1
For the past week now everybody has been talking about the same thing. A cure for all illnesses. Dr. Marlon Borowski, a German doctor claims he has found the cure. The injection pumps Beryllium-Oxide into your bloodstream, causing an immunity in your blood that rejects negative bacteria from entering your skin and blood cells. So far the drug has only been tested on rabbits and chicken, all of which have died after being vaccinated. Borowski says this is due to their blood type and blood cells being different to humans. The drug, formally known as 'M.B Beryllium' is yet to be tested on a live human being, but Borowski quoted "M.B Beryllium is 100% safe to test on a live human. I would commit myself to the test, but authorities will not allow it. The tests were not successful on the animals used strictly due to their blood type. Apart from those tests everything has been successful. I can assure you that there is 0% chance of any danger to your health. It is absolutely safe, and there will be no side effects."
110 years later…
The alarm clock buzzed violently, waking Kieran Fuller in an instant. He slowly rolled over to stop the alarm from sounding. The digital clock read 6:00 a.m. In an hour's time he would have to be at work. Kieran knew applying for a job at the new Woolworths store was a bad idea. Early mornings weren't as easy for Kieran as they were for other people, especially Saturday mornings, when after a long week of school, all you want to do is sleep. Kieran pulled himself up out of bed, not very enthusiastically, and headed for the bathroom. Hopefully a shower could wake him up properly.
Kieran was quite a tall boy. He is 17 years old, had rough-brown hair that ran down the back and sides of his head and forehead, and had a solid physique, although he didn't work out.
After the shower Kieran headed downstairs to grab something to eat. It was still dark outside and no other lights were on besides the room Kieran was in so he figured everybody else was still asleep. Kieran sat in silence while eating the toast he'd prepared for himself. He wondered what work would be like today. Would anything interesting would happen? Would he get the chance to talk to Katie, the girl who worked on the register, today? Would Kieran's boss be a prick about Kieran's hair again? "If you work in a store like this, then act accordingly and professionally, and by act I mean dress. Present yourself as though you're an actual human with a hint of class, Kieran". Kieran thought over the lecture his boss had given him on Monday. 'Asshole' he muttered to himself.
Kieran finished off his breakfast then headed back upstairs to get his work uniform on.
Having your provisional license was amazing. Most of Kieran's friends were still on their learners. Although, as fun as it was for Kieran to boast about that, it was just as annoying, because now it was his duty to be the one to drive them all around. Kieran owned his own car, another advantage. He didn't have to drive his parents' Ford Falcon around. He had a green Mitsubishi Lancer. Kieran wasn't the type of kid that grey up obsessing over different cars with his friends, but owning your own car was pure heaven. He never had to worry about getting the bus to school again, or having to bug his parents about driving him around.
Kieran headed back downstairs, got one last mouthful of water from the kitchen tap, then headed out to his Lancer.
The air-freshener inside Kieran's car, letting off a vanilla essence, gave him the same head-spin it did every time he climbed into the drivers seat. "That really needs to go."
Kieran reversed down the driveway, a moment later he was accelerating down the empty road.
'Kieran…hows it going?' Kieran's boss greeted in the same fake, happy tone he used on Kieran all the time.
'Yeah, not bad…too early for this aye,'
'No, it's 7:00 a.m. This is the best time of the day. You sleep too much Kieran.'
"I'll put you to sleep," Kieran thought to himself as he turned away.
Kieran headed down towards the back of the shop to sign-in. The shop was quite empty at this time in the morning. Every few aisles you might catch a glimpse of a person searching through the fridge for milk, or an elderly person wandering up and down an aisle eyeing the toiletries, wondering which brand of toilet tissue to use this time.
As Kieran was moving towards the staffroom he realised that the store was particularly empty. Not empty of customers, but of workers. He hadn't seen any other employees yet. His thoughts were halted as he turned into the staffroom to come face-to-face with Katie. Katie was a bit shorter than Kieran and quite slim. She had a dark hair that came down past her shoulders and the type of smile that most guys would die for.
'Oh. Hey,' Kieran said awkwardly, his voice cracking as he spoke.
