El Paraíso Podrido

 4/5/2025

Day 2 Writing Prompts

Describe a new invention that would make the world a better place.

El Paraíso Podrido

“Geronimo!” Yelled Asher as they slid down a sand hill. The day was hot, uncomfortably hot. Asher and Ridley decided they were going to go sledding at the sand dunes. Why not. They had nothing better to do that day. The food delivery was late and wouldn’t arrive for a few more days. 

Food was scarce that month. The Mushers skipped bringing the last delivery, probably to keep it for themselves. There were very few animals left to hunt and eat. Water was hard to come by. Because there was no water, there were no crops. The people relied heavily on the mushers to deliver the goods. 

The Mushers worked for The Pyramid, a large conglomerate of the elite and wealthy. Food was made in a lab inside a heavily armed building The Pyramid controlled. Nothing left in the world, yet somehow there were still those who had more than others, a lot more. It was Asher and Ridley’s job to meet The Mushers on the edge of camp and unpack the food. The food had to be unpacked quickly, after all, the mushers were not a patience group. 

The Mushers worked for The Pyramid. They collected and dispersed the man made synthetic food to the people. The Pyramid got the best of the best and had the first pick of goods. Once The Pyramid was done picking their food for the month, the mushers then set off to deliver the man made meats, vegetables, and grains. 

The camps closest to The Pyramid got the next pick and so on and so forth. Asher and Ridley were in one of the further camps, Paraíso. This meant that they got bruised and spoiled goods, if they got anything at all. If The Pyramid or the others took too much, they were very glutinous, that meant less for the rest of the camps. 

Last weeks delivery was skipped, which meant The Mushers probably ran out of food before they got to the camp. Sometimes Paraíso got lucky. If The Mushers ran out of food, sometimes they would come back a few days later. “They have to come this time,” thought Asher, “We’re down to almost nothing and some have been rationing so much they aren’t even eating at all.” “We can’t wait another month for them to show up,” Asher said angrily under their breath. Luckily the last time the mushers came they brought so much water that Paraíso was able to take more than what was needed and there was still enough left for the rest of the camps. “What a relief,” Asher thought, “at least we have water to drink.”

Up in The Pyramid Tower there was a very busy lab. Over 100 people worked worked 16 hours a day creating food and water for the rest of the population. There weren’t many people left after the bombs were deployed. Asher and Ridley were a few that survived and lived in the new world. The bombing happened when Asher and Ridley were very young, but they still remember everything that happened during the bombing. After the bombing stopped, Asher and Ridley learned they were all alone. They’d lost their families and their friends. They didn’t even know each other after everything happened. But they found a family in each other and had been inseparable ever since.

Society, or at least what was left heavily depended on the Científico to make enough food each month so they wouldn’t starve. The Científico worked in shifts so there were always people working. Food synthesizing took a long time. There were others hard at work trying to figure out how to cut down on the time that it took to create food, but no one had cracked they code yet. 

Quinn was asked to work a double shit, again. “I can’t work 32 hours straight,” Quinn protested to her boss. “I can’t go that long without food, water, and sleep anymore,” said Quinn. This is the fourth time she’d been asked, not voluntold, to work a double. “This is too much,” she thought. Quinn worked with produce, specifically created fruits, pomes were her specialty. The temptation to steal a bite of the delicious apples and pears she created haunted her dreams, but The Pyramid kept cameras everywhere and monitored everything. If there was any kind of discrepancy or someone was caught stealing food, they were hit with a captive bold gun in front of everyone. No hesitation. Every manager carried a gun. Quinn wouldn’t dare make the mistake she’d so many others make in front of her. Every time someone stole a bite of food or there numbers came up short, that was one less person in the lab. That meant everyone else had to work harder and longer hours to make sure their quotas were met.

The Mushers finally showed up a week late. Asher and Ridley did their best to unload the food and water as fast as they could. “This is fucking bullshit,” Ridley said aloud. “They know we are starving. I can’t imagine what the other camps are going through,” they said to Asher. “Hey hey hey,” one of The Mushers spoke loudly. He had a deep and scary voice. Asher and Ridley kept unloading supplies. “I don’t want to hear you low lifes complaining,” The Musher continued. “We didn’t have to come at all.” The Musher lowered his menacing face. “Don’t pay attention to Ridley,” said Asher. They continued, “We haven’t eaten in a few days.” “We can get a little crabby. They don’t mean nothing by it,” said Asher in a calm voice. “Right Ridley?” Asher elbowed Ridley in the side. “Yeah,” they said. “I’m sorry, I’m just a little crabby from not eating.” “Listen you two” said another Musher standing near them, “we work hard to get these deliveries out on time and do are best to pack as much as we can.” He continued, “We’re just do deliveries. We don’t make the food,” he said, “we have to wait until it’s ready and lately there hasn’t been much to pick from.” “We get it,” said Asher. “Thanks for coming back.” They said, “We’re running pretty low.” 

Asher and Ridley unpacked the rest of the supplies as fast as they could and the mushers left to continue their deliveries. “I’m so fucking tired of their excuses,” said Ridley, “they show up late more often then not and half the time there isn’t even enough food to feed us for two weeks.” “That’s bullshit!” Said Ridley. “I wonder how many people are making food. Surely they can make more,” said Asher. “I bet they have so many people that they don’t know what to do with all of the food they collect,” Asher said to Ridley. “Yeah, they probably do!” Exclaimed Ridley. “They get all the good stuff and never run out of food, but we’re out here eating scraps and unloading spoiled meat,” said Ridley. “Like, what in the fuck are we even supposed to do with that!” They said. “C’mon, you know the drill,” started Asher, “we gotta do what we-“ Ridley cut them off, “I’d really like to visit The Pyramid Tower and shove this rotten fucking meat right down their throat.” Ridley said with a bitter tone in their voice.