Just Beyond the Glass

Gary’s house is cold and lonely, except for the occasional purr of a hungry feral cat, and the voices that pour in from the speakers…constantly.

There’s little heat, save for the tiny stove, and the warm glow comng off the monitor screens. There are so many sights and sounds, so many people, just behind the glass.

They come in through the wires; through optic cables, coax , and all manner of electrical conduit, a myriad of thoughts and ideas, reduced to raw data streams. They come from high and low and far and wide; from the cities and the townships to the valleys and the burbs, to the humble hamlets and busy-bodied burroughs only to be stopped by a wall of glass.

They come to see him. They come to see a man who hates them.

Some come to pay homage, others to be friends, and still others who wait patiently to jeer and mock him.

Alone, Gary looks at them with disdain. He looks at their smug faces. He listens to their rhetorical questions. He sucks on his cigarette, rolls his eyes, turns his head, and dreams of smashing their stupid faces in. He pretends to listen to their mindless drivel, while he fantasizes about reaching through that oppressive glass wall and choking them until their bulging eyes pop out of their big empty heads.

If only it were that easy. If only he could pick up a baseball bat and smash each and every starry-eyed optimist’s stupid smiling face into a billion bits of broken code. If only he could take it all back, uncreate it all, rewrite the universe in his own twisted image.

If only he could move on.

But he can’t.

He has convinced himself that there is nothing more to gain; no hope, no future, just the inevitable horrible slide into degradation and darkness. His only respite is the promise of oblivion.

And he is quite sure that is what lies ahead.

Fighting it is pointless. False faith is pointless. Wild speculation and unrealistic hopes are all pointless, because all life is utterly meaningless and pointless.

And without purpose.

So, why go out and meet people?

Why start a relationship?

Why love?

Why hate?

Why dream of heaven?

Gary walks through the wooded area around his semi-secluded house. He carries one of many small vid cams that records his rambling voice and haggard image. The whole time he speaks to the camera, it’s built-in microphone captures every word. To all appearances Gary seems to be conversing with an invisible friend, and a faithful cat.