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Tuesday, 17 April 2012

Push My Buttons Please

By Joanne Zimmermann

Mary awoke early; she was so excited!! She'd had a facelift a few weeks back and the results were just stunning. She already had a gorgeous figure, naturally curly hair and she was lunching with the upper crust in her town! They were looking for new board members. She was positive she would be chosen.

She passed the full- length mirror, looked twice and thought she was having a bad dream!!

Staring back at her was a smooth, grey figure shaped like a ladies restroom symbol. There were only slits for eyes!! She tried to scream but no sound came out.

She quickly ran to where her husband slept, lying on his stomach. She uncovered him and saw he looked just like she did but shaped like the men’s room figure.

He awoke and regarded Mary with just as much horror. Who are you? he thought. She saw he had pushbuttons up and down his back and each had one curly antenna on top of their heads.

This scene was played out in households throughout the world. All humans had been turned inside out and all looked the same. Kids had the same shape as the adults. All had buttons on their backs and by pressing them one could tell a lot about the person.

All thoughts and deeds, good and bad, could be learned by pushing each others' buttons. Many tried to delete the information; it was so revealing. But it was permanent and could not be reprogrammed.

A lot of hugging now went on; each pressing the other's buttons to learn what was really inside each other.

There was no need to breathe, eat, sleep or have sex. There were no sex organs or ears, so there was no noise, music, sounds of any kind. Some regarded this as reason to kill themselves but this was impossible. All were being operated through their antennae.

An outer space colony called Myrth had invaded earth. Earthlings were chosen as they were regarded as shallow, with false idols, soon due to self-destruct! The Myrthians carefully studied their victims as a social experiment to see what change they could initiate over a period of a year.

This completely changed humanity. Looks did not count. Money did not count. What counted was that everyone could see the real person, not just a front that most had carefully contrived.

Those who had behaved well during their lives were feeling good. They were proud of the paths they had chosen. Even if they were ugly, deformed outcasts in their former selves, all had changed. Suddenly they were popular, in demand, admired. It was almost too good to be true.

Those who had bad interiors, jealous, mean cheaters clawing their way to the top through looks and possessions were now exposed. They had to assume the status that the former ugly ducklings occupied. Their lives had changed overnight.

Mary discovered Larry had cheated on her with her best friend and Larry found out Mary had used all of their savings on beautification.

Myrthians saw many bad people now trying to connect with former outcasts. Those with good interiors wanted nothing to do with them. The “Goodies” carefully searched humanity, pushing buttons daily, until they found those with similar interiors.

Children had time on their sides to alter their behavior before it was too late and they accumulated any bad buttons. Parents did not have to parent anymore; in fact, the kids acted as parents. They were more adept at changing and wanted their “Baddie” parents to shape up.

What would happen to you if the Myrthians invaded?

Eventually, everyone was returned to their original selves. The Myrthians were not cruel but very happy and successful. They kept an eye out for many years to see if anything changed because of the experiment.

In the comment section, please let us know how this might affect some of your plans. You would not have to spend money for cosmetic appearances but would have to enrich your lives by association, study, devotion, charity, good stuff.

Would that be much different from how you live today? Would you get new friends? Would you discover some truly beautiful people you had overlooked? Would Larry and Mary remain together? Stay tuned.

Pushing someone’s buttons is usually negative, but perhaps some good reprogramming could be done by friends. Each human had a new chapter, beginning with the invasion. Would you like a chance to “start over?”


[INVITATION: All elders, 50 and older, are welcome to submit stories for this blog. They can be fiction, non-fiction, poetry, memoir, etc. PLEASE read instructions for submitting.]

Posted by Ronni Bennett at 05:30 AM | Permalink | Email this post

Comments

Great Story!! A whole new take on "pushing someone's buttons." Food for thought.
Michigan Grandma

I don't think most of us could survive this test and I am not sure that we would want to know everything about one another. I guess God knew what he was doing by not allowing us to read one another's mind. Very creative writing.

You have a great imagination. I'm not sure that I want my good or bad exposed for everyone to see and control. It does make one think.
My feelings are if one small event in life is changed, it affects the entire life. Now if button pushing does any good, well, who knows

Wow! What a story, Joanne.

I won't be able to get it out of my mind for a few days, and Heaven help the poor person who tries to give me a hug.

I can only hope that person is a "Goodie" and not a Myrthian!

Very good story! This is very original and thought provoking. Think of all the time we would have if we didn't have to "beautify" ourselves every day. The money we would save too! Loved it!

What a sobering and thoughtful piece. If only it were so. Perhaps it could be so, if only.... The piece reminds me of how fleeting our time in life is and how utterly senseless it is to prize material over human substance. Keep reminding us, Joanne.

“You do look, my son, in a moved sort,
As if you were dismayed. Be cheerful, sir.
Our revels now are ended. These our actors,
As I foretold you, were all spirits and
Are melted into air, into thin air;
And, like the baseless fabric of this vision,
The cloud capped towers, the gorgeous palaces,
The solemn temples, the great globe itself,
Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,
And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,
Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff
As dreams are made on, and our little life
Is rounded with a sleep.” Shakespeare, Tempest (4.1.146-58)

Thank you all for considering this, and a special kudos to Jim. What a Shakespearean quote!! Who would have thought, from Shakespeare to Myrth and back.

Holy Toledo, so glad I back-tracked on all the columns I missed in last weeks...As awe-inspiring as the piece was, the comments are just as good...and W. Shakespeare takes the cake as always....why I remember that line will keep me pondering for days..We are such stuff as dreams are made of...hmmm..thank you all..

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