Sci-Fi Pie

Dystopifying Bizarre and Heavy Truths

Welcome to Pocketful of Prose. Thank you for being here. This work of heart has grown steadily since I started it in February. I am celebrating a new milestone today. I have reached 200 subscribers. Woot! Thank you so much for being a part of this community and helping me get here. Pocketful of Prose is free for everyone so please feel free to share with friends. Today, to show my appreciation for your support, I have put together a treat for you. I am serving up a slice of sci-fi pie with a scoop of whip cream, or Miracle Whip, if your tastes are similar to my grandparents and that’s your fancy or maybe you’re just lactose intolerant. Like I said, Pocketful of Prose if for everyone.

Photo by Diliara Garifullina on Unsplash

I mostly write non-fiction, personal narrative and poetry, but I LOVE reading fiction. If you also love reading fiction, you should check out this pocket I wrote on escape reads. Sometimes, fiction is actually the best way to tell the truth. You don’t have to worry as much about some of the real implications and consequences that you need to consider when writing memoir. Sometimes the truth is so bizarre and heavy, placing it in a completely different world or context is both freeing and enlightening. I don’t read science fiction or dystopian novels regularly, but this is one of the reasons I like to return to these kinds of books.

Ocean Spray over Lake Coeur d’Alene

I am on vacation with my family this week, and it has been so lovely. I am grateful that my almost grown children still like spending time with me, but I’m also realizing that with two teenagers, it can sometimes be challenging to find things to do that the four of us all enjoy equally. It can also be hard to carve out the time to be together as other potentially more exciting things compete for our kids’ attention. Speaking of attention, I have been thinking a lot about presence this week, and if I’m honest I’m definitely waxing nostalgic for the days when Dan and I not only didn’t have cell phones, but we made fun of them.

I say this on the week that a new social media platform, Threads, has been unleashed on the world. I am not an expert on social media, but in this case, the new platform seems pretty similar to the old platform. I can’t help but give some attention this week to how unreal and disconnected our attempts at connection feel sometimes.

New tech, lack of connection, nostalgia… I definitely have the ingredients for some good sci-fi. Lucky for me, Dan was reading Radicalized by Cory Doctorow, which contains four science-fiction stories all pointing to the dystopian in the now. Now, I had a model for form as well. I read and studied the first story “Unauthorized Bread,” all the while trying not to get the pages damp from my swimsuit, my quintessential summer problem, and wondered what would happen if I dystopified some of my bizarre and heavy truths. Here’s what happened.

Vicky’s Virtual Vacations (VVV) (AKA, A slice of Sci-Fi Pie)

Kirsten’s family didn’t understand why she wanted to take a real vacation. With the most recent tech upgrades, they felt like real vacations were a thing of the past like laptops, cell phones and sleep. They didn’t understand why they would possibly choose to go somewhere together, the expense alone, when they could instead enjoy a virtual vacation right from home.

Vicky’s Virtual Vacations are cheap, affordable and can be enjoyed anywhere, even from the comfort of your cubicle. On a VVV vacation, everyone gets what they want. Jerry could go skydiving, something Kirsten would never agree to. He could even program the system to make it seem like Kirsten was there, not actual Kirsten but Kirsten 2.0 who isn’t afraid of jumping out of an airplane. Luke could skateboard through Central Park with his buddies stopping only to refuel on Red Bull and street tacos. Erica could visit the same city as Luke, but they wouldn’t have to see each other. No eye rolling, shoulder bumping or sighs of exasperation. She could attend play after play on Broadway and off, sitting front and center and eating only sour gummies and milk duds. Kirsten could walk through a seaside English garden watching the birds and butterflies feast on the lavender and end her day enjoying a high tea in a proper English cottage.

On a VVV, not only did they not have to leave home, they didn’t have to leave for long. A VVV could make it seem like they had taken a month-long holiday when really, they had only been gone a few hours. A VVV was clearly much more compatible with their work and school lives.

In the last tech upgrade, they all had productivity meters installed which calculated things like the ratio of time spent on the toilet to say time spent tackling Physics, Geometry or doing their taxes. Productivity gains earned promotions both at school and work which included more luxurious cubicles, access to more VVV time, and special features which further increased productivity by downloading files overnight. For example, essential background information could be directly downloaded into your internal filing system without you having to do anything but run a brief shutdown. There were even some productivity features which rebooted your system with minimal shutdown requirements. Jerry said his boss now only needed an hour of shutdown at night.

One evening, as Kirsten and her family sat around the glow of the charging station, Kirsten posed the idea timidly. “A real vacation…”

They all looked at her with varying degrees of confusion and downright disbelief.

A cabin? A lake? A week? Why on earth would they do such a thing? Their productivity status alone… Where would they shutdown? Where would they recharge?

Ba dum Bump!

Thank you so much for reading. I would love to hear from you in the comments. What resonated with you today? Team Miracle Whip or Team Whip Cream? Do you enjoy sci-fi? What’s your favorite? As a final token of appreciation, I’m including a short list of my sci-fi favs.

Mary’s Sci-Fi Favs

1. Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

   

2. Before the Coffee Gets Cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi

   

3. Kindred by Octavia Butler

   

4. The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin

   

5. “There Will Come Soft Rains” and “All Summer in a Day” and probably most anything by Ray Bradbury

   

   Also, it felt cruel to include such a scrumptious pic of pie without including a recipe for pie, so here’s one of my favorite recipes. It is for Marionberry Pie, but can easily be substituted with other berries. Our blackberries are just starting to turn red, and I am already starting to salivate at the thought of making this pie. I hope I get to enjoy a slice of real pie with some of you soon.