Scorpion Mag i04 - Future

issue 04

Scorpion

Mag

FUTURE

contents 2. letter from the editor @lucyait 3. digital collage art by ella sylvie / @ellasylviedesigns 4. 'the future' prose poem by by johanna rawlings / @johanna_writes 5. digital collage art by ella sylvie / @ellasylviedesigns 6. 'eventually, one of us will lose the other' poem by skyler saunders / @smilingatmysandwich 7. the nostalgia series art by @elisabethgrantart 9. 'you still can't wear love to dinner without being told to cover up' poem by by @sepiatistic._ 11. ask the readers: what's the biggest change you hope to see in the future?

12. by @lucyait 13. the nostalgia series art by @elisabethgrantart 15. 'when will i glo-up?' article by sophia bahadoor / @phia.bh 19. art by shama / @imperfect_art_journal 20. photography by bella maldo / @wander.in 21. 'cyberpunk cinderella' poem by cindy tran / @cindytranwrites 23. digital collage art by ella sylvie / @ellasylviedesigns 24. untitled writing by zainab hudha / cosmichai 25. art by @connorovendenshaw

26. 'where's tacticality?' writing by zainab hudha / cosmichai 27. photography by @yoebeno / robbyn 28. 'to my future' poem by holly berry / @hollyberry_x 29. 'the probability of something unknown' reflective essay by sofie rudat / @sorudat 31. digital art by sophie aitchison / @sophieaitchisonn 32. 'the silver skylines and my possible future' poem by nanya minda / @nanyawrites 33. interview with @georgia_lucia on the climate crisis by @lucyait 35. 'the future field' short story by @talivol6 [on twitter] 38. digital art by sophie aitchison / @sophieaitchisonn 39. 'seaside cabin' poem by nikolle dixon / @nikolledenise 40. 'the things you wait so long to do' poem by valerie drew

1

scorpions,

@lucyait

welcome to issue 04 'future'. the future isn't an easy thing to write about, to take pictures of, or even to imagine. it doesn't exist yet, it's still a malleable concept in our minds. it's not a fixed idea or a pre-written story. it's all imagination, until it becomes reality. however, despite it being difficult to discuss, it's one of the most important things to think about. it's more necessary now than it has ever been to face the difficult facts so that we can make a difference. this means through climate change, politics, or even just a change in perspective. i hope every contributor's different take on the theme allows you to think about the future in a new way and take something valuable away from this. enjoy!

sending love, scorpion mag <3 2

by ella sylvie / @ellasylviedesigns

3

the future when

I

think

skyscrapers cars

and

amazing

of

the

and

future

flashing

robots things

and

I

think

lights,

I

technology

mankind

will

of

cities

think and

learn

of

all

to

and

flying

of

build

the and

accomplish and it all seems so glorious, but none of that

helps

me,

none

of

that

will

make

me

happy,

because the future I think of that makes me happy is a future where I get to come home and see you, reading a book on a rocking chair in the sun in our front garden, with grandchildren surrounding you all messy

with

mud

or

paint

in

their

hair

as

they

play

and our children coming out of the house laughingly trying

to

round

them

up

and

maybe

a

dog

lying

by

your feet and in my mind’s eye I have no idea who you are, I haven’t met you yet, I don’t even have a gender

or

a

face

or

a

personality

or

preference,

I

couldn’t care less, as long as we are happy together, as long as I can walk up to you and kiss you in my old age and know we had the best life we could ever have

wanted

and

we

will

be

happy

until

we

die

because it’s just you and me and our family together and I want that future so badly.

by johanna rawlings / @johanna_writes

4

by ella sylvie / @ellasylviedesigns

5

EVENTUALLY, ONE OF US WILL LOSE THE OTHER or, we'll both go down in the same fireball. the berries swallowed together or the river looking just as peaceful as before, if you don't know. the flickering in our eyes are endless mirrors reflecting back the flames, when we come up with a new way and write it down while it's still fresh. just before we guarantee we'll never have to say goodbye, we'll remember how the world once spun just for us. how our laughter pulled tides and called everything the sound of home. how museums will hold this up in their frames, but we won't be around to see it.

