A Pointless Life #amwriting

‘You don’t have enough Points, Sir.’

She watched the hope fade and new emotions vied for dominance. Anger, despair, frustration. Resignation. Fighting to keep her own expression blank, she risked a quick glance around. No one was watching; the guy hadn’t made a fuss. He was just slumped, trying to find the energy to head back to the Employment Office where he would be assigned more work to earn Points to pay for his treatment. She coughed and slid a hand across the desk. She slipped the paper to the man. As soon as his grubby, chapped fingers touched the note she called out ‘NEXT!’

And so the day continued.

          She had been working at ‘Your Health Is The Point’ for seven years now, and had felt it slowly chipping away at her humanity as she turned away anyone who hadn’t earnt enough Points - indiscriminately discriminating against the poor and unlucky.

‘I managed to get another five out. You?’ Taking off her uniform, Alice took care not to drop any of the small hand written notes she kept in her pocket.

‘Yeah, I did four’ the two girls were huddled around Rachel’s locker, their voices a low whisper. They knew that there would be trouble if they were caught. Demonstrations and acts of rebellion weren’t actually illegal, but…

          The two girls walked silently, quickly, through the deserted Manchester streets. The trams rattled past, all but empty. Who could afford them?

          Approaching Rachel’s block the girls pulled out their Cards. Visiting friends required Points too – ‘visitors’ don’t pay rent but add to building wear and tear, so there should be a way for landlords to recoup that cost. Take it off the Cards.

          Alice winced as another 1000 Points were deducted. ‘Shit. That’s another morning’s work. I’m going to tread extra hard on the stairs today.’

          Exhausted and winded, they reached the 17^th floor. The lift cost 500 Points per person; to encourage exercise. As she unlocked the steel security gate and pushed open the heavy reinforced front door, Rachel took a torch from her pocket. It was a small solar chargeable device which she used to find and light the candles in the tiny flat. ‘Tea?’

          Alice nodded her approval as she sat. ‘Man, this week has been a shit show and no mistake. They’re queueing out the door now. I mean, how bad does it have to get before someone realises this fucking system isn’t working?’

‘They won’t notice Al. I mean, I doubt they even realise there are still people living up here. Unless ‘Your Health’ open a branch on Downing Street, they don’t give a toss.’

          Accepting the weak but warm tea, Alice wrapped her hands around the mug, searching for comfort. ‘So, let’s go back over tonight’s message drop. How many handouts did we manage? I’ve written 30 copies, you’ve got another 35. Have Dev and Joe been in touch?’

          Rachel rifled through a pile of cushions until she found one which was flatter than the others. She unzipped the cover and pulled out a sheaf of papers.

‘They passed them to me on the way out of the food market yesterday, shoved them inside a bag of fish guts in case we got checked! They’re bit smelly, but there’s another 80 copies here. If we get through that lot, it will be the biggest drop so far. We need to be careful Al. I’ve seen too much of what being Pointless does to people’

          Alice flicked through papers. The writing was scrawly but legible. The message was a reminder that this hadn’t always been the way. Alice gave one of the notes a cursory proof read.

Use Your Points – Stand And Be Counted.

We know our public health system was sabotaged. We know this Government thinks you are ‘Pointless’. We know they have abandoned us. But we Northerners were strong and proud once, and we will be again. We will stand, United.

Use your Points - Vote!

Together, we will bring their house down.

She knew that the message would fall flat. The people who needed things to change the most had barely enough Points to pay rent, or buy food and water. If there were Points to spare, they were usually spent on heating, or sending the kids to school – seeing a doctor if it was really urgent. There were no spare Points for access to the polling station.

          Still, she had to fight. Her unborn daughter couldn’t be raised in this world.