The Smoke of Ashes – Elvan Safyürek

 

The Smoke of Ashes

 

5 September 2065

It is 5 September 2065. I was told to keep my thoughts in my HOLO2000 device. I didn’t understand the logic. I did understand why. Obviously to expand my knowledge, presumably on grammar or punctuation. But… I constantly thought that apart from my relief of letting the words out, or expanding my vocabulary, there is nothing else gaining from it. No one else reading it or learning from it. So what is the point?

 

 

7 September 2065

I looked at the sky one day. It was strange of me to do so. No one bothers to look at the skies. The thick layer of smoke above us is all we see. But today I caught a glimpse of the actual sky above the thick layer of smoke. It was just a slight crack in the smoke. The skies were so different. My eyes were blinded by the blueness. It was so blue. So different to what our eyes were used to seeing. The black and grey smoke constantly above us, like a prison guard watching over people who don’t even want to leave.

 

There were white puffs of… something in the sky above, from what I could see through the crack. Was that always there?

The things that looked like cotton?

 

 

9 September 2065

People are changing. I realised that most of my acquaintances have over 5 different faces. 5 different faces. And that was not enough faces for an average person. A face is something weird. Your thoughts or ideas don’t change. It’s not emotional that changes either, when a face changes. The process works in about a year. You begin to change and when the year is completed, the cycle is completed and you wear your original face. It’s hard to explain what the faces are. It’s like someone becomes a different person.

 

For some reason I’ve never been able to do it. And I’ve been teased and bullied for it all my life. For having one face. Because the more faces you have the more popular you are. But I’ve gotten used to it. It doesn’t bother me anymore.

 

 

13 September 2065

I don’t think many have realised but days are going by faster and faster. Just yesterday I was telling my sister, “You have 5 hours to get your device off the floor.” And then I counted. “5… 4… 3…” and now 5 hours seem like a quick glimpse. Even shorter than last time. It is so strange. So strange watching that small arrow on our holographic clock, whizzing by.

 

 

 

 

17 September 2065

The streets have floors that are coated with obsidian cement. The obsidian coated ground supports the boost of our flying vehicles. And with our flying shoes that also boost the impact on the grounds, the ground is cracking. Everyday we see molten lava poured out of flying trucks, so that they can cool down and make more obsidian.

Today I was out in the street and I was just wondering… why hasn’t anyone tried to touch or step on the ground before? How did people become civilised in the air? And God… why hadn’t anyone wondered that before?

Maybe other people had tried to step on the ground before and failed?

I want to be the first person to.

 

 

23 September 2065

Today I found something bizarre under the HOLOFridge. It was the very first device that you can physically touch. Nothing here can be touched; they are all holograms or made of a substance called laser plasma. This device was none. It was hard and very easily destructible. I tried to figure out how it worked but didn’t understand it’s function. On the back of the device there was a strange symbol and the word, “iPhone” iPhone… it was such a foreign word to say. Then it suddenly flashed with a large amount of light and it was on. It was the weirdest thing I had come across. Apart from those cotton things I saw, in the sky above.

A little voice in me told me not to show anyone. I obeyed it.

 

 

29 September 2065

Yesterday was 23 September. But today is 29 September. This was a sign that I was right about the speeding of time. I was just wondering why anyone else hadn’t found out about it? Or maybe they didn’t care? Yesterday was when I found the iPhone device. I didn’t understand why time was speeding up so much. Or maybe it was just me.

 

 

7 October 2065

I decided to play around with the iPhone device. I didn’t understand it at all. So I left it somewhere in our HOLOhouse. Bizarre.

 

 

15 October 2065

I am now putting down my thoughts on the HOLOdevice everyday. Every single day. I was always typing everyday but I decided that I’m going to make it a priority to type every day.

I am glad to find out that not only has my vocabulary expanded but I have also come to realise that I have become more observant. And when I don’t have things to do this keeps me occupied. Plus, I don’t use any energy in order to type it. I only have to speak and the device writes it itself. It’s called Speak-typing. Everyone loves the Speak-typing, it wastes no energy.

