short story fiction
Juice-o-matic  [It's important to make the right purchase]

   When the space ships first arrived the World was 
terrified.  They sent up fighter planes, scanned them, 
fired missiles at them, but nothing happened.  The space 
ships seemed to have some sort of force field around 
them that protected them from anything human kind could 
throw at them.  The public lived in fear, then 
intrepidation, and then soon, life was back to normal, 
except for one thing, a ring of space craft circled the 
Earth, hovering, making no sound, doing nothing, and 
people had no idea about the future.  It only took a few 
weeks before people went back to their lives living 
their lives as normal, except for the lingering [fear].
   It was in March that Jeff read the add about a 
Juice-o-matic that not only juiced food but extracted 
protein from old shoes, boards, certain car parts, and 
dirt.  The spiel was enticing.  In fact it was such a 
good deal that it appealed to a lot of people, who were 
health conscious, and politically positive.  The ad 
campaign, which appeared in all media, was the most 
directed Jeff had ever seen, and he knew, like everyone 
else, the one and only day it would be sold, that they 
had to have it..
   It was on a Monday.  Jeff was trying to get out of 
the box warehouse store where he just bought his 
Juice-o-matic.  He could think of nothing else but 
getting it home and putting some old shoes through it, 
and maybe some car parts he didn't need any more.  All 
of a sudden there was a sound.  Nothing like he'd ever 
heard before emanating from outside.  The power, the 
force caused everyone in the store to react, first 
stopping to listen, then hurrying, to finish and get 
back to their cars, to go home with their new purchase.
   Out of the door way a mist came down, which then 
solidified into a wall.  Jeff stepped outside, still 
carrying his box.  He looked up, then down, left, right, 
but there was no around the mist generated wall.
   "Stay where you are to be safe,"  a caring but 
informative voice permeated the air.  It sounded male, 
but it did not sound like it was not from any human 
source.  The wall was a silvery color, similar to lead, 
now solidified, there was no sound or light coming from 
beyond the wall.
   As suddenly as the wall appeared it disappeared.  
Jeff looked out in the parking lot.  Bodies lay 
everywhere.  Everyone who was inside the wall was safe.  
Everyone outside was dead.  They lay on the ground 
grimacing, reaching, or were sitting in their cars.  
Nothing.  There was no sound, no traffic, no sign of 
life outside of the where the wall used to be.
   "You have been selected,"  the voice went on.  It 
could now be heard everywhere.  You will continue your 
species,"  the voice went on.
   Jeff set his Juice-o-matic box down and ran around to 
people in the parking lot to see if anyone needed help.  
No one was alive.  Some showed signs of their last 
effort.  Over by a SUV a mother had thrown herself over 
her daughter.  Another man was half way out his car 
door, clutching his chest.  Still another was slumped 
over a shopping cart, still holding onto the handle.  
The signs of death were all around.  No one was left 
alive.
   Jeff paused in horror, thinking of his own safety.  
Then there was the sound of car radio.  Jeff went to 
investigate and saw the owner had been in the car, with 
the window down, listening to the radio, probably 
waiting for someone in the store.  "You have been 
selected," a jingle came on the radio, "to eat dirt and 
anything we give to you, because you are the future of 
the human race."  The voice over the radio sounded the 
same as that heard inside the store.
   Looking across the boulevard, Jeff could see people 
coming out of another store, doing the same thing.  
Some were clutching their new Juice-o-matic, while 
others were going around to cars looking for survivors.
   "Only the best of you have been selected,"  the voice 
went on.  "Only the best who are forward thinkers, who 
want health and vitality, and support a positive 
political atmosphere that we will lead.  You will 
recycle, you will save trees, and generally do what's 
best for the environment, not human kind.  You will live 
in huddled cold masses, eating and drinking what we tell 
you.  You will live where we want you to live and do 
what we tell you to do.  And you'll love it because we 
have made a treaty with the best of your corporations to 
do what is best for the future of humanity.  Any 
questions?  There will be a thirty second comment 
period."
   
2015
Ken Bushnell