A Surreal Isolation (Or, Boredom of the Aware)

A strange version of the COVID lockdown.

The Watchmen march around the Library, watching the Learners complete their labour. Laptop keys go clickclickclick and a few pencils can be heard scratching their marks onto thin sheets of lined paper. Some of the Watchmen have faces covered by hair, others hiding behind paint-like powder spread across their faces.

      There are two- and four-eyed Watchmen, some with long hair and others that wear it short. Their eyes gaze around the Library, watching the Learners, making sure that nobody does anything wrong. Their second lunch break ended a few minutes ago, and the third is approaching with every second that passes.

      Father Time, however, works both for and against the Learners, and the same goes towards the Watchmen. A clock on the wall serves as Father Time’s eyes, along with the timepieces held by Watchmen and Learners. The handheld clocks are symbols of Father Time, charms used to pray to him, fuel his Purpose and give him life.

      Look at the clock a little bit closer, will you? How the seconds click rapidly to the side? Then the minutes, then the hours, then the days, then the months, then the years and then the lives, do you notice that?

      Of course you do.

      Although you can’t see it�"look for it when we go outside, will you?�"the sun is being held in the sky by a thin line of string that gets pulled along above us until the moon dances over the world. But, I wonder, who is the puppeteer? Nobody is quite sure.

      I wouldn’t do that if I were you. Yes, I’m talking about the whistling. I can see your dry, cracked lips pouting slightly in preparation for it. Don’t. The Watchmen are here, remember? Noise made by a Learner is not very well liked. You don’t want to end up like the Learner at the red desk over there do you? The one with the scruffy blond hair with small whiskers on his chin, yes, that’s him. He has to meet one of the Watchmen tomorrow due to his negative Acts and Behaviour. He was swinging on his plastic horse, singing a song as loud as he could, walking around the Library and drawing words on the walls like the one over there reading LET US OUT. He has to arrive at an Office tomorrow for his Punishment.

      And the Watchmen never forget.

      The windows are smeared by dust and fingerprints. From the outside world, you say? No, of course not. That implies that somebody wants to get in. No, nobody wants to get in; everybody wants to get out. See the Watchman amongst the bookshelves, slipping under the sign between them that reads FICTION and vanishing from sight? Yes, that Watchman, although I would not say that name to his face. He is notoriously sneaky, so watch your back around him.

      The Watchman behind the desk that permits and denies entry and exit is fairly nice, but I wouldn’t put that to the test. The Watchmen are so very unpredictable, which is what makes them so terrifying to most of us Learners.

      The first Watchman emerges from between the shelves with a book in his hand, you’ll notice. See how he sits at his desk, facing us but reading the book? The last part is a lie; he isn’t reading the book at all. He is hungry to catch a Learner committing a negative Act and Behaviour. See how his eyes dart up and down quickly, at the words and back up at us?

      Put that phone away! Do you know how to listen? The Watchmen see everything; you’re lucky that you didn’t get caught. Or maybe you have. As I said, the Watchmen are unpredictable. You can only pray. No, not to Father Time, he never does any good. Pray to the Puppeteer that holds the sun and the moon, perhaps even the sky itself. Beg for mercy under the Puppeteers name, maybe even let a few tears roll down your cheeks.

      But don’t do it too loudly.

      I don’t believe that I need to explain why.

      Thirsty? You look thirsty. I recommend asking the Watchman in the red shirt to let you go out for a drink. We only have a few minutes until the third break, though, so I wouldn’t take the chance by asking. Be sure to thank the Watchmen when you’re leaving. They don’t have favourites, but they do like respect going their way.

      Oh, listen, the bell is going. Come and sit with me under the shade. We’ll talk some more. I enjoy talking; I can be so very lonely sometimes. Oh, look out for that thin, smooth tree; here’s a hint, it isn’t a tree. See? See that? Look at it lift into the air. You can even see where the kneecaps and large toenails are.

      What, have you never seen an elephant before? I guess I was surprised when I first saw one, but you’ll get used to it. Well, at least you hope that you will. Why? There are some questions that shouldn’t be answered, my friend.

      Look, there’s another one of the same beast’s legs. Notice the millions of wrinkles on the skin, which is tightly squeezing the bone? Such odd creatures, don’t you agree? Of course, they’re everywhere nowadays. Don’t think about it too hard or you’ll get quite a bad headache, trust me.