 

 

15 November 2065

Today was Leap Day. When we skip a whole month. There are a lot of things I don’t understand about Leap Days. Like why or how it happens.

Who can do such a thing? Skip a whole month?

 

They say that we are “GenerationBrain” but isn’t that meant to mean we are intellectual? Smart? We have new technologies, new facilities, our whole world is a hologram. Yes.

But the other day I played around with iPhone and there was an image of a very tall, large, brown thing with green stuff on top of it. If we were so smart, why don’t I know what that thing was?

 

 

25 November 2065

Apparently Leap Day was regarding the large shiny thing in the sky. The shiny, round ball of light that we can occasionally see from the smoke. That is the only light that ever gets past the smoke. The only thing that can be seen from the sky above.

 

 

5 December 2065

I asked my caretakers. I occasionally call my caretakers “father” and “mother”. It’s a norm that we all abide by. No questions asked. I don’t know what “father” or “mother” mean but I still call them that. So, I asked my female caretaker what that round, large light in the sky was. She said people all believe different things.

 

Apparently, some say it is everyone’s caretaker.

Some say it’s the boost of a flying car that got accidentally trapped above the smoke.

Others say that it’s the soul of all the ashes of the dead we add to the smoke.

And then there are the ones that say it’s nothing.

But then my father added on to my mother’s words. He said that they are all wrong and that it’s actually a spaceship that’s trying to enter from the smoke. When I asked why there would be a spaceship on Earth, he replied that they should end us all and it would be a mercy.

And then he just shook his head and told me not to question it.

 

I didn’t really understand any of them. It was the first time my father or mother had mentioned something like this to me and the first time that they showed me that they were not content.

 

I’m full of questions. Like how can something be nothing? And why WOULD it be a mercy?

 

 

 

17 December 2065

I decided I am going to try something. I want to be the first person on Earth to step on the ground. It will be a small step for me but a giant leap for mankind.

 

 

29 December 2065

They didn’t allow me. I was escorted away by security robots. I don’t think I’ll be able to speak-type to my HOLOdevice anymore. They are going to take it from me. I know it. They might ——

 

 

13 January 2066

…

 

 

27 January 2066

I found this device in one of the local bins. I checked the notes of the previous owner of this device. I am fairly certain that he questioned something he was not meant to and thus got taken away.

But I didn’t let that bother me because it is the first time I am 

able to have my own HOLOdevice! My caretakers decided that it was too early. But they both know that it isn’t early. So instead, they gave me all the SPHdevices. I know they are worried for me since I am their only daughter. I didn’t think it was fair so I decided I am going to keep this device. Plus, it has no owner anymore.

I reviewed some of the things that the previous owner spoke-typed on this device. I was genuinely bored at first. He was blabbering a lot of nonsense. But I am a little intrigued. What really happened to the previous owner?

 

 

11 February 2066

The journal of the previous owner intrigued me as I kept reading along. He was a curious man. But most of the time I was struggling to understand what he found or what he was describing. Because when I look at the smoke layered sky I don’t see the round ball of light that he had described only a year ago. I only see smoke and a tiny string of light leaking from somewhere…

 

 

 

27 February 2066

My Caretakers saw my HOLOdevice. I am fairly sure that I am in trouble. They will take it from me. In just a few days I grew very attached to this device so I don’t want to accept their offer to sack the device to the local LostAndFound box. But they will anyway.

 

 

 

13 March 2066

…

 

 

29 March 2066

I found this device in the local LostAndFound box. I checked the last journal entry to find its owner but I am fairly sure that there were two owners: a man and a young female. Both curious little things.

I read their journals, feeling a little nauseous. Their curiosity made me sick. Everyone knew the motto. Questions were traps. And curiosity was the lock to the trap. They rightly deserved whatever they got.

 

 

17 April 2066

This journal proved to be useful. As I am very old, I have a hard time remembering which facility I was to construct first. I can now note it down here.