by skyler saunders / @smilingatmysandwich

6

7

by @elisabethgrantart

by @elisabethgrantart

8

eb ot swodniw ynam oot sah llits edoba elbmuh A

yticirtcele fo muucav gniknilb eht tsoh ot esufer taht sgniliec eht morf worg seisiad ytiP seiks derettil eht lla ees ot hguone

sgnir s’nrutaS ni teloiv dna wolley hcum oot eht fo selpmas eerf ekat uoy stel ASAN dnA

sraM morf era nemow )der yreif( dna thgil eht ot esolc oot ,yrucreM morf era neM

.tuo esoht nrub ot sraet fo revir nwo sti sah nedE ecniS

seilleb rieht ni gnigar serif eht lla no sbat gnipeek deppots yehT

.eromyna slaunam htiw stik nosrep-nwo-ruoy-eb YID eht lles yeht od roN

slebal gninraw htiw emoc t’nod spihsecapS

/pu revoc ot dlot gnieb tuohtiw rennid ot evol raew t’nac llits uoy/

by @sepiatistic._

9

?os od ot revo gnuh oot si yks eht neve nehw seye rieht ni nus eht raeb eno seod woH

----

.tey pu sgnirts eht gnidloh s’eno on tub teertS emaseS ni evil eW

yad a eciwt swob dipuc rieht hsaw ot srebmemer enoyrevE

mottob kcor gnittih morf reh evas t’nseod pleh rof gnimaercS

kcab eciov reh tog ehs nehw miws ot woh togrof leirA dna tfel reven stnaig ehT

etuhcarap ruoy morf esool gnignah niks eht lla ni kcut ot evah llits uoy dnA

,tey srats eht tnuoc ot woh swonk eno on tub 9 duolC morf gnah skoohykS

sdnekeew eht tuohguorht lla setihw-ffo dicalp ni pu sesserd llits dlrow eht tuB

feirg gnihtriber tuohtiw ssenippah enolc ot denrael yeht woh tuoba garb yehT

niap ruoy fo ymotana eht lla flesti ni dloh ot hguone si tebahpla oN

traeh ruoy

fo rebmahc tsrif eht htiw enod neve er’uoy erofeb koobeton a ni segap fo tuo nur uoY

10

ASK THE READERS:

what's the biggest change You hope to see in the future?

EQUITY, NOT EQUALITY MY DAUGHTERS BEING UNAFRAID OF THE WORLD (SPECIFICALLY MEN) GENUINE TRANS HEALTHCARE AND MEDICAL PROTECTION IMPROVEMENT ON DISCRIMINATION LAWS FOR LGBT+ PEOPLE TO STOP OR SLOW DOWN GLOBAL WARMING AND CLIMATE CHANGE MAKING VEGANISM THE DEFAULT NO MORE ANIMALS USED FOR PERFORMANCES/ENTERTAINMENT/ PROFIT

BY HUMANS PEACE OF MIND, EARTH AND PEOPLE MORE CARE IN THE WORLD FOR THOSE WHO ARE SICK, LONELY AND NEED IT MOST NON-BINARY AND GENDER NONCONFORMING PEOPLE TO BE KNOWN, ACCEPTED AND LOVED AWARENESS FOR MISSING AND MURDERED INDIGENOUS WOMEN

11

YOUNG PEOPLE REALISING THE POWER OUR VOICES HAVE WHEN WE ALL USE THEM FOR CHANGE

WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR FLYING CARS OR TELEPORTATION OR SUPERPOWERS, WE ARE ASKING FOR FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION, WE ARE ASKING TO BE ABLE TO WALK ALONE AT NIGHT WITHOUT FEAR, WE ARE ASKING FOR EQUAL BASIC HUMAN RIGHTS FOR ALL. WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR HOLOGRAMS OR ROBOTS OR SPACE TRAVEL, WE ARE ASKING FOR A DECENT LIVING WAGE, WE ARE ASKING FOR LESS CRUELTY AND MORE LOVE, WE ARE ASKING FOR A HEALTHY EARTH. WE ARE ASKING FOR A CHANCE, WE ARE ASKING FOR A CHANGE, WE ARE ASKING FOR A FUTURE.

12

by @elisabethgrantart

13

by @elisabethgrantart

14

WHEN WILL I GLO-UP? the toxicity of glo-up culture by sophia bahadoor / @phia.bh When you hear “glo-up,” what comes to mind? For some, it will be Instagram transform

posts

including

themselves

before

dramatically

and in

after’s

terms

of

of

teens

looks.

The

who girls

would be sporting toothy grins with their pearly white veneers, makeup shining and slim bodies covered in a fast-fashion outfit.

