Chapter Two
‘Jay?’
The voice was familiar, but it seemed to be from another time in his life.
‘Jay? Is that you?’
Jay realised he hadn’t switched on video send or receive. This was usual for him, as he preferred not to broadcast his image to the people he worked with, but today was Sunday, and this was someone different.
‘Vid. On.’ he shouted in the direction of the video screen. The image of a girl flickered to life. Her eyes were pale green and her hair was short and a deep brown colour. Her hands, clasped in front of her, drew attention to them because of the bright orange coloured varnish. She was wearing a short black dress and a string of orange beads around her neck. Her expression changed when she realised that she could see him, and she looked at him with a warmth of gaze that displayed familiarity.
‘Excuse me, but do I know you?’ Jay asked, wondering what had happened to his memory. Work? No. Friend? He didn’t have any. Other? He stretched for an answer but it didn’t come. And yet, there was something there...
‘I’ve just heard the news, Jay. I’m so sorry about your mother.’ She stared at his eyes, waiting.
Jay didn’t know what to say. He shrugged. How had she heard? Who had told her? Then he remembered the signal would have been sent out automatically to all those who his mother had listed as friends, and would also have been received by those who had requested news of his family in their profiles.
The small smart chip in his mother’s arm would have sent out the signal as part of it’s last functioning. This remarkable technology had been around for ten years or so now, and had become so much a part of people’s way of life that most people forgot some of the functions. That it contained your bank details, yes. That it functioned as your identity card, of course. It was also the handy replacement for remote controls and house keys, giving access to your flat and other buildings you were cleared to enter, and without it you wouldn’t be able to control any of the machines in your flat that you relied upon. All-in-all, an invaluable device that had become part of every person in the city.
‘You don’t remember me, do you?’ she asked. ‘Has it been so long? Have I changed that much?’
Then it came to him. Aimee. Could it be her? She looked so different to the girl he had known. And what had brought her to call on him now. Today, of all days? After so long? She was such a distant memory to him that he couldn’t quite retrieve the data that would fix her previous place in his life.
‘I’m Aimee. Aimee Ewan’ There it had been confirmed now. And still he couldn’t quite believe it was her.
‘Aimee. I’m sorry. It’s been so long...’ he started, ‘ And...you’ve changed so...’
‘I know it’s probably not the time, but I’d programmed this in so long ago that I was surprised when I got the call this morning. I rang you without really thinking...Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but I didn’t want to wait until...If you want, if it’s a bad moment, I’ll hang up. I mean, it’s been so long, that maybe you don’t...’
‘No, it’s good to see you again, to speak to you. It’s just that...you’re right. It has been such a long time that I’m surprised. How long has it been? It must be, what? Twelve years or so?’
‘Almost thirteen. Almost half our lives...’ She stopped. ‘You haven’t changed though. At least, I didn’t have any problem recognising you.’
Jay smiled. He suddenly saw in Aimee the best friend he had known when he had been thirteen. The person he had got to know more than any other, apart from his mother. The girl who had been taken away from him so suddenly. What had happened? She had left the city, he remembered, suddenly. It had been shortly after that incident he didn’t want to recall. There hadn’t even been time to say goodbye. Or at least, they hadn’t been able to for some reason. And now here she was in front of him today. It seemed unplausible. Again, she had programmed her chip then, and probably forgot about it. Until today, almost thirteen years later. Suddenly he realised that it had been programmed to tell her the day his mother died. That he could not understand.
‘Well, now I’ve made contact, I don’t know what to say.’ Aimee said. And smiled back at Jay. ‘Although I feel I could,nd I should tell you a million and one things.’
‘I’m listening...’ Jay said, and he sat back into the metal chair was still positioned in front of the video screen.
816 words
1585 words in total
48,415 words to go
The voice was familiar, but it seemed to be from another time in his life.
‘Jay? Is that you?’
Jay realised he hadn’t switched on video send or receive. This was usual for him, as he preferred not to broadcast his image to the people he worked with, but today was Sunday, and this was someone different.
