Running From The Carbon Toilet

RUNNING FROM THE CARBON TOILET

As I rose from the boat, my head was pounding. I heard, "How did you get here?" Did someone send you?" I had no idea who or where I was. I immediately noticed how thin and pale everyone looked—I was much healthier than they were; I could feel my strength, and they looked emaciated. They wanted whatever I had; I was just unsure what that was. 

A woman approached me; she said her name was Helen. She told me I was on the coast of Somerset, New Jersey. The water had traveled into Middletown, Monroe, and Hunterdon Counties. There was so much water receding in certain areas and flooding in other places that we had no idea how I could have arrived here. Helen yells, "Registration is from Philadelphia. No one saw the flooding of New Jersey affecting Pennsylvania's Delaware River, but everywhere it touched was underwater."

Philadelphia, memories flooded back. I told them waves hit Philadelphia, and all hell broke loose. My last memory was of my dad throwing me in the rescue boat with all these jewels. He was John, and I'm—I paused. I'm Rain. Yes, that's right—I'm Rain!! I held out handfuls of rubies and diamonds, figuring they were worthless.

I didn't tell them; I lived in an apartment—most rich people left with disaster 

projections. We had no place to go. We lost all cell service. That was when 

Dad discovered a kill switch, a universal signal that stops all contact with satellites, so there was no internet. Our wealthy landlord, who owned all

 the jewelry stores, must have switched it on. The next day, he and all his rich 

friends were gone. No one knew what was happening, which was supposed

to limit panic. My dad ran downstairs to the store and grabbed the jewels. The 

water rose quickly; a boat rescued me but had no room for him. As he pushed me on, a wave overtook him. That was the last thing I remember. 

Pushing my hair from my face, I say that's all I can remember. I motion to a bump on my forehead under my bangs, and a tall stranger yells," Helen yells, come check her out." A woman in her 20s comes running up to me, and I show her my head. "She'll be fine, minor TBI." 

The crowd started to look confused when I told them I had no access to or knowledge of an H-source. The H-source is an H20 source, usually a large tank set up way before the first flooding. In 2026, after the significant drought. Three hundred days with no rain. Many have come to know healthy people have access to an H-source. The reserved water was only for the extremely wealthy; the rest lived in flux. Bottled water sometimes, we took our chances from the sink. My dad called it the carbon sink after my mom died from cancer. We couldn't afford testing to figure out where it was or why. She just went to sleep and didn't wake up. 

Helen gave me something blue to drink, not water, but creamy and sweet. She was whispering: "I thought you might be a harvester." "What is that I said?" She continues-" Everyone is afraid to go to New Jersey and Africa, where the harvesters live. People kill just to resell parts of humans that are functional to rich.' This is a scary time, but even more frightening is that I remember being on a ship, 

They were talking about some body parts. I was their slave after the rescue. They said there was no room for my dad, but only four were there. The dad, mom, oldest brother, Tommy, and a mean younger sister, Sara. The parents paid no attention to me, the son paid too much attention to me, and the little girl only paid attention to herself. 

She seemed jealous of me. She told me one night that she would sell me the rest of the merch when we returned. Tommy came around the corner and yelled at her to shut up. He grabbed my hair and said not until he was bored of me. I slapped him, and his mom threw me in the hull and locked me in. The hull was hidden behind paneling, so no one who stopped us would find their coolers. I was often punished, but only when I was terrible did they throw me in the hull. There was no sense in fighting it because if I came out, she would just beat me. 

A few hours later, I was asleep and heard screaming. The youngest was at the door to the hull, telling me to push the door open. It was no good; I told her the door was locked on the outside. She said she had unlocked it, but it was still stuck. A board jammed in front of the door, held by a very light cooler, would have been an easy fix…  Screaming continued: "Let me in now! My family has already gone over; you must let me in!" I didn't move the ship thrashed, and I held onto the chains that held the other coolers in place. The next thing I knew, it was over, and I was waking up at this beach. 

Helen said, "Rain, Rain, can you hear me?" I said, "I'm sorry, I must still be stuck." Stuck? What do you mean? "I said," I don't know. "I heard you calling, but I just couldn't answer." 

How long would it be before the coolers started to stink? Am I going to get caught for not helping that family of strange people? I didn't know what would happen next, but I had to get on that boat. First, I needed sleep. 

The following day, I met Helen's lover and leader of the group, Simon. He was a friend of my dad's from the old neighborhood, and I knew I had seen him before. I approached him with hesitancy. He could tell, I'm sure. I said there is something I want to share with you. Yes, he said I know. What was he talking about? I hadn't told him yet. I saw the marks. What marks? The marks on your head. When you first arrived. I know you are telling the truth. You took a bad hit, and they put you in the cabin for safety before you all died. That's interesting, I thought. How did he find the hull? 

Anyway, I said, that's not what I wanted to share. You know John Crockett from Robbins Street? Good old John, that guy is such a riot! That was my dad. I remember you from when You would always come backstage. Well, he's dead. The people who were on the boat told him it was packed, and they took me but left him to die. One night, the family put me in the hull when I was being punished. The boat almost overturned, and all of them fell off. I was safe, and then they all died, and I didn't care cause they left my dad and treated me like a slave. There, I said it. They were horrible people. The people who had the boat rescued me, and I let them die. I'm sure there is more to the story. We got the hull, and I'm glad you weren't a harvester; we had to be sure. 

What? That's what was in the other coolers? Crazy! Yes, he said, terrible people. 

I must have fallen asleep because the next day, I found myself with the slightest amount of drool coming from my mouth as Simon entered my pod. What is it? Come quick, he said. I want to show you something. I jumped out of bed, put my cover on, and ran after him. He was running to the beach, and I thought a tsunami was coming. He said you were from Philly, right? I agreed, and he said this fellow just washed up last night. I remember seeing him play with a young band in Philly as well. Tommy and the Kids. I froze; it was him. No one else had survived. He knew me, and I froze. Hey, Tommy said, Yeah, we used to hang out in Philly all the time. I froze. I couldn't speak. We even hooked up a few times, right, Rain? I couldn't talk. Not a sound.  

I walked back to my pad. I had to get out of there. That night, I would take the boat back out. I had to get away. 

Once everyone was asleep, I grabbed a small shovel in case I needed to dig the boat out. Running out to the ship, I started pushing and digging. It was already loosed from the sand, finally a break! Pushing away from the shore, I put the shovel in my mouth and pushed the boat. Reaching my hand to board it, a hand grabbed me from inside. I knew you'd come. I knew you'd see I was gone and come to me, he said. I couldn't speak. I had one hand free. I grabbed the shovel from my mouth and stabbed him in the throat. He let go, and I ran to shore. I could hear him screaming as the boat floated away. I washed off my hands and went back to my pod. Everything was going to be ok now. Finally, I was truly free.