The boys would be presented in a similar façade. For others, the idea

of

a

“glo-up”

is

reminiscent

of

the

nostalgia

of

their

childhood, watching movies like Hilary Duff’s “A Cinderella Story” or “The Princess Diaries”, seeing the main characters undergo extreme transformations into beautiful caricatures of their former person. There is a certain expectation that is now brought up in our society. Somehow, experiencing these “glo-ups” is a rite of passage into adulthood. Why is that? At the surface, transforming yourself and bettering yourself seems like a great idea to engrave into young people’s heads. Becoming a higher, elevated version of

yourself?

What

could

go

wrong?

What

horrible,

toxic

archetypes could be created?

We’ve gone through some amazing progress in terms of body acceptance in the past few years as a society. Companies have begun to not only add plus-sized models in their campaigns but have also decided to employ models of various ethnicities in an attempt

to

smash

western

beauty

standards.

Natural

and

common things such as acne, scars and stretch marks are slowly becoming normalized, with the use of Photoshop being frowned

15

upon and natural beauty being highlighted and praised.

Mental

illnesses were no longer seen as abnormalities and were being treated and cherished effectively. In a world that was welcoming change, glo-up challenges, videos and posts helped us illustrate our mental, physical growth in a way that could be transformative and positive.

Yet, as time passed on, these posts followed a similar pattern.

The notion of “transformation” became a routine that had clear steps. For a “glo-up” to occur, one must: workout regularly and lose weight or become toned, diet and eat acceptably, get their hair done, do their makeup to a certain degree. Sometimes, these makeovers included plastic surgery, eyelash extensions and other costly

treatments.

As

we

continued

to

see

this

ideal

being

plastered on every form of social media that we saw, it became ingrained in our heads that bettering ourselves would have to give out a specific “after.” If we wanted to fully experience this chapter of our lives, we needed to grow our biceps, build a sixpack, lift our noses and perk our lips. This is what was necessary for our beautification, right? After spending a lengthy amount of time abolishing toxic beauty standards, it seems as if we are now feeding into it once again. When going back to school or arriving at University for the first time, we now face the common dilemma of transforming ourselves dramatically. How could you tell the world you’ve evolved as a human being without showing off your bony waist to prove it? Did you lose ten pounds? Well, Emma starved herself to a mere ninety-five. Where’s your proof?

Glo-up culture is mostly enforced by everyday teenagers who make videos and post it for their followers to see on YouTube as well

as

influencers

on

Instagram

who

show

themselves

off

to

attract as much notoriety as possible. One specific trend that became quite relevant last year was the "24-hour glo-up"

16

transformations, spending

where

sometimes

these

thousands

teenagers

would

of

on

dollars

go

ahead,

clothes,

beauty

procedures, etc in a cheap attack at a transformation. These videos views

quickly and

became

attracting

popular,

garnering

subscribers

like

a

flies

couple

to

of

sugar.

million

For

the

Instagram models, their version of this would be the quick trips to the salon now and then to change their look and appeal to the masses. These statements may seem exaggerated for some, but a simple

google

search

would

reveal

the

money

necessary

to

accomplish such feats. Being obsessed with these videos myself, I opted to get my hair done last year so that I could surprise everyone when we went back to school. The treatment that I got done

was

called

a

“balayage”-

done

with

purple

hair

dye

because I liked dyeing my hair with unnatural colours. By the end of

a

four-hour-long

session,

I

left

the

salon

with

six-hundred

dollars out of my mom and I’s pockets. The hair lasted less than three

months,

and

I’ve

been

left

with

green/yellow

hair

ever

since. This is the remainder of my “glo-up” from last summer, and it annoys me to no end. Had I done some more research online or chosen to just go for a haircut and style, I’d have saved on my treatment.

And

this

was

only

for

my

hair!

The

truth

is,

these

extravagant makeovers are not created with the average teens in mind. The majority of the activities that are done are out of the budget

for

many

families,

choosing

to

separate

their

income

towards groceries or bills. By seeing these trends, we are thrown into a pit of jealousy and wish to replicate the sights we’ve seen on screen. The truth of the matter is hard to hear for many (such as

myself)

who

wish

to

attain

these

unattainable

standards.

You’re not ugly, you just don’t have the money necessary to reach these norms that social media has been obsessing over.

17

No

matter

how

many

times

we

bicker

and

rant

about

these

illogical beauty standards, there will always be new ones that are brought into the light and that causes another long line of uproar.

