The Future

THE FUTURE

By c

PART I

CHAPTER 3

       John had been so engrossed in trying to find an explanation for what he had seen that he paid little attention to his surroundings as he walked down the street. His satisfaction with the answer he has come up with, and his renewed sense of determination does not bring him back to normal, however. His bizarre episode in the shop had been far to shocking to allow this to happen regardless of how logical the answer might be. He sees a  supermarket ahead and is heartened by its familiar looking appearance. He is anxious to be around sane, ordinary people conducting normal activities and quickens his pace. A feeling of relief sweeps over him as he enters the store and sees that the interior is much the same as a typical supermarket from his own time. There is little difference in the appearance of the merchandise on the shelves, and he feels good to be in a place that has such familiar surroundings. Even the check-out counters are similar. Cool air bathes his face and his heart, that had been racing so furiously a shout while ago, is rapidly returning to normal. Even the fact that the only shoppers he sees are women does not seem out of place in this type of atmosphere. He wanders around the store finding nothing unusual. Women are pushing carts containing canned goods, jars, boxed items, packaged meat, paper goods, and other typical items that would be expected. Nothing seems out of the ordinary, and the peaceful familiar looking surroundings work on him like an elixir.

        John eventually reaches the back of the store where the meat counter is located. He strolls down the counter looking at packaged kidneys, liver, racks of ribs, various types of steaks, and packages of ground meat. About the only thing that he takes notice is that all of the cuts have a distinctive texture which obviously came from only one source. Everything looks to be of exceptional quality, similar to beef, except for having a darker, richer texture. He does not give the matter a great deal of thought. It should be expected that the quality of meat would be noticeably improved in this length of time.

     Nothing else makes an impression, and John starts to turn and leave as he comes to the roast section. "I've wasted enough time" he thinks, "it’s time to get on with what I came here for." He turns to leave and is halfway around before he catches a glimpse of a scene that stops him in his tracks. He turns back, his eyes grow wide, and his mouth gapes open. He stares in disbelief - his mind refusing to comprehend what his eyes are telling him. The cold chills he had experienced earlier in the shop are nothing compared what gripes him now as he is forced to accept the stunning sight before him. He is looking at a woman who is calmly holding up and examining a cellophane warped package of meat whose unique shape can only be that of a human male buttock. The woman puts it back on a pile of similar packages that John recognizes as being all the same, men's rumps. The woman picks up another buttock that meets with her satisfaction, places it in her cart, and leaves.

       Once again John's mind races in numbed, confused, disbelief. He stands gaping for several minutes before he is able to regain enough composure and find the courage to continue down the counter to see what other items remain. It does not get any better. Next to the pile of buttocks, also wrapped in cellophane, is another pile of meat that are whole portions of upper thighs. Again it is obvious that these also could only have come from human male bodies. John is in a complete daze as he continues and sees a pile of shoulder roasts. They are all large and meaty, and, like the other roast, clearly were taken from men's bodies. The next items would have expelled any lingering doubts from John's mind if any had remained. He sees several stacks cellophane wrapped styrofoam  trays. Each tray contains two pieces of meat that resemble mound shaped stakes. They have skin on them that is covered with curly hair with a small nipple in the center. He is actually looking at the breasts of human males. One of the breast in each package has a hole in it giving evidence as to the cause of death.

       John would not have thought it possible for anything to shock him more than what he has just seen, but he is only moments away from experiencing a shock of far greater proportions. He comes to the final items on the counter and his mind again goes numb - refusing to believe his eyes. When conscious recognition finally arrives it comes with such force that the jolt is like being hit in the solar plexus. He can only stare in total disbelief at the contents that lay passively in styrofoam trays, warped tightly in cellophane. The contents of each tray are all the same, three sets of severed human male genitals. The thick shafts intertwine with each other with portions of the flared ridges that define the cone shaped heads being pressed flat by the stretched plastic. The rounded surface of smooth, shiny, silvery colored testicles protrude from the loose skin of scrotums that had been cut open at the top. The moist ends of the tubes, hanging from these oval shaped male glands, and the obvious freshness of dark red severed roots, protruding a surprising length beyond the skin covering the flaccid shafts, is clear evidence that every one of these sets of genitals had only recently hung from between the legs of a living man's body.

       John again begins to feel the uncomfortable crawling sensation in his own genitalia as though trying to draw up for protection inside of his body. The profound shock of what he had just experienced is almost equaled when two young women come up and, with an air of casual indifference, begin to pick up the trays and inspect their contents. They mash them with their fingers and even squeeze some of the shafts through the wrapping as though trying to determine the firmness. They finally make their selections, and each puts a package into her cart and leaves. John can only stare in amassment. Their actions and total lack of emotion were the same as women from his own time would have displayed in selecting packages of cut up chicken.

       For a while, John is unable to tear his eyes away from the contents in the trays in front of him. His numb mind tries to estimate the number and he realizes that they contain the genitals of well over a hundred men. A picture of a group this size flashes through his mind and the thought of its magnitude staggers his imagination. A strange sensation comes over him at the realization that the very manhood of a large group of men, a group whose combined power would be tremendous, had been reduced to what now lays placidly before him on this small section of a meat counter. Man has always regarded this part of his body as his most prized possession and looked upon it with a fierce pride. Now, over a hundred of these prized possessions that so distinctly identify the male sex, the very symbol of male dominance and strength, lay before him in a single pile. They appear almost docile as they intermingle with each other and allow themselves to be inspected and selected by members of their opposite sex. A sex that is not only far weaker, but has been submissive to the desires of these very organs for thousands upon thousands of years.

       There is no way John can deny the significance of what he has seen on this meat counter, and he is forced to accept a horrible yet undeniable truth. His previous theory, that he had so painstakingly established, has been completely shattered. Even if he had not seen the telltale holes in the breasts it is inconceivable to assume that these men had died from accidental or natural causes. These men had, without a doubt, been deliberately slaughtered in large numbers, and, regardless of how difficult it is to comprehend, there can be only one reason for their meat to be sold openly like this in an ordinary supermarket. The calm routine manner that the women had displayed in selecting packages of human male flesh only served to confirm this undeniable reason. The meat is clearly intended to be taken home, cooked, and then eaten. As hard as it is to accept, this also includes the contents of the cellophane warped styrofoam trays at the end of the counter. The women of this society actually eat the flesh and sex organs of members of their opposite sex. There can be no other explanation. John realizes that he has actually been placed in a society where men are killed in order to put meat on tables. His shocked, bewildered, mind can not begin to imagine how such a barbaric custom could have possible come about in a future age such as this – and, in his very own city.

       John is reeling in total confusion and disbelief. He is incapable of any semblance of rational or logical thought. All he wants is to get away as fast as possible and find a place of solitude in an attempt to regain his sanity. He rushes toward the entrance and blindly passes a large cooler full of plastic jugs filled with white liquid. He had seen the cooler earlier but paid little attention thinking the jugs contained nothing but milk. In his present anguished state he does not even notice them this time. His only thought is in escape and he flees through the door as fast as possible.