'Hi,' she replied, smiling at him.
'Yeah, um, just signing in.' His eyes caught her lips curving into another smile.
'See you.' Katie said joyfully, leaving the room smiling.
Kieran moved towards the touch-screen to sign-in to work, slyly smiling to himself.
Work was the same as usual. Boring. Kieran just did what was needed of him. Unpack the boxes on the floor, put the contents on the shelf, not exactly in the correct order of BB dates, and throw the boxes in the compactor. Every so often a customer would approach Kieran and ask him where the batteries were kept, or when the store would next get Black & Gold Snack Pack's in because if it wasn't HomeBrand than it was just too expensive. Kieran replied the same way every time: 'I'm not too sure actually, let me just go check with the manager.' The only reason Kieran did this was because he knew Randall, his boss, hated being disturbed.
'Kieran, you can't keep coming to me for help like this. You've been working here for a few weeks now, surely you're starting to remember where things go,' Randall said one time.
"Yeah, sorry. I just keep forgetting…' Kieran replied, but noticed that Randall was now focusing on something else. Randall reached for a box of Jatz, picking it up at examining it for a moment, before looking back at Kieran. 'Did you rotate, Kieran?'
'Yes,' Kieran lied.
'You do know what I mean when I say rotate, don't you Kieran?'
'Yeah, like…'
'NO, you obviously don't. Kieran if you don't rotate, then that means that the old food is at the back, and the new food is at the front. This leads to customers eventually buying food that expired months ago. That means that they will come in to me, and complain. So I will be paying for your mistakes, is that fair Kieran?'
Kieran shook his head.
'No, it isn't. I pay you to work Kieran, I don't pay you to slack off. If I find out that you've done this again I will reduce your pay, understand?'
Kieran slowly nodded, not breaking eye-contact.
'Get back to work,' Randall said.
Kieran caught a glimpse of Katie, over Randall's shoulder, looking at him laughing. Kieran bit his lip to stop himself from laughing.
'Yep, no worries,' said Kieran.
Randall gave Kieran one last look then headed back towards the staffroom. Kieran took one quick glance up at Katie, only to realise she was gone, so he headed back to his boxes to finish stacking.
The rest of the day went un-eventful, and before Kieran knew it, his shift was over. He headed down the back to sign-out then went out to his car. By this time it was pouring with rain. As he was about to turn out of the car park and head home he noticed Katie standing under the bus shelter. "Now or never."
'OI KATIE,' Kieran yelled through the treacherous rain beating down on the earth.
Katie gave a swift look in the direction to see who the call was coming from.
'DO YOU NEED A RIDE, OR SOMETHING?'
Katie looked at her watch, then down the road, before picking up her bag and running over to the car and climbing into the passengers seat.
'Hey, thanks,' Katie said fastening her seatbelt.
'That's alright. Where do you live?'
'Not far, just down Cattai Ridge'.
Kieran took off onto Old Northern Road, trying not to drive too fast to make it seem as though he was trying to show off, or too slow in case Katie thought he was afraid to speed up.
'So what was going on with you and Randall today?' Katie asked curiously.
'Oh that. That was nothing. He was just having a go at me for not rotating or something. He doesn't really like me, but I suppose I don't really give him much reason to,'
Katie let out a small laugh as Kieran turned onto Cattai Ridge Road.
'So when did you get your P's?' asked Katie.
'I dunno, a few weeks back now. It's so good though, just being able to go out whenever you feel like it,'
'Yeah, I can't wait to get mine. I've still got 3 months till I can go for them,'
'The test is overrated. People say it's so hard to pass, but it really isn't. But then I suppose it depends on who your instructor is. I had this really cool chick,' said Kieran.
'Yeah that's what I heard. My friend had this guy who failed her for indicating a few metres too early. That's what I'm scared of. I'll get some guy who will fail me for talking too much when I should be concentrating on the road,'
'Ha ha. Go to the RTA in Richmond and you should be right.'
'Yeah alright. I'm next on the right,'
'No worries,' Kieran said, starting to slow down.
