The World According To Veronika Sprinkel
Stories from Dystopia's Bright Side
Paranoia isn’t always neurologically induced. Sometimes, it’s created. Sometimes, people seeking power harness it to cull control—a classic move from the demagogue’s playbook. Look back in history and you will see republics shaped by paranoid thinking.
...instead of spreading wildfire, I’d incinerate injustice wherever it lay. Stoke crackling flames and burn bigotry down. Render it erased. Like they did in Minneapolis, on Newark and Detroit’s long, hot summer streets. The “language of the unheard” remains undeterred until all people are free. Hopefully, by the time my next life starts, there’ll be no need to fuel more fires...
My heart had shriveled up from the inside out. It desperately needed water. So I tossed my hound dog Pablo in a big silver truck and sped off for the Oregon coast. Twisting two-lane highway hummed under our wheels. Italian doom metal surged through the stereo. This sonic concoction split open my veins and let life’s irrelevance drain free...