Scatter Notes in Dystopia

Bipolar I - Severe, Acute, Manic: A Blue-Black Production of the Bloodsucker Clan

“But Mommy, he's the one who threw the mud on my face!”

“Never mind darling, you simply can't tell him not to do that!”

“But Mommy shouldn't I be a Smart Modern Assertive Girl and stand up for myself? Look, in the Handbook of Smartness it says, “Smart Modern Girls are Assertive! Using your voice to say No! To bad behavior is the Right thing to do for all Smart Modern Girls!”

“Oh no darling, in some cases you simply can't!”

“But why Mommy!”

“Because he's from the Bloodsucker Clan dear, that's why!”

“What's that Mommy?”

“It's the Parasite Class, dear, they get to throw mud in our face, and shout in the middle of the street, and tell lies about us night and day!”

“But Mommy, isn't that wicked and wrong of them?”

“It is, dear, they're wicked through and through but here in the land of Inversion Ville, that's just how it is. You know there are many classes of Bloodsucker, don't you darling?”

“No Mommy what are they?”

“Well, Leeches, Ticks, and Mosquitoes are one set I know – they get to sink their claws right deep in and pull out your lifeblood. There's Swarms of Gnats who get to swarm you when you're out and about – their job is to get up close and bother you everywhere – at the store, or mall, or pool, or gym. – right in your face, and shout and throw fits too, if they feel like it. Don't forget the Vampires – they get dibs to a Blood Fest all night as you try to sleep – they call them the Vibration Shimmies and they get to set up their lines so they can 3-volt you at different levels – it does wear you out darling, night after night!”

“That sounds really wicked, Mommy!”

“Of course it is darling but they can't see it at all – they're so deep in the Bloodsucking their Eyes are all glazed over and feeble now!”

“Their Eyes and their Hearts, Mommy surely – for how could anyone with a Heart do what they're doing to us?”

“Oh they lost their Hearts – a long long time ago, darling. They got them covered in slime at first, bit by bit, then parts just rotted away and fell – Bloodsucking will do that to you, sweetie!”

“Don't they know that Mommy, that their Hearts are gone now?”

“Well it's Hearts, Souls, and Brains really, that's gone in them – but they don't know it darling, they've been turned into Mashed-Up Rot with Skin but they think they're still Special People with beating Hearts, darling!”

“But why do they think they're so special Mommy?”

“Because they're backed by the Boys in Blue darling – and the Boys in Black too – and the Boys in Black and White!”

“And who are the Boys in Blue, Mommy?”

“Oh you know, the ones they call on the radio “Our Heroes!” Who drive about in the fancy cars with the blue lights flashing and the sirens screeching who think it's OK to barge into people's houses anytime they please!”

“Our Heroes in Our Community, Mommy! That's what they say on the radio!”

“They say a lot of things on the radio darling! But they don't say a word about the Bloodsucking Clan those Boys in Blue are linked close as lice to!”

“Is it a secret Mommy?”

“Deep deep secret darling – they'll do cartwheels on the lawn or stand on their hands all day rather than tell you how close they're linked to the Parasite Class!”

“Do they party with the Parasites Mommy?”

“”Oh heavens yes – all the time sweetheart! They just have to keep the whole thing deadly secret so you won't hear about those parties in the daytime darling!”

“But why keep all that secret Mommy?”

“So they can throw mud in our face and stick those Bloodsucker claws in our flesh and do the Vibrating Shimmies all night, then walk about with that Virtuous Look on their faces in the daytime and tell everyone how we're so deadly dangerous we need to be watched all the time, sweetheart!”

“Is that what they call 'Public Safety' Mommy?”

“Yes exactly, that's 'Public Safety' darling – a whole lot of us beaten up and bloodsucked dry so they get to put 'Public Safety' on their shirts and flash them at everyone just to shut our voices down!”

“And what about the Boys in Black Mommy – are they Our Heroes too?”

“Oh yes, except you're not supposed to know they exist darling, they like to keep themselves even more deadly dark secret than the Bloodsucker Boys!”

“But do they really exist Mommy? And how do you know?”

“Well they're the ones who give the Bloodsuckers all the fancy toys darling, to stick their Bloodsucker claws into us and do the Vibrating Shimmies all night! Plus they have a special trick they think keeps them all safe and secret and hidden from everyone's eye but which really just gives them away darling!”

