Consequential Snacks
Written by: Lynn Yang
Edited by: Isaac Law
9/7/2013 Thursday Cloudy
Dear Diary: I woke up feeling drowsy and dehydrated once again. What is happening to me? My face was puffed up, my hair was disheveled, and dark circles were appearing around my eyes. All these nights, I’ve been tossing and turning, unable to get a single wink of sleep. The craving for sweets is unbearable. This morning, I was greeted with a simple warm chocolate chip cookie along with a small bag of caramel popcorn, yet I only got to choose one. I slowly picked up the bag of popcorn, and lost all self-control, savagely eating everything in it. Where is it coming from? Where does it go? Why only one? I’ve asked everyone about it, though they all simply watch me in fear or confusion. Even my friends and family would simply stop talking and walk away when I brought up this situation. I think I’m going crazy, how else can we explain this phenomenon, this strange situation? I must be hallucinating, I have to go to the doctor, hopefully, they can help me.
10/7/2013 Friday Rainy
Dear Diary: The doctors finally agreed to prescribe me some pills to help with the hallucinations, but I know they’re simply giving me candied vitamins. All these years as a nurse have allowed me to distinguish between different medicines. Every time I come back, they simply smile and take a look at my symptoms, always leaving me a bag of those vitamins. Of course, I never ate them, for the fear of what they truly were and what was hiding inside. I cannot trust anyone. Everyone seems to know something yet none of them has decided to tell me. I know they're talking behind my back, speaking about my strange situation. Today, a building fell down near my neighborhood, killing hundreds of people, and injuring thousands. Is it connected to the snacks? Was it because I chose one? Is it my fault? What do they mean? Ding dong. I must get to the bottom of this before I lose my sanity. Ding dong. The doorbell rang multiple times. I shivered and slowly headed to the door. I peeked through the peephole and saw no one but a letter levitating towards my door carried by air currents. And despite the rain, it did not get wet. Huh? I opened the door quickly and took the letter in. I tore the envelope and brushed the dirt away, a piece of crumbled old paper out. It says:
Dear Dorothy, you have been chosen to join the MDMS - the Moral Decision Making Squad. Only a few, the special ones, are chosen to hold this immaculate power of choosing fate. But with great power comes great responsibility. I wish you luck.
Best Regards, xxx
What the heck!? Panic gushed to my chest as I stumbled backward crashing into the shelf of designer vases and family photos. I froze, too stunned to speak, watching the shelf tilt as a plethora of vases came crashing down on the floor. Have I been cursed?
9/7/2023 Friday Cloudy
Dear Diary: The thoughts won’t go away, the cravings are unbearable. I’ve been moving houses non-stop, mainly to escape the past trauma and to start a new life. I wanted to forget the thoughts and the hallucinations that had been haunting me. The air is moist and cloudy. I began to wander down the staircase to the fridge, and unsurprisingly, the same two snacks greeted me once again. The warm chocolate chip cookie, and the bag of caramel popcorn. Without hesitation, I grabbed the chocolate chips this time. I looked closer at the chocolate chip cookie and the popcorn, a question suddenly popped up above my head. Chocolate chip cookie OR Caramel popcorn. I picked up the chocolate chip cookie and took a bite. Then another bite. Then another bite. My vision went blank and all I see is a passage in white words. It felt like I was teleported and stuck in another dimension. The white words say:
Dear Dorothy, chocolate chips: delete Serenia from Earth. You have chosen to delete Serenia from Earth, from everyone’s memories, except yours. All civilians will be transported to a safe area, and distributed all over the planet.
Then the passage disappeared and I felt a gush of wind on my face. Suddenly, I was back in my kitchen.
What the hell? I swung my hands above my head trying to brush away the cloud of words but to no avail. What have I done!? Did I make the right decision!? I should have eaten the popcorn, that could have saved Serenia. What have I done!? Suddenly a bright light engulfed me……
13/7/2023 Monday Rainy
Dear Diary: I’m back. The experience of teleporting to a new country made me sick for a few days. The sudden time change has made me dizzy so I’m unable to do anything. Hopefully next year, I will make more progress than this time and finally get to the bottom of this. The only information I have is that the popcorn and cookie affect the world, one will kill someone I’m personally attached to, while the other will kill a range of one thousand to a million people who are simply strangers to me.
9/7/2033 Saturday Cloudy
Dear Diary: It has been around ten years since the incident. I’m so sorry. I know Mom and dad won’t be able to forgive me for what I did. ”With great power comes with great responsibilities”, a famous well-known quote that perfectly sums up my whole situation. Why did I choose it? It was selfish of me but I couldn’t bear having my parents taken away from me, right when I’m in a situation where I need them most. I wish it would just end.
Dorthy closes the book slowly, walking downstairs one more time, greeted by the familiar snacks. She sighs and looks at them, paying them no heed until a familiar cloud floats up once again. Dear Dorthy: kill your family or destroy the world? Cookie or popcorn? She looks up in fear, overwhelmed with this information. Not again.