Eye Economics

Very very rough draft. Let me know what you think :D


Eye Economics


It was on September 29th that Miss Audrey Wilkinson decided to take her life. She had thought about it several times but never had gathered the unction to do it. It was on September 29th that she stood at the top of the 5 story parking garage thinking about the government and her fears. Her children were grown, not dependant. Not even entirely wrapped up in her life anymore. They had gone about their affairs and Miss Wilkinson’s life was not of much importance anymore to any of them it seemed. She would receive a guilty phone call once a month from a son, Gabriel, who had forgotten her birthday. Her daughter, Anna, would call maybe once a week and distractedly over her phone line ask her mother questions about responsibility. “Did you pay your electric bill, mother?” “Are you eating healthy?” “Did you remember to pay the lawn care company?” Such a stark role reversal. Miss Wilkinson vomited inside of her mouth at the thought. Her other son, Michael, never called. He never showed up for holidays. He very well could be dead. It was on September 29th after choking down a severe probing of a conversation with Anna that Miss Audrey Wilkinson drover her Cadillac Deville to the top of Great City Parking and climbed the concrete wall to overlook the small city. She had taken the ticket that she would never pay. She had choked on Anna’s words, Gabriel’s unwanted intentions and Michael’s silence for far too long. Far be it from her to need something for once in her life. For once maybe she could be the center of attention. God forbid that her own children hadn’t been raised well enough to respect their elders and to care for their mothers and fathers. It was on September 29th five years earlier that her husband, James had finally been overcome by liver cancer. She had sat at his bedside in the hospital every night for months as his condition worsened. It had eaten at his insides. Prometheus reversed. Years of his fire water had destroyed his liver. The cancer spread in a sporadic manner and had eventually claimed his life. She had wept and cried and eventually lost all quality of life with her husband of forty years. When he withered, she withered. When he cried, she did too. When he died she felt that her insides had died also. It was on September 29th that she stood five stories up remembering her beloved spouse and the life he had left behind. She wondered when the thought of more life had become a threat. With tears and a kiss to the chilling wind she stepped forward and the concrete wall was left barren of emotion and empathy, as it had started. It was unwilling to beg for Miss Wilkinson’s pathetic life and unwilling to cry when it was over. It was on September 29th from the fifth floor of Great City Parking that if you had listened closely you could have heard a distant thump, and if you had been morbidly curious and looked over the wall you would have seen Miss Audrey Wilkinson in a bloody mess on the sidewalk of Hurston Street. From the concrete she looked up at the heavens and whispered, “Oh God, what have I done? Help.” It was on September 29th that if you walked by on the sidewalk you would have seen a woman who expected to be robbed of her pain by the pleading ground below, but instead was dealt a new hand of bitterness and frustration because of her failed suicide attempt. An ambulance’s sirens sang lullabies in the distant night air. They sang, “Hush little baby…” and eventually encouraged the depressed and shattered Miss Wilkinson into a deep trance of a sleep. When she woke there was a blur through two quarter sized holes. She made out the familiar hospital ceiling. The taste of glue was fresh on her breath, but her breathing was confined. Miss Audrey Wilkinson awoke from her deep, narcotic sleep and found herself sustained and alive inside of a plaster full body cast. The surgeon walked into the room and made small talk for a moment. He asked about allergies, about next of kin. He said that she was blessed to be alive. She tried desperately to speak back and answer his questions, but was unable to even mutter. He told her that she broken some 30 bones in her fall and that he had with his own hands set the breaks and that she must heal inside of the body cast. He said that if she needed anything to ask for him. Then he filled her full of morphine and left her to sleep. Her bitterness overwhelmed her. It was on September 29th that if you were a bird on the window outside of Miss Audrey Wilkinson’s hospital room that you would have seen her give up on life. If you had been inside of her head you would have heard her plea for God to intervene and to allow the pain to stop. You would have heard weeping and gnashing of teeth. And like a butterfly emerging from a cocoon you would have seen Audrey Wilkinson hit rock bottom and emerge from out of herself. You would have seen a woman who nearly died in desperation, become a woman who saw life for the first time as an expanse of sunlight and beauty. That is if she wasn’t inside of the body cast. She wept now with joy and not bitterness. Within the next days her beloved family arrived and she somehow was forgiving all trespasses. She wept as Gabriel, not out of obligation but love, hugged her for the first time in years. She whispered prayers for him from inside of her shell of new life. With the new realization of life’s beauty, she whispered inaudibly of her appreciation for Anna and her reminders. She noted how life was about perspective. It was fitting that she had lived in a shell for so long, but now once she had been liberated, she was trapped in the shell of this harsh body cast. Her voice was too weak to be heard through the dense plaster, which barely left enough room for breathing through the small slit at her mouth and nostrils. Her new cage was finding an expanse of beautiful, not mournful emotions and being unable to express them. Not being able to hug Gabriel or Anna back. Only being able to see them when they hovered above her quarters of light. She couldn’t move her arms or legs, just her toes and fingers. But she could breathe, truly breathe for the first time! She was released from the hospital two days later to the care of her daughter. She would have the cast removed piece by piece in a few months when the healing had taken effect, but she was feeling health pour into her from the onslaught of this new way to be human. She was alive and healthy. For weeks Miss Wilkinson lived in Anna’s basement where the warm heater was so that she wouldn’t get too cold. Anna would bring her shakes and medicine and take care of her mother tirelessly. She began to wear down after the third week and began to forget about her mother who was still kept inside of her plaster cage. Miss Wilkinson began to resent once again her daughter and her slacking in care. Before long Miss Wilkinson began again to feel bitter and frustrated. With a rasp on her basement door, she became startled. Before she could muster up the voice to tell the knock to enter, the door swung open and she heard footsteps. Heavy footsteps made their way to her bedside, but she could see nothing. “Hello, mother.” An alien voice spoke to her. “It’s been a long time.” Michael whispered. She attempted to move her lips but was unable to speak. “Unhappy to see me, mother?” Michael said dissapointedly. “Well, I’m happy to see you mom!” With a ferocity, Audrey felt a sharp pain sink into her ribcage. She gasped for air and saw a shadow on the ceiling of what looked like a fire poker being raised and before she could understand what was happening another blow resounded throughout her body as it came down in the same place. “STTT…STTTTT…” she whispered but was unable to form the words. She began to panic but was trapped inside of the shell of plaster and couldn’t move. The blows continued for what seemed like an eternity when they dissolved as quickly as they had come. She heard the fire poker fall idly to the ground, the footsteps retreat and the door close. She breathed heavily and fought against the pain that had just been leveraged to her by her long missing son. Her anger boiled over her, but she was helpless to do anything. Rest assured, when she was released from her prison she would destroy Michael for this intrusion, she thought with bitterness. She lay in silent pain until she fell asleep.