The fact of the matter lies in the way that we decide to view them. We can choose to act upon them- which is fine- or we can choose to redefine them- which is even better. Glowing up does not have to follow a streamline consciousness of barbells, fad diets and false lashes. It can be giving more time for yourself, throwing

yourself

into

your

passions

and

challenging

our

insecurities. As young adults, we have a job to influence those below us. The decisions that we make play a big role in how our younger peers interact with the world and view it. This is not a quiet proposition. This is a beckoning to open our eyes to the harsh realities that they may soon face if we donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t help to create change. How many times have we cried over our bodies in a mirror, wept at our acne, mustered up all our savings only to be disappointed with the outcome? We may not be able to blast the past, but we can recast the future.

by sophia bahadoor / @phia.bh

18

19

by shama / @imperfect_art_journal

by bella maldo / @wander.in

a world where we crack before our screens 20

cindy tran / @cindytranwrites

now

cyberpunk cinderella

my shirt ruffles as a hover cab zooms past the alleyway where i stand with my back to the wall

i hear footsteps on the rooftop beside me, bite my lip so hard it almost bleeds, slouch so that the shadows might call me one of their own, i try not to breathe

i wait one bated breath then another and another and another then blessedly the footsteps recede, and i tap my hologram, curse as it flickers in the night and nearly blinds me in the dark

i check my location with a twitch of my fingers and think with a rush of adrenaline, as i haul myself up on the ledge of a window, that i am leaving this all behind -- my past life, my sisters, my cruel stepmother, the world that cursed me to a family without love left in their shriveled hearts

21

i make it to the roof, crouch down as the billboard screens flicker with blue light, painting my pale skin bruised i watch as the time ticks towards tomorrow

i am cyberpunk cinderella -- only without the glamor or the carriage or the fairy godmother waiting on my calls

i am my own prince, my own glass slipper, my own pumpkin carriage riding into the sunrise

i am cyberpunk cinderella and this time midnight cannot stop me

22

by ella sylvie / @ellasylviedesigns

23

[untitled] apparently, the universe will die. i've been crying a lot - not out of sadness; i'm overwhelmed. imminent death has the power that nothing else possesses. the death of the sun is at least five billion years away according to cosmologists and i'll be in my grave then. this means I probably won't be a part of the big end. this comprehension, however, doesn't take away the weight off my shoulders - no, not shoulders, more like chest and throat. there's a gigantic chunk of history that i've not been a part of and I won't be involved in the far future either. my life, this awareness as i know it, will draw to an end pretty soon. yet, nothing is seemingly as important as the few years i have been presented with for life on earth. what does it mean to live? almost every behaviour comes to a conclusion; eating, sleeping, making love, writing - yet, we want to do these. we want to live, no matter what that means to us. it can be thought of as all of this is for nothing! the end of the world is the only promise universally acknowledged. but, if this finite period of time is all we have during which the universe is ever-expanding; the earth is orbiting the sun; the sun rises and sets, and our cells are dying, then can anything be more joyful than this moment? life is a series of now and that is what it means to live.

by zainab hudha / cosmichai

24

by @connorovendenshaw

25

where's tacticality? this is the life i have full knowledge of and given its vastness it would be quite ridiculous of me to claim being born at the wrong time. maybe there is no such thing, but when i hold my father's vintage camera or my mother's polaroid photograph or my grandfather's letters, i feel a terrific tug. in my heart, it feels as if the modern world, in all its advantageous development, took something away from me that no digitalisation can compensate for. what pen and paper; film and negatives; postcards and letters; and conventional communication have is a life force that i crave so deeply. this is not a discourse on what is better, rather, it is the lamentation (and perhaps romanticisation) of missed possibilities. i look at my friends and my family all dispersed, and wonder if the distance has expanded or shrunk. sometimes it feels lonely and i get confused why as i stare into a million pixels of my niece talking about ribs, unable to hold her against my chest.

by zainab hudha / cosmichai

26

by @yoebeno / robbyn

27

to my future i eagerly await your arrival- i wish to see if my devotion to bettering myself for you will be worth it. i long for you to tell me that everything i am going through is a part of your predestined plan for me: that later on vibrant petals will blossom from these thorns. i will gradually mold a space for you beside my past and present, where you will fit seamlessly when the time comes for you to pull me into your welcoming embrace. but, for now, i will keep going- safe in the knowledge that every step forwards brings my journey closer to the future.

by holly berry / @hollyberry_x

28

the probability of something unknown by sofie rudat / @sorudat Several weekends a year, my family used to drive south four hours to my grandmother’s house. Sitting in the back seat of our car, I’d watch evening turn dark, accompanied by a gradient of smells

introducing

each

semi-rural

scene

as

we

passed

by.