 

Last night the HOLObridge I was constructing finished. We celebrated on the bridge. But I realised too late that I forgot to add the most crucial element to physically allowing the bridge to support us and our flying shoes. The boost.

So, the bridge did not support everyone for long as we tumbled down to the suction below. We were sucked up by the suction and all transported back to our homes. Thank God that no one suffered injuries or got half-teleported. That would be terrible. I was given a freeze on my job. They know that I don’t have long to live so they gave me a year of freeze. I am mortified. None of my ancestors in their entire lives made a crucial mistake like this.

My ancestor himself invented the flying shoes we use today.

But I often wonder, what did people do when there were no flying shoes? What did they stand on? What was under bridges before there was a suction?

 

Was I questioning…? I stopped thinking to avoid questions.

It was nearly time for me to be added to the smoke anyway. I was too old to live. I mean… turning 22 tomorrow was incredibly old.

I have my funeral ready and my will noted. I edited my will and decided that my niece can inherit this device. So that he can read this journal I wrote and avoid the same mistake that I made. It is time…

 

 

3 May 2066

…

 

 

21 May 2066

My uncle died yesterday. I am happy that he lived for a long time, 22 years old. We cremated his body and blew his ashes to join the smoke that makes up our sky. In his will he left me this device. It gives a pleasant feeling to type.

 

 

9 June 2066

I am proud to announce that I officially have become a father. I am finally a caretaker. It was a little late but it’s alright. I am 13 years old and I finally have a son.

 

Today I also read the journal of my uncle. There were more journals before him but I did not bother reading them. My uncle left me a message to not make the same mistake as him. After reading the journal I decided that I certainly won’t be making a mistake in my Architectural career. Everyone took their careers after their uncles or aunts. I decided to follow.

 

 

 

29 June 2066

I am now going to dedicate myself to being a good caretaker to my son. I realised time was going faster and faster so I don’t want any of it to be wasted on anything but my son. That is why I won’t speak-type on this device for a while.

 

 

9 June 2067

Today is my son’s 1’st birthday. I am giving this device to him as a present. So, he can type about whatever he wants to and live his life and write all his adventures here. A message to my son: you are the most important person in my life, I do not care if you do not follow in your uncle’s footsteps with your career, even if you are told you must. Live your life however you want and keep the memories here to forever cherish them.

 

 

 

1 July 2067

…

 

 

23 July 2067

My father gave me this device two days ago on my birthday. My speaking skills have been becoming better by the day and my grammar has improved drastically. The chip that was put into my brain is slowly adapting. Everyone gets it, they said. It takes time to adapt to, they said. The headaches will go away, they said.

But it hasn’t yet.

 

 

 

17 August 2067

Three days ago – feels like a lifetime – was my birthday. I’m writing this to remind myself of what day we are on. Dates are messed up on calendars. No one knows why. I turned 1 and the chip was placed in my brain. I asked my father about it and he told me everyone got it when they were 1. It was a thing. No question.

 

 

11 September 2067

There was news. Apparently, time is speeding up. They have begun to realise it’s impact now. That’s why the dates on the calendars are so messed up. A day is like a week or a month. It isn’t Leap Day but we still skipped a month… strange.

 

 

7 October 2067

The headaches did not stop. I learned to fly my vehicle. I learned to use my flying shoes. I learned to stop questioning. That was the most important. The motto. I learned so many things but the headaches just did not stop.

The doctors said that it should stop by the time I am 2 years old.

But that wasn’t what they said last time.

 

 

 

3 November 2067

My head is throbbing. This time we did not go to the robot doctors. We went to get X-rays. I am not nervous but my father is very worried.

When the X-rays were done, they revealed that I had a rare condition. My father was devastated.

Non-adaptability. That’s what it was called.

My body was rejecting the chip.

The chip is everything.

Here without knowledge, no one can survive.

 

 

 

1 December 2067

We are having Leap Days every day now.

One day is literally one month. But no one had realised because we can’t see if it’s day or night. We only have the artificial lights that turn on and off to determine day and night automatically.

