SWARTHOS

The desert wind howled like a banshee on a bender, clawing at the windows of my shack as I sat hunched over a lukewarm can of chili. The fluorescent hum of the cheap motel room buzzed in my skull like a trapped hornet – a fitting soundtrack to the unraveling reality I was currently grappling with. It started innocently enough, a simple trip to the fluorescent-lit abyss they call Walmart for supplies – you know, the essentials: caffeine pills, industrial-sized bags of jerky, and enough bargain-bin sunscreen to fend off the impending apocalypse. But then, the receipt. Not the usual mile-long scroll detailing my descent into consumer depravity, no. This one…this one had my face plastered on it, a grainy, unsettling image superimposed over the fine print, leering back at me like some kind of discount Orwellian nightmare. Big Brother, apparently, shops at rollback prices and pays with a smile – or at least, a digitally altered facsimile thereof. The bastards.

SAVE MONEY & LIVE BETTER… Absolutely right on.

So here it is, raw and uncut.

What’s next? Can anyone see to the horizon or beyond?