Kieran pulled into the driveway, stopping a few feet away from the garage. The house was amazing. The outside looked as though it belonged to a royal family from the 1800s. There were two storeys, but the house looked like it could hold four, there was a perfectly-cut hedge running around the outside walls, just cut off at the top so there was space for the window. The windows were massive, and Kieran could see five of them, just from where his car was sitting.
'Well thanks for the ride,' Katie said, un-buckling her seatbelt.
'No worries, I can give you a lift whenever you need one. It beats getting the bus,'
'Yeah alright, thanks. Ill see you next week,'
'Yeah OK, see you Katie,'
'Bye,' she replied, smiling and getting out of the car and running through the rain to the front door. Kieran waited till Katie was inside, then took another look at the beautifully structured house before backing out of the driveway and heading home.
'Kieran, is that you?' asked Kieran's mum, as she heard the sound of the door swinging open.'Yeah,'
'How was work?'
'Yeah, not bad,' said Kieran, heading for the fridge. 'Just another day at the office,' said Kieran sarcastically.
'Ha, yeah right,' she replied, leaving the room.
Susan - Kieran's mum - worked as a real estate agent. She was quite short, with dark brown hair that ran all the way down her back. She was the type of person that would go to a party and have something in common with every individual there.
Kieran was always hungry after a day at work. As he sat at the table eating the left-overs from last nights stir-fry, he started to think about the ride with Katie. He was quite proud of himself for actually getting her in his car. This morning he was sitting there wondering if he would even talk to her today, and he ended up dropping her home. All Kieran could think about now was work on Monday.
'Kieran, I'm going out to Parklea in a few minutes if you want to come,' called Susan from the other room.
Parklea was a massive store, about the size of two football fields. It had anything you were looking to buy, mainly all second-hand.
'Nah, I better not. I've got this big English essay to do,' said Kieran, finishing off the stir-fry.
'Alright, I'm leaving now. Dad may be home before me,'
'Where is he?' asked Kieran, realising he hadn't seen his father yet.
'He's at John's. He should be back soon. Bye,' Susan said, walking out the door.
'See you.'
Kieran was an only child. He was supposed to have a twin-brother but his brother died in childbirth. Kieran almost died too. The doctors said he was unconscious and not responding. They say it was a miracle that Kieran woke up at all. After that Susan and Pete - Kieran's dad - didn't try for any more children. The drama after having just one was far enough.
Kieran spent the rest of the night finishing off his Michael Dransfield essay. Michael Dransfield was an Australian poet in the 60s and 70s. Sources indicate that he died from a heroin overdose, but the official cause of death was acute broncho-pneumonia and brain damage.
After doing a little over 2000 words, Kieran decided it was time to take a break, so he went to watch a bit of T.V.
The dull lantern caused a faint light to surround the room. In the middle was a circular table, with 12 men sitting around it. Each man was wearing a black suit, and they were all quite old. One of them started talking. He had short grey hair and a grey goatee. His eyes were dark and powerful, as if they could kill somebody by just staring. His lips were moving, but the sound was muffled. After he had finished speaking he looked around at the 11 other men around the table. One of them reached into his coat and pulled out a photograph. He slid it across the table for everybody to see. The man in the picture was smiling. He was black and wore a dark suit.
It was Barack Obama.
The man with the goatee started to speak again. This time his voice was clear.
'Obama is delivering a speech to the University of Southern California this coming Tuesday. This operation is going to be very much like the JFK assassination project. We will fire four shots in total. The first two will be fired at the same time. One of them will be fired from inside Fairfax building on the corner of Redwood Avenue. The other shot will be fired from the rooftop of the library on Berkeley Avenue. The first shot will be fired, striking Obama in the chest, the other shot shall strike him in the head. These shots must be fired at the exact same time. The next shot will be fired from a window on the north-west side of the VA Medical Centre in Menlo Park. This shot will hit the front of the stage, causing the people to think that shots that hit Obama are coming from behind them. The final shot will be fired from the hill underneath Bay Road Highway. This shot will hit Michelle Obama in the shoulder, causing her to lose a lot of blood but survive. This assassination will cause a lot of speculation, just like the JFK case, like I said. You all know what to do, act casual and nobody can see you.'