Shortly after our stop for dinner, I’d be lulled to sleep. When I awoke, my head against the cold window, the car still moving, it was

always

to

the

same

sight.

It

was

a

dark

blue

sky,

its

mesmerising depth coating the air I breathed and the ground below me. Ahead, perpendicular to our ribbon of red taillights on cruise control, was what I imagined as a shore, our at least a pointillist rendering of a long, sandy strip. As if navigating the early night’s ocean, we made our way toward the illuminated strip in the distance.

I

knew,

of

course,

that

the

shoreline

was

made

out

of

streetlights, and not shimmering flecks of sand. Aside from that, it was a mystery place and for years its answers—where, and who—eluded never

me.

became

a

The

routine

place

wonder

through

of

which

that we

string

drove,

of

lights

rather,

it

remained future. It distracted from the present: our four wheels, bright dashboard, air conditioning that smelled of emptiness. My present

was

a

seamless

existence

in

the

liminal

expanse

of

between-cities nighttime, yet all my focus was directed toward the question of lights far away.

29

We spend much of our lives avoiding the present in favor of asking

questions

about

our

futures.

Pleading

for

tomorrowâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s

answers, we throw out the certainties allowed to us each day.

The fixation on future pulls us away from our lives and into the siren song of an uncertain shore of streetlights up ahead. From a young age, we are taught to analyze, examine what is in front of us, so naturally, aware of the probability of something unknown, we place the future under a microscope. Using rational minds, it is easy to know we will necessarily discover nothing of the future without living it, but out of habit, or possibly a flickering desire to keep living, we wish for the answers to arrive now.

Why ask for the future to be confirmed in the present, when that request for instant gratification is incompatible with the flow of time? Why beg for answers when the responses only arrive after the question disappears? The future is made up of stories we tell, hoping to land somewhere near the truth, so our now is just a fragile construction of tentative punctuation pointing forward.

If we live in the questions, then the present is just as liminal as a night drive suspended between destination and origin, never to reach the sprinkle of lights spread out over the future.

by sofie rudat / @sorudat

30

by sophie aitchison / @sophieaitchisonn

31

32

by nanya minda / @nanyawrites

the climate crisis climate change is something that will undeniably affect the

future;

it

can

lead

to

increased

natural

disaster

risk, humanitarian crises, displacement, destruction of infrastructure

&

destruction

of

much

that's

more.

interviewed natural

economies,

agriculture, why

it's

food

student,

on

former the

droughts,

insecurity...

important

@georgia_lucia,

hazards

flooding,

to

and

so

discuss.

we

geography

effects

of

and

climate

change.

Q: What do you see the best and worst case scenarios being for our generationâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s future, given the serious problem of climate change?

A: For our generations future, I see the worst case scenario such as environmental issues exacerbating and the destructiveness of them increasing in intensity.

I see us reaching beyond the 'tipping point' and not being able to reverse the impacts that have been caused so far. Best case scenario - I envision solutions to such problems and the impacts of these being dealt with whilst at the same time, society having a strong awareness of what we can do to reduce these impacts.

33

Q: Do you think itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s possible for our generation to mitigate the effects of climate change? Are we doing enough?

A: I think it is possible for our generation to mitigate the impacts of climate change but only to a certain extent. We need the people of other generations who are the heads of the corporate companies to also take action. We are the generation that is going to have to reverse these issues that have not been caused by us but with the technology and awareness that is present today, I think that is possible to some level.

Q: Which aspects of the world do you think will be most and least affected/changed by climate change in the future?

A: The people/locations that have contributed to the causes of climate change the least will be the ones that are affected the most.

Q: How do you feel about the personal responsibility vs corporate responsibility debate on climate change?

Should the blame be put on us as consumers?

A: I think it is unfair that a lot of the time, the blame is put on us an individual. There is only so much that we as individuals can do to limit our contribution to the issue. If corporations took more responsibility and made changes to their company which would result in more sustainable operations, we would see huge results in our fight against climate change.

34

the future field a short story by @talivol6 [on twitter] “Excuse me!!!!!! Hi.. sorry. Sorry, this is going to sound ridiculous, I haven’t actually done this before but I, you know, saved for years and managed to buy the new model but it’s… uhm.. aha well. It’s more complicated than I thought. So… again, I know this is going to sound quite crazy to you, and I know I should have figured it out before I came, but would you please, please tell me which year it is?”