A knock on her door came early a few days later. She had slept, aided by the Vicadin and Valium cocktails, for almost the entirety of the last few days, waking only to realize the entrapment and become more and more bitter. She lay in her cocoon as a bitter old lady with haenous intentions. She was ready for the day when she would truly be able to inflict pain on Michael for the sudden intrusion. With the silent understanding, the door opened. “Mother, you have a guest. Reverend McClarty rang earlier and has stopped by.” Nothing. “I’ll leave you two.” Footsteps chased Audrey. The door shut quietly and the reverend’s voice spoke softly. “Can you speak, Miss Wilkinson?” She mustered a slight groan but was unable to allow sound to escape her lips. “Excellent.” The reverend said softly and calmly. “Brace yourself, you witch.” Two blows to Miss Audrey Wilkinson’s cast caused her to reel. He had attacked her much like her son, Michael and once again she was unable to scream, not to mention speak. “I will draw the demon out of you, Audrey! Do not suffer long, sister! GET OUT! GET OUT DEMON!” As he screamed the last words a powerful tremor shot through Audrey Wilkinson’s entire body and she found herself sinking into a deep sleep. She could vaguely make out “the power of Christ compels you…” As she succumbed to the wounds inflicted to her head inside of her body cast. When she awoke the reverend was gone, but her head throbbed from the attack.

Over the next few days, visitor after visitor would quietly close the door behind them, use Audrey Wilkinson as a punching bag, say their respects and excuse themselves. Her hope had disappeared and all she could think about constantly was whether or not the next person’s punishment would finally put her out of her misery. The community police officer arrived at one point, threatening her that if she ever talked that she would spend time in jail. Her frustration and anger began to bubble over and the sight of even light in her basement room would cause her to convulse at the thought. She had begun to curse her existence and question how she was supposed to find good in a world where all of this destruction was allowed to happen so readily.

It was on February 12th that if you had been at the residence of Anna Torweigh that you could have witnessed the largest party that the small Kansas town had ever experienced. Everyone in the community had arrived throughout the day for a party that would last late into the morning. Miss Audrey Wilkinson was to have her body cast removed today and everyone was anxious to see what they would find once the plaster was removed. Each citizen had paid her a visit and none had anticipated what would happen when she got the cast removed. They all stood outside of the front door around a big summer bonfire, roasting marshmallows and enjoying the company. They awaited Miss Audrey Wilkinson’s presence at the party and wait, they did. It wasn’t until nearly one o’clock that the body cast was carried out the front door and placed on the massive bonfire. It roasted for what seemed like the rest of the night. Whispers continued around the fire as everyone continued to await Audrey Wilkinson’s grand appearance. Rumors sparked that she had undergone massive plastic surgery and that she would be stunning. The people danced and told stories and sang the old familiar church songs that had radiated throughout the community that night. Each feeling somewhat responsible for the cold treatment that they had given Miss Audrey in the earlier weeks, but some feeling justified. At 4 in the morning people finally started to lose interest in the party and demanded from Anna that Audrey be brought out to the crowd so that they might all enjoy her company. When Anna refused to allow her mother out of the house, the guests began to become frustrated. “How dare I allow you to see my mother just because of your guilt. It’s apparent what’s been happening this week and you want to rectify your own emotions about the beating of a helpless lady. We all know the impact that she had on this community before this accident. She practically kept us all under her thumb. I have news for you, your attacks and frustrations were justified. Her reign of terror in this community has been one that has gone on long enough. How dare she close our markets and regulate our church services with her twisted little words? Why was no one able to stand up to her before she was in this accident!? We all just thought someone else should do it. None of us would stand up for ourselves and take over when we’d had enough.” The truth was that Anna was telling the truth. For years Miss Audrey Wilkinson had twisted the small town around her finger. She manipulated the priest into an affair and then blackmailed him into preaching towards her godliness. She had threatened the market to shut them down based on unsanitary conditions and held them to dishonest business for her own profit. Everyone in the town was somehow being controlled by Miss Audrey Wilkinson. Her suicide attempt hadn’t been looked down on. The funeral had been ready. They had all just waited for her to feel about herself the way they all felt. One man in the crowd yelled, “Well, why wait for her to get back to normal and punish us more!? Let’s take care of it now, then!” With these words the party rushed inside to find Audrey Wilkinson and put an end to her oppression. What they found was gruesome. Complete and utter emptiness. Miss Audrey Wilkinson was nowhere to be found. It was on February 13th at 5 in the morning that the party eventually dismissed after being unable to find Miss Audrey Wilkinson anywhere. It was on February 13th at 5 in the morning that everyone in the small Kansas town went home to their houses and slept the most peaceful night they had enjoyed in years.