You used to say we should start a revolution.

Now you're covered in ambition, blindfolded in submission, flaunting your cheap suit of wolverine, infused with denial to the extreme.

This brand of you

does not fit me,

I'm into hope;

you're into murdering

my dreams.

Clawing at your layers,

but the grime from your wasted integrity

gets under my nails,

and I'm tired of scrubbing them clean.

I keep my bags packed,

full of possibilities,

But I keep missing my opportunities,

fused to you and who

you used to be.

Remember when we used to want to start a revolution?

A storekeeper yells strange words when I tell him I’m lost and must drive to the main road far below this cliffside village.

I follow his pointed finger, but two trucks barrel at my sedan. I swerve onto a narrow road. I smash through a barricade and my car is airborne, spinning wildly. I’m blinded by the sun. My vehicle lands upright on another road and I slam into a traffic sign at the main drag.

I open the door and shout to oblivious pedestrians, “How do you people get down here?”

A man replies, “Just like you did, Americano.”

Max closed the door and began walking. The street was abuzz with pedestrians and traffic. But it made no impression on him. He was consumed with inner demons. Every thought stung like sleet in winter's icy wind. He never put his whole heart into anything. Never finished anything. Projects left hanging. Relationships abandoned. Ideas never pursued. This time was different. This time he'd finish the story. Upon reaching the corner of Fifth and Orleans, Max paused and looked left. When the first semi-truck came barreling toward the intersection, he jumped in front of it. Max was killed in an eyeblink.

"I'm so pissed I want to break something," Ralph said.

"Let it go, Ralphie," Max replied.

"Let it go? How can you act like it doesn't matter? She's your girlfriend, not mine, and I saw red."

"You always see red, Ralphie. There's probably a simple explanation."

"Yeah, real simple. Jake had his tongue down Maddie's throat. The end."

"Maybe we left before we could see her push him away..."

"C’mon Max."

"Getting mad isn't gonna help anything, Ralphie. With my dad, I know that better than anyone."

"Yeah, well, I think it'd do you some good to get mad, Max."

Minnie yawned and Max sneered at her.

"You're so lazy, Min!" He said, "Once I'm allowed to, I'll go running across the yard, past the front gate, and probably straight to the park. What fun!"

"Cool it, Maxie." Minnie said in a slow drawl, "You know we're not allowed to go yet"

"True," Max sighed, "When will this end? I don't enjoy lounging around like you!"

"You should try it sometimes," Minnie suggested, "It’s pure bliss."

***

Covid restrictions ended and eventually the postman appeared too. At the window, Minnie meowed:

“Your arch nemesis is here. Now, go mad, Max!”

The android, with cables connecting his brain to his metallic body, stood guard at the entrance of the sewer residence, shielded from the external radiation.

"This one tried to escape," another guard said, holding a bearded man in worn-out jeans.

"Activating protocol for processing the ancient race."

"Wait," the first android said, deploying his blade. "Stop. Don't get mad. Remember, emotions are undesirable."

Plunging his razor into the human's chest, yellowish liquid spurted out. "See? It wasn't human, just an AI disguised. Since the incident that caused our mutation, they’ve been trying to deceive us by adopting our ancestral form!"

My brother is a big guy—six foot two, has a six-pack, and is a football player. He spends most of his time in the gym, doing pushups or whatever trendy workout is on social media. Meanwhile, I am a skinny ten-year-old kid with arms smaller than a stick. Because of this, the kids would often tease me in the playground. "Look at that walking stick over there!" "There goes the twig!" I swallowed my feelings and continued to play alone in the sandbox, but it still happened every day. So, I went to my brother, who said:

"Get mad, Max!"

Max thought there was something funny about the way the doctor looked: he had cocked his head to the side, frowning furiously, at her question. She had asked for a hysterectomy. It is the year 2050, and women are only to be used for their uteruses. No longer able to get an abortion legally anywhere in the United States, Max had thought she would bypass that problem by simply removing her organ. But the doctor has different ideas. "No," he says, pretending to be patient with her. "You will instead have a child implanted - your punishment for asking that."

This is the story of my evil brother. I was adopted when I was ten and the older brother has always hated me for stealing his parents love or something. So, one night, when I came home he had an evil look on his face, and the next thing I know someone knocked on the door. He answered it saying "That's her! The mad woman! Take her away, she's crazy!" Two men grabbed me and started dragging me away. They put me in a straightjacket and covered my mouth. I woke up in a lunatic asylum. He trapped me here.

Gunshots and the rumble of engines filled the desolate wasteland. Max stumbled, momentarily disoriented and with blood trickling from his ears after a grenade blast. Amidst the ringing, he could faintly hear Sarah's desperate plea. "Get angry, Max! We need you!"

Max blinked, replaying the horrifying sight of their leader falling. However, Sarah's words cut through the haze. His vision cleared, determination glinting in his eyes. "Let's end this," he snarled.

Max leaped onto his vehicle and led the charge against the marauders. Fueled by fury and bravery, their group rallied and achieved a hard-fought victory in the unforgiving wasteland.