They can’t stop it as they can’t see the skies from all the smoke.

The skies were meant to have an explanation why.

Headaches are worse. Memory is blurry.

 

 

29 December 2067

I read my father’s journal today. And my uncles. There were others but I didn’t read them. They didn’t make sense.

My father’s message to me made me emotional. He wanted me to explore, to live my life. I was struck by guilt. I am guilty that I disappointed him. Disappointed everyone.

 

My body is rejecting the chip.

Goodbye father.

 

 

 

29 January 2068

…

 

 

29 February 2068

My son’s body rejected the chip. Saying it makes it more real. And difficult. I can’t accept it. He didn’t live for long after the chip was rejected.

I am devastated.

I took back this HOLOdevice. To mourn his life. I read and reread his journals.

While reading them and his message to me, for the first time in my life I did something I didn’t know I was capable of. I don’t really know what it was. Was I… generating water with my eyes?

My eyes stung.

I decided not to tell anyone about it and wrapped my hands around this device. Never to let it go. Like I let go of my son.

 

 

 

 

1 April 2068

It’s been one day but we skipped two months. Two Leap Day’s in one day? Something bad is bound to happen.

Today we added my son’s ashes to The Smoke.

The sky was not darker, it was like it was lit up by the hope my son carried. His heart. Then it was gone.

I’m pretty sure I was imagining it. I generated more water today. I miss you son.

 

 

3 March 2068

There is this rage within me. My son should not have died. He could have lived without The Chip.

Why?

Was I… questioning?

 

 

7 April 2068

Today I stared at the chip in a Ziplock bag in fury.

With no further question I went to my flying vehicle and took the Ziplock bag with me. I did not stop until I was at the collapsed bridge, the result of my uncle’s mistake.

I got on top of my vehicle and looked down at the suction. With no further thought and no emotion, I threw the chip in the suction below.

 

 

11 May 2068

The obsidian cemented floors are cracking more now. Everyday they are pouring more cement but it does not help. The vehicles are getting larger therefore the boost is becoming larger as well. I had a solution I was working on for years. I cracked the solution with a formula today as I stared outside at the collapsed bridge.

I decided not to tell anyone about it. This world doesn’t deserve to live. I thought.

 

 

17 June 2068

My son’s birthday is somehow nonexistent now. Yesterday was 11 May and today is 17 June. My son’s birthday was somewhere in between. Just like how he was, somewhere in between the smoke. I didn’t tell anyone about the solution.

I just went out in my vehicle and watched several humongous cracks in the ground crack more. It was so large and deep that it felt like I was watching a cliff.

I squeezed this device and taking a deep breath, I threw the device right in.

 

 

23 July 2068

…

 

 

 

Author’s Note

In short, this short story is about a collection of people in the future, who find a device and have internal conflict within themselves. The collection of people that find this device starts to question the norms of their society. As if the device itself was a trigger for them to start questioning.

I wrote, “The Ashes of Smoke” to show the consequences of our actions and how our actions can change and reshape norms in the future for the worse.

There are several symbols represented in this short story. One of them being the smoke above them. The smoke is created by the pollution and the ashes of dead bodies. This merely represents several things in itself. It is based on perspective but one of the representations of the smoke is how society in the future traps themselves and does not allow hope to replenish, just how they don’t do anything for the sun to reach them. It is ironic how they are meant to be “Generation Brain” but they are deprived of most knowledge. They cannot see the skies, don’t have seas at all but have a suction instead, do not know what nature was and do not question. Their understanding of “knowledge” has changed entirely.

The speeding of time shows how the sun is getting physically bigger thus the Earth is orbiting around it shorter and shorter by day. The fact that they do not see this right away portrays that they ignore and shut their eyes to anything that bothers them.

Lastly, I would like to mention the lifespan of everyone and how it’s shortened and living up to 22 years old is a miracle in itself. This is because when they are 1, a chip is inserted into their brains and they are able to think at a very high speed and levels. Their environment has become so unsuitable that they do not live for long.