      Hey, look at that cloud. Quite an odd one, isn’t it? I love looking up at the clouds and trying to picture what they look like. This one looks like…what? A tiger? Really? You think so? I see something completely different. Hmm? Oh, don’t worry, I don’t think you want to know.

      What are you eating, if you don’t mind my asking? Ooh, sandwiches, I used to love those. I don’t eat them anymore, but I can still remember the taste. Me? I didn’t bring any food out this break; I’m not hungry. Oh, yes, you wanted some water, right? You were thirsty just before, so you should probably go to the drink taps and have some water. Just don’t use the one with the Jake the Dog sticker on the button that reads IT’S ADVENTURE TIME! while not having Finn the Human on it. Don’t use that one, otherwise you might just learn where Finn the Human went.

      It isn’t pretty.

      Excuse me?

      No, the Watchmen don’t have anything to do with the fate of Finn. The Watchmen, to put it simply, aren’t THAT bad. Understand? Just because you’re nodding doesn’t mean that I believe you. Quite the opposite, in fact. I know that you’re lying, my good friend. It’s all over your face.

      Here, I’ll show you the drink taps that are safe. See that one? The rusty one with that fading sticker on it? That’s the one you don’t drink out of, no matter what. The ones next to it are fine, though, so go and drink from one of them before the bell rings.

      Oops, too late, sorry, we should hurry back before we get caught. Trust me, you don’t want to be late to the Library.

      Okie-dokes, now that we’re back inside, what are you going to do? You’ve finished all of your labour, and we still have a few hours until we get to go back home and rest. You can’t play games on your laptop, which I do not believe needs explaining, and you can’t really talk to anybody. Well, you can, but it isn’t a very good idea to do so. I’d explain why, but I have told you quite a bit, and you look like a smart person, so I won’t repeat what I have already told you. I believe that doing so would insult your intelligence.

      Don’t stare at the clock, either. Father Time isn’t going to give you anything for it. You might as well just sit and wiggle your thumbs around. Just don’t make too much noise doing so. What? What am I humming? Oh, nothing, just�"oh, how am I humming with the Watchmen here? It isn’t impacting you, so don’t ask, if you’d be so kind.

      Besides, the Watchmen don’t mind me. I’ve listened to the rules enough for them to be easy on me. What? Oh, come on, man! Don’t you listen? The Watchmen aren’t cruel, they aren’t harsh and they aren’t mean. They are just like us, really, angry at the Isolation we are required to reside in. However, it has driven the Watchmen insane, making them angry and low-tempered. It isn’t their fault. If anything, in my opinion, it our fault, the Learners’ fault.

      What is wrong with me? Absolutely nothing, in my humble opinion. Sure, I used to have quite a few major screws loose, but the Watchmen fixed me, tightened the screws again. They made me better, let me shrug off my shell of foolish delinquency, let me become the Learner I am today. They showed me the horrors of the Surreal and made me comprehend the incomprehensible. I have truly seen what is there. What do they say in that Magnetic Zeroes song? Ah yes, ‘golden doorknobs where her eyes used to be, one turn and I learned what it really means to see’, or something like that.

      The Watchmen turned the doorknobs for me. I have really seen.

      Oh, I’m insane, am I? I suppose, in some ways, I am insane in your rebellious eyes. Buuut, butitybutbut, why don’t you try to look at it from my view? You can’t? Oh, you won’t? Yes, my good friend, you will.  

      You will accept it, my friend, or your life will be cut short. I have come to like you; you remind me of what I used to be, how I used to act, and I find you somewhat entertaining. So I won’t tell the Watchmen about your attitude, about the threat that you pose. Do you want to know the major reason why?

      Because, when you are older, you will understand. Because, in the end, we are all destined to become Watchmen in one way or another.

Author's Note

I wrote this story during the COVID lockdown. I had to go to school during it, and I wrote this when I had finished my work and was bored. I hope you enjoyed this weird story. Please tell me about anything that I did wrong so that I can improve on it.

Reviews

[This Goode Life]

I really enjoyed reading this.
The eerie, inevitable slow fade into numbness and Becoming. The yearn for what the character once was, yet delighted to mold the other character into what will be. Peeking into what will be the slow break of the one with scruffy blonde hair, sitting at the red desk.

Is there a part two? Because, "It's Adventure Time"

[alanwgraham]

It is weird but in a good sense pankhurst. Your satire is quite chilling even though some bits don't quite hang together. There is some dark humour in it. Within a year our society has transformed into something we could hardly believe and you've done a good job of portraying. this.
Well done for attempting something quite different.
All the best.
Alan