‘Vid. On.’ he shouted in the direction of the video screen. The image of a girl flickered to life. Her eyes were pale green and her hair was short and a deep brown colour. Her hands, clasped in front of her, drew attention to them because of the bright orange coloured varnish. She was wearing a short black dress and a string of orange beads around her neck. Her expression changed when she realised that she could see him, and she looked at him with a warmth of gaze that displayed familiarity.
‘Excuse me, but do I know you?’ Jay asked, wondering what had happened to his memory. Work? No. Friend? He didn’t have any. Other? He stretched for an answer but it didn’t come. And yet, there was something there...
‘I’ve just heard the news, Jay. I’m so sorry about your mother.’ She stared at his eyes, waiting.
Jay didn’t know what to say. He shrugged. How had she heard? Who had told her? Then he remembered the signal would have been sent out automatically to all those who his mother had listed as friends, and would also have been received by those who had requested news of his family in their profiles.
The small smart chip in his mother’s arm would have sent out the signal as part of it’s last functioning. This remarkable technology had been around for ten years or so now, and had become so much a part of people’s way of life that most people forgot some of the functions. That it contained your bank details, yes. That it functioned as your identity card, of course. It was also the handy replacement for remote controls and house keys, giving access to your flat and other buildings you were cleared to enter, and without it you wouldn’t be able to control any of the machines in your flat that you relied upon. All-in-all, an invaluable device that had become part of every person in the city.
‘You don’t remember me, do you?’ she asked. ‘Has it been so long? Have I changed that much?’
Then it came to him. Aimee. Could it be her? She looked so different to the girl he had known. And what had brought her to call on him now. Today, of all days? After so long? She was such a distant memory to him that he couldn’t quite retrieve the data that would fix her previous place in his life.
‘I’m Aimee. Aimee Ewan’ There it had been confirmed now. And still he couldn’t quite believe it was her.
‘Aimee. I’m sorry. It’s been so long...’ he started, ‘ And...you’ve changed so...’
‘I know it’s probably not the time, but I’d programmed this in so long ago that I was surprised when I got the call this morning. I rang you without really thinking...Maybe it wasn’t the right thing to do, but I didn’t want to wait until...If you want, if it’s a bad moment, I’ll hang up. I mean, it’s been so long, that maybe you don’t...’
‘No, it’s good to see you again, to speak to you. It’s just that...you’re right. It has been such a long time that I’m surprised. How long has it been? It must be, what? Twelve years or so?’
‘Almost thirteen. Almost half our lives...’ She stopped. ‘You haven’t changed though. At least, I didn’t have any problem recognising you.’
Jay smiled. He suddenly saw in Aimee the best friend he had known when he had been thirteen. The person he had got to know more than any other, apart from his mother. The girl who had been taken away from him so suddenly. What had happened? She had left the city, he remembered, suddenly. It had been shortly after that incident he didn’t want to recall. There hadn’t even been time to say goodbye. Or at least, they hadn’t been able to for some reason. And now here she was in front of him today. It seemed unplausible. Again, she had programmed her chip then, and probably forgot about it. Until today, almost thirteen years later. Suddenly he realised that it had been programmed to tell her the day his mother died. That he could not understand.
‘Well, now I’ve made contact, I don’t know what to say.’ Aimee said. And smiled back at Jay. ‘Although I feel I could,nd I should tell you a million and one things.’
‘I’m listening...’ Jay said, and he sat back into the metal chair was still positioned in front of the video screen.
816 words
1585 words in total
48,415 words to go
posted by blog-efl at 4.11.04
3 Comments:
hey..
it's a beautiful start.. i am glad that i just went online and just search and found ur blog.. well i will keep reading it... i think the story will be nice.. keep going and keep striving.. looking forward to read your 40,000 over words. keep it up... dun give up!
Thankyou. I'll give it a go anyway. It's a little strange, this experiment, that there are actually pople out there who come and read this. In a way it's great, but there's also an embarrassment factor, that makes me want to stop doing it, or at least stop publishing it. Well, I've started so I'll finish I suppose...
ofcourse u should keep going... dun ever give up on it.. well dun care what ppl think and just write with all you can.. i am sure u will do it... looking forward to more...
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