RE: The Exquisite Corpse: A Weekly Story Nobody Fully Controls
Good afternoon! Be careful there, after us they'll be heading your way. We have fluctuating numbers, with incoming attacks every day, and casualties. Fiber-optic drones are the worst thing, within the city limits. Suicide drones are less common now, and missiles are a nightmare. They hit transport, passersby, whether they're children or women, and trains with passengers. We're lucky with the mayor. Hits and rubble are being cleared quickly. The city is clean, with lots of children and young people. Public transport and businesses are operating. It's worse in cold weather, with more attacks on energy infrastructure. They can even hit residential buildings. Last spring, there were 16 explosions by night-time suicide drones. The sound of a diving drone is something special. The walls were shaking. That's where I live, within a 1 km radius, all in residential areas, high-rise buildings, with casualties. The windows in my house were shattered, and the government helped rebuild it. War has become commonplace, something you pay attention to with ingrained reflexes, somehow habitually. You rejoice in simple things—the sun, good weather, successful purchases, or an abundance of work—even though life constantly throws up reasons for disappointment. But these are merely reasons to reconsider your attitude toward the world. I wrote and thought—it turns out that a state of relaxation doesn't provide the opportunity for inner development; the drugs of social well-being work like heroin. Take care of yourself and your loved ones and be prepared; in any case, it won't hurt.
You know, I recognise and share these fears. But I push them far from my mind. I don’t want to live in a state of anxiety, and if foolish, ignorant politics lead to a major war that would directly affect us too, there’s certainly nothing I can do about it. I still have hope that reason will prevail, but it’s fading...
That's right! However, it's not about fear. A vital factor is emerging that influences our decisions. Prudence is, unfortunately, not in favor at the moment.
I'm not able to imagine how it is and feels to live under such circumstances...
Conditions fade into the background; survival is the most important thing. Comfort becomes a convention, and only partially so. Everything in the city is open, including the nightclubs. Young people aged 14-20 still hang out on the streets, arguing who's cooler by how many centimeters. A real disaster is teenagers on mopeds at night before curfew. The sound of a moped is very similar to the engine of a kamikaze drone, so it's extremely unpleasant. Jet drones are more dangerous, but the sound is very different. Compared to 2022, life is in full swing, and the city is very clean – thanks to the mayor and housing services. But there are still rocket strikes and casualties, too, alas. I am very glad to read your messages.)))
We are glad to find you living and surviving and hope there soon will be an end of all this terrifying, damaging, and wounding and killing.
"Peace is the end like death of the war" - this is the end of a song on peace from the 70s.