Challenges from The Condo #9
Chapter 2: A Gated community
The Condo: or...Life, a Sequel by Dalma Takács is available from
Amazon.com. (Pap. $17.99;
E.book / Kindle ed. $9.99)
More and more suspicious, Jasper
decides that the only way he can get away from Paradise Point Condominiums is
to walk through the park to the highway
and flag down a passing car. He reaches the highway and sees cars passing, but
finds that he is separated from the road by a continuous line of sound barrier
fences that seem to disappear in the distance, but grow impossibly high when he
approaches. He goes to the gate, but the
guard refuses to let him leave. Jasper waits for a changing of the guard and
tries his luck with the new guard, whose name is Paul.
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
“Depends what you mean by
live. Do you mean do I reside here? Yes I do.”
Another quibbler, Jasper
thought. But he pressed on. “Don’t you ever feel tempted just to sneak out?”
Paul laughed without
amusement. “I did at first, but I soon realized that it was impossible.”
“Impossible? Why?”
“Well, perhaps not
impossible. One day someone might discover a way, but right now no one knows
how to crawl back through the wormhole.”
The wormhole! Was he
talking about a parallel universe? Whoever brainwashed this guy sure sold him a
bill of goods.
Paul was in a talkative
mood. “I guess the only way to get away from here is to go in for the
treatment. But you’re not going to catch me falling for that nonsense.”
“Treatment? What
treatment?”
“I don’t know exactly what’s
involved,” Paul said. “Everyone I talk to tells me something different. But
anyway, it seems to be no picnic. And who knows if the whole procedure is worth
it. I think I’d rather hang on to my job here and carry on as usual. What is it
they say, ‘A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.’”?
“So, the treatment is not
mandatory?”
“Nothing is mandatory
here.”
Jasper saw his chance.
“If nothing is mandatory, why do they have a guard at the gate? Why can’t I
take a walk out there on the highway?” He thought Paul could handle a joke. “I
think I’ll just step outside if you don’t mind.”
“You can try,” Paul said,
“but I don’t recommend it.”
“All right then, I will,”
Jasper said, and he started walking toward the entrance barrier. He was amazed
to see the barrier lift, clearing the way for him, but as he got nearer, he
felt as if he had heavy weights on his legs. He struggled to drag his feet
toward the highway outside. With a sheer effort of the will he pushed himself
on.
“I’m almost there,” he
told himself. But then he suddenly lost control. He felt his heart pumping and
his blood surge through his veins. His ears were engulfed with the noise of
beating rain and screeching tires, and then the explosion of a final crash—an
explosion that did not stop.
He felt someone pulling
him back. The confusion subsided, and he found himself in the calm of the Condo
grounds. Paul released him. “See what I mean? If you pass the barrier, you
relive the moment of your death fore
??????????
What now for Jasper? Tune in next
Monday.
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