Futuredebt - 9 - Images
Futuredebt - 9 - Images
I’m releasing a novel called Futuredebt across 2024, letting it go one chapter at a time. The first chapters are available for free, but you’ll need to join my Patreon to read later chapters.
Click here to go back and read from chapter one.
How long do you stay when you know it isn't going to last? The future has told Kerry the man she loves today will not be the one she marries in the future. Now she has to decide what she does with that knowledge. Meanwhile, at the other end of society, Fi finds herself struggling with a world that seems to be working against her, pushing her into the heart of a revolution plotting to bring the system crashing to its knees. Futuredebt is a story of free will, self-determination and how small acts of kindness can be a catalyst for change.
Images
She will outline the first image on canvas, stretching the proportions over the frame. The figure in the picture sleeps on cotton sheets. She plots his high pitched brow and balding pate. The beard splattered across his cheek gives the illusion of a smile, a hint in the shadow. Once the lines are set she mixes her pallet, the colours seeming to choose themselves. The form takes to paint so perfectly it will have her imagining this is what you wanted. She follows the arch of his nose, the pull of his skin where his face meets the pillow. The brush understands his lines better than she does.
She can see him there, between the strokes. She can feel his history.
he is getting married
suited
booted
standing at the front of the church
looking back at the empty seat
a last ditch effort
inviting her to his wedding
as if it might shock her into feeling something she said she didn’t feel
his eyes flick to the open doorway as he takes his vows
he waits for her to burst through
but the doors remain closed
the seat remains empty
at night he blocks her from his mind
not wishing to be unfaithful to the one he chose
in the morning he counts himself lucky
at breakfast he counts himself lucky
in the cafeteria he counts himself lucky
when he gets home he counts himself lucky
in the evening he counts himself lucky
lucky
lucky
lucky
keep counting
when he gets to a million
he finds her on Facebook
a message?
a public post?
how do you get the ball rolling on something like this?
what happens if something does actually happen?
what happens next?
what happens to his kids?
does she have kids?
yes, she has kids
what happens to their kids?
what happens to their friends?
a life is not easy to unknit
he checks back in a week
a month
a week
he deletes his browsing history
a week
a month
a week
he finds blood
a week
waits for the results
a month
bad news
a year
things get worse
he deletes his account
the drugs aren’t helping
he searches for her on Google
he waits a week
a month
a week
he gives away his phone
they take him to hospital
it isn’t working
there is a hospice, they say
it’s nice there
his wife drives
visits every day
she holds his hand to let him know she still loves him
that the disease changes nothing
he watches the door