“What's that Mommy?”

“It's the Special Episode Screamer darling – do you remember little Lara one street over from us darling where Blondie Bloodsucker lives?”

“Oh yes she's been First in Class every year at school, Mommy, and that Blondie sure is a screamer!”

“Exactly! One scream from Blondie and that was the end of Lara Ms. First in Class!”

“But Mommy, Lara yelled back at Blondie!”

“That's exactly right darling and that's just what you don't get to do! No Smart Modern Assertive Girlness here for us here in Inversion Ville – Screaming is for the Parasite Class!”

“You mean only Blondie can scream at us Mommy?”

“And lie and say anything she likes – Backed by the Boys in Blue remember. It's 'Public Safety' when Blondie screams, darling!”

“'Our Heroes' came in a big black truck with a white star on it and took away Lara, Mommy!”

“That's right dear and you know that big sticker they put on her shirt, don't you and what they wrote on it? “

“The first one in a white coat who grabbed her stuck it on her Mommy! We see it everyday now – Bipolar 1 – Acute Severe Manic in Black and White!”

“And do you remember what Blondie said to her darling, out there on the street in her screamy voice?”

“She said, Stop shooting paintballs into our house, Mommy, but Lara doesn't have a paintball gun!”

“That's right darling, the Bloodsuckers get to scream anything they like just to get those stripey labels put on us darling! And God forbid you shout back to the public bullies like Lara did – your label just gets bigger and fancier then!”

“Lara just said she didn't have a paintball gun Mommy!”

“Oh but I think she used her Loud Girl Voice didn't she dear! Plus she told Blondie to stop Bloodsucking her all night!”

“”Can't we tell them that Mommy? The Handbook of Smart Girls says we should speak up and have our voices heard when people are being wicked mean to us!”

“Remember that's written for the Parasite Class darling – we're the Designated Hosts for their claws to leech on. Any assertiveness and it's Black Trucks and Blue-Black Labels for you!”

“They took Lara to the Nuthouse Mommy, where the funny people are, and they said she'd lost her mind!”

“That's right darling and you know who did that didn't you now?”

“Our Boys in Blue Heroes with Blondie Bloodsucker in the back—that's what we saw Mommy, she climbed right in there with them when they dragged Lara out of her house and her spectacles fell off!”

“Did you forget about the Boys in Black, sweetie?”

“But nobody saw them Mommy!”

“That's right and that's exactly how they do the Blue Black Twist, darling! Big trucks and funny labels and you know they're hiding in the back like cockroaches! Not to mention driving the truck, darling!”

“And what about the Boys in Black and White Mommy?”

“They're the ones in the long beards in the white pickups and gray pickups and black pickups with the big cross on it who live in those pyramid tents in the woods and steal everyone's things, darling.”

“They're the house thieves Mommy?”

“And the life thieves and destiny thieves, dear. They get to stop everyone from living their lives—you know who they really are don't you darling?”

“No Mommy who are they?”

“They're the Vampires darling who get to train the Boys in Black and Blue both and the Bloodsuckers too! They hang behind the curtain at plays and fiddle with the lights on the stage.”

“Like the Wizard of Oz Mommy?”

“Exactly dear! In fact they do fancy they're Wizards and Kings. All they dream about is how to move people, here there and everywhere – stickers for some, squad cars for some – and into the jails and nuthouses too!”

“Is that why I shouldn't tell Billy not to throw mud in my face Mommy?”

“And don't you forget it darling! Billy's a Bloodsucker and he gets to bully you loud and muddy as he likes!”

“And I should be quiet and let him splatter mud in my face real quiet next time?”

“That's right darling, you don't want that big sticker like Lara's got stuck on her – do you? One peep to Billy and it's Bipolar I Manic Severe Acute from an ultra-quick-to-label White Coat Black Mosquito for you now!”

“No Mommy and should I be the opposite of what the Handbook of Assertiveness for Smart Modern Girls says?”

“The opposite darling. Bowing, scraping, taking all the bullying, and turning the other cheek. Now run along dear! The Bloodsuckers will be out in droves in a few and we'll have to spend the day escaping them!”

“Yes I better go do my bowing and scraping for the day Mommy!”

“Practice makes perfect, darling!”

“”I'll remember that, Mommy!”

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