jim hid in a bush but was stunned as he watched Mr. and Mrs. Riley's bodies disappear into the vehicle. Kevin was struggling and only managed. “JIM JIM RUN!” he obeyed. He didn't know if he was tailed by any other guards but if he was... no one found him in the empty barn he found.
He hid in there for days... laying awake replaying Kevin's screams in his mind, remembering the 'thunk' noise as his parents hit the inside of the van. He wondered where Kevin was going... but he worried more about where HE'D go if he was found.
no subject
[Jim wants to know more about the animal and listens in to Spock's moments... soaking in that feeling of love and adoration, that friendship only an animal can bestow...]
Right right.... my turn.
The following years Jim behaved just enough to get along with Frank. The man started to joke with him but all his lines were repeated phrases and they weren't even very funny. They were stupid bits of humor and Jim honestly knew he was smarter than this man already... people who weren't smart became bullies instead, he figured. To make sure people don't notice how dumb they are and because they can't do anything else.
Still, Frank wasn't important. Frank was only someone he had to endure. And he did. For five long years he did and finally he was sent off elsewhere. Jim wanted to go to Tarsus. Alone. His school thought he was an excellent candidate academically and wished he'd be someone else's problem for a while. Frank was all for sending him to be exiled on another planet at least for a while, and his mother... well she took about two months' convincing but finally he was headed to this planet with relief in his heart and adventure on his mind. He could start fresh here, even if just for a little while.
When he got there it was everything he wished it would be. People were kind and welcoming, smart, pretty, the color were brighter he swore. The food tasted better. The air was cleaner. He was on his own adventure and there was no Frank and no anvil-mother to weigh him down. He met Kevin Riley in school there and they made a lasting friendship. He was in his house nearly every night. He had a dorm provided by the school but it was boring. He had great times with Kevin and better meals with his family. Jim felt for a time like he could imagine what a family was like... what his family might be like.
Then the food shortage started. Response teams were mentioned in the news as fighting the fungus with various treatments, all with valiant hope and all of the citizens' faith. No one really talked about it at first. It was handled. Until it wasn't. Then there were whispers between the adults and Jim felt only slightly nervous. These adults were different. They'd handle it, there was backup supplies already en route...
That confidence was a perfect backdrop to his experience with Kevin and his parents watching the news when Kodos' voice sounded over the scheduled programming, announcing the food shortage. Jim kept expecting it to be a joke. Even Kevin's parents didn't take it seriously at first. But officers made regular patrols after that. No one roamed freely after that. There were checkpoints all over the colony manned by guards inquiring one's destination, purpose, and estimated length of visit. Jim was advised to avoid various places including the domestic district that Kevin lived in. But as the food ran out, society began to decay very quickly... Jim learned a lot in a short amount of time.
Paranoia, greed, and self-preservation fueled everything from then on as if good will and generosity were only stage shows people put on to attract emigrants to this planet. Jim felt himself a stranger once more in a surreal world where neighbors quarreled over slices of bread and singular vegetables. Teachers abandoned their classes and finally there were the promised executions the voice on the tv has spoken of.
Slowly his classroom emptied. Children didn't show up or did so in tears claiming they'd been orphaned the night before. More and more of them crowded the school dormitory as parents and guardians on the list were taken away one by one. Officers came to each door nightly bringing packages. Some were food. Some were handcuffs and bags to take people away with, some were weapons. Everyone answered their doors in fear, or some not at all. The body count rose, the dorm was too crowded. He ran one night and darted to and fro to avoid detection from the patrol....
He remembers hearing Kevin's screams as he was taken away in the street in front of his house.
“JIM!! JIIIIIM!” he had tears running down his face. Two bodies were being tossed into the back of a van while Kevin was being carted off to the school dorm. Jim hid in a bush but was stunned as he watched Mr. and Mrs. Riley's bodies disappear into the vehicle. Kevin was struggling and only managed. “JIM JIM RUN!” he obeyed. He didn't know if he was tailed by any other guards but if he was... no one found him in the empty barn he found.
He hid in there for days... laying awake replaying Kevin's screams in his mind, remembering the 'thunk' noise as his parents hit the inside of the van. He wondered where Kevin was going... but he worried more about where HE'D go if he was found.