A New Life
By Sumner Hill
The engine rotor has been screeching softly for a while now, seeping its last depleted power towards recharging the car's auxiliary battery. We can't help but marvel at its fine engineering, at its revolutionizing ability to conserve energy efficiency. Nothing is wasted.
As the engine slows to a halt, a darkening silence commences to cover over the vehicle. At this very same moment, too, a graying sky is expanding overhead from a raging cloud drawn out by fierce winds. In the calm gloomy inside, JEROME and IRENE are sitting silently, glancing ahead toward the entrance of GATTACA.
JEROME:
What will you do in a year?
IRENE: There's always work. And later there will be a child to look forward to. I
imagine I will be busy.
IRENE is smiling and for a moment her radiance breaks through the dark cover. JEROME is taken aback and is deep in thought. There is visible strain beneath his face. There are many things happening for him now and more in a year. Much will change; he will change. What can be counted on in the always changing, always pressing forward? Are they ready? Ready to bring a child into this world? Those questions seem less relevant in the present. He reaches into his suit pocket and draws out a plastic container.
JEROME:
This is from Eugene. I have been thinking. It is best if we use it.
IRENE:
Are you certain?
JEROME: You can choose for me. The child will still be me. He will have my spirit
and energy. That will be enough.
IRENE:
.
JEROME:
It's fine. It's best this way.
IRENE:
Would you like a boy or a girl?
JEROME: I think we can leave that to chance, or to your preference. I will go in
now.
JEROME and IRENE reach for the other and kiss in a long embrace. The dark silence returns, calmly engulfing over their body. There is tenseness emanating from both, fusing together to produce an air of helplessness and, even, regret. Surely, he is thinking that this same question has been considered many a time before. And all in all, it is still for the best. It is the wave of the times.
IRENE is looking at JEROME as he walks briskly into GATTACA. She is happy and is planning. "I better visit soon so as to prevent any deterioration", IRENE thinks. She proceeds to go straight away to the clinic.
The engine rotor has been screeching softly for a while now, seeping its last depleted power towards recharging the car's auxiliary battery. We can't help but marvel at its fine engineering, at its revolutionizing ability to conserve energy efficiency. Nothing is wasted.
As the engine slows to a halt, a darkening silence commences to cover over the vehicle. At this very same moment, too, a graying sky is expanding overhead from a raging cloud drawn out by fierce winds. In the calm gloomy inside, JEROME and IRENE are sitting silently, glancing ahead toward the entrance of GATTACA.
JEROME:
What will you do in a year?
IRENE: There's always work. And later there will be a child to look forward to. I
imagine I will be busy.
IRENE is smiling and for a moment her radiance breaks through the dark cover. JEROME is taken aback and is deep in thought. There is visible strain beneath his face. There are many things happening for him now and more in a year. Much will change; he will change. What can be counted on in the always changing, always pressing forward? Are they ready? Ready to bring a child into this world? Those questions seem less relevant in the present. He reaches into his suit pocket and draws out a plastic container.
JEROME:
This is from Eugene. I have been thinking. It is best if we use it.
IRENE:
Are you certain?
JEROME: You can choose for me. The child will still be me. He will have my spirit
and energy. That will be enough.
IRENE:
.
JEROME:
It's fine. It's best this way.
IRENE:
Would you like a boy or a girl?
JEROME: I think we can leave that to chance, or to your preference. I will go in
now.
JEROME and IRENE reach for the other and kiss in a long embrace. The dark silence returns, calmly engulfing over their body. There is tenseness emanating from both, fusing together to produce an air of helplessness and, even, regret. Surely, he is thinking that this same question has been considered many a time before. And all in all, it is still for the best. It is the wave of the times.
IRENE is looking at JEROME as he walks briskly into GATTACA. She is happy and is planning. "I better visit soon so as to prevent any deterioration", IRENE thinks. She proceeds to go straight away to the clinic.