THE LAST OLD MAN
by
Klaus J. Gerken
(1997)
THE APPOINTMENT
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hot day. Brilliant sun. It was difficult to wear the hooded robe. It
was a hated artifact; but it would have attracted too much attention not to wear it. After all ever since the treatment was proscribed by law, it was a criminal offense to anyone who missed a treatment to go without it.
And NC1847 had gone without a treatment for a number of weeks. Under normal circumstances this would have had dire consequences, but NC1847 had friends in the Ministry of Youth and the official explanation was that he was hunting in a remote are of the Yukon where treatment centres were not available. This was lie, but a lie, that was at least believe by someone, although with skepticism.
NC1847 had missed a number of treatment before, but never several weeks at one time. The ministry of Youth and the Youth Police had already opened a file. They had already marked it in their minds, “Final Chance.” And indeed it was NC1847’s wife who persuaded him to submit to another treatment. She implored him in the name of his unborn children, his dying mother, and his long dead father. He did not believe any of this, yet his sense of duty and his confusion of what his role in life should be, made him consent. It was a forced consent, fraught with guilt and fear, and he hated himself for being such a coward.
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