This piece was written for the weekly Unicorn Challenge photo prompt.

‘Why are you stopping?’

‘I’m not going in there.’

‘Why?’

‘It doesn’t have proper disability access.’

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t know. What disability do you have?’

‘I was born with eyes, ears, a brain and a heart. And I see dead people.’

‘Where?’

‘Everywhere in there.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘There’s artificially intelligent morons shooting up conspiracies. There’s people who want to steal my identity. There’s people with video goggles bumping into each other as they watch the zombie apocalypse on reality TV. There’s people giving more to their cats than to their neighbours. There’s politicians who want nothing else than to be the politicians in charge of wanting nothing else than their own survival. There’s people who think the only art worthwhile comes in a spray can and it should be shared on Instagram to make them instantly famous for a nanosecond. And there’s people who think they can keep taking until there’s nothing left to give and the oxygen of life runs out.’

‘But it’s the only way to get where we’re going. To the future.’

‘Then I’m not going.’

‘But you have to get there. You can’t stay here in the past.’

‘I can. I like it here.’

‘But ‘here’ doesn’t exist anymore. Can’t you see it rolling up behind us as we walk?’

‘Then it’ll just have to roll me up with it.’