Melody stared at the man in front of her. He wore canvas dungarees, forest green high top converse, a beanie with each planet of the solar system sewn into it and blinked at her through a pair of green tinged sunglasses. She looked him up and down, trying to figure out if he was stoned or actually in need of genuine help, or maybe if she was being pranked and there were cameras hidden in the long yellow grass of the field they stood in. The man looked at her expectantly, as if the question he had asked her had a simple answer. There is just no way I am making any sort of contact with this man, Melody thought. She turned on her heel and walked swiftly in the other direction.

“Hey I promise I don’t bite, I just gotta know what year it is” the man said quietly. Melody would have appreciated the softness in his voice if she hadn’t just been completely stunned by the man whizzing past her at an impossible lightning speed.

“WHAT. Was THAT?” she gasped as her hair whipped at her face in the wake of the wind he had produced.

“Oh, do you like them? They’re the new dark green colour, my favourite” he said with a wide smile, even wiggling his eyebrows. He was lifting up his dungaree leg to show her the converse. The bottoms of them seemed to shiver and glow, almost as if someone had started to rub the sole out with a wet eraser. Melody blinked a couple of times to clear her eyes, surely… surely she was not seeing this right.

35

But there was no denying that the speed the man had was impossible, nothing she had ever seen before. She ignored the voice in her head telling her to GO… RUN… and instead slowly knelt down to get a closer look at the trainers. She could barely breathe as she ran her fingers over the not-really-there sole, yes it probably wasn’t the best idea to touch the weird super trainers, but all remnants of sense were fizzling out the more she looked at them. They were unlike anything her mind could comprehend; glitching and buzzing and hot.

“Okay… you’ve been looking at my shoes for 3 minutes 45 seconds now… they’re not even the latest model. Whatever, can you please just tell me what year it is?” the man said, he had a lilt to his accent that she didn’t even attempt to place. Melody stood slowly and rubbed her eyes.

“What do you mean ‘what year is it’?”

“Well, this is the Future Field, right? I just want to know if I’ve gone backwards or forwards in time so I know how much power I need to get back. It’s, like, double the amount of power to go into the future than it is to go into the past.”

Before she knew what came over her, Melody was laughing. Loudly.

Hysterically even. This was not possible and this man was on psychedelics. That’s what was happening right now. Frantically shaking her head she turned and started to walk away when he whizzed past her at lighting speed again.

“That’s it, what the HELL is happening, WHO ARE YOU?” she asked, breathing heavily.

“My name is Marty, I’m 22, I’m from Earth in the year 2120 and I’m really sorry for freaking you out. I thought that everyone on the Future Field knew about time travel. I can’t leave to explore until I know what year it is so I know how much power I need to conserve to be able to get back.

You good?”

36

Melody’s face was frozen in a fish like gape the entire time Marty was speaking and she kept having to remind herself to breathe. She looked around at the field and wondered how on Earth this was happening, she had walked through this field a thousand times before, she’d grown up playing stuck in the mud and rounders in this field, man she’d even camped in this field and had still never been asked what year it was before. Then she started to laugh again.

“What?” Marty asked.

“Your name is Marty” Melody smiled, still laughing at the ridiculousness of it all.

“Yes” “Your name is MARTY” “I don’t get it” “You name is Marty and you’re gonna go Back to the Future?” “…Yes. I still don’t get it. Hey, c’mon, why are you laughing so much? Is my name that funny?”

“No, no, I like your name. It fits.” Melody said. She sighed, looked down and the flickering trainers and up at his face, he seemed almost as confused as she was. “It’s 2020.”

He shivered. “Oh damn. We learnt about that one in history. Uhm… Sorry.. about the year. Just so you know, there’s never a year as bad as 2020.

The future is a lot better. I promise”

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by sophie aitchison / @sophieaitchisonn

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seaside cabin by nikolle dixon / @nikolledenise

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the things you wait so long to do

in 10 minutes i might be asleep. could be up listening to abba, or thinking about the glasses that i lost. in 5 i may have to get up and piss. a little thirsty, sure i’ll get a glass of water. my eyes are dead, somewhat. this is me from the future, saying i did not and i came back to fix this line. in 3 hours i will dream about a woman with striped socks a peg leg and one eye or maybe not, maybe it will be about the giant dog again, they’ll be closed. these eyes, and tommorow i will see a math test, or i won’t, and i will fail, or i won’t. and it’s been i think two minutes. and i’ve abused the backspace on the notes app. i guess it’s to say when i was young being seventeen was my future and i guess all i do is twirl my toe and think about escaping to new york because it’s better there. i guess i’ll go piss now. the delorean doesn’t have toliet seats by valerie drew

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scorpion mag october 2020 issue 04