Twenty-Two
By: Zoe Jaeger
Canto I
Diana is but sixteen years-old
At the swell of her youth in the year 2019
She adopts the teen habits of her fellow youths
A device perhaps the size of her finger
Gripped within the palm of her hand
She touches it to the tip of her lips
And pulls from the base of her throat
From this she receives the product of this device
A thick vapor fills her mouth
Diana gasps,
Capturing the vapor within the clutches of her lungs
This vapor seeps into Diana’s bloodstream
What a phenomenon this is
The chemical makeup of this vapor
Intermingles with the young girl’s mind
For no more than seven seconds
A wave of calm crashes roughly
Against the membrane of Diana’s adolescent brain
This crash is Diana’s life source
She goes in for yet another draw
However, this time she receives no vapor
Her lungs lack the substance they require
While they are spared
From yet another round of chemical burns,
A startling realization replaces the nicotine in her bloodstream
She is now left abandoned by her trusty device
Betrayed by her own property,
She must now venture off to find her life source
However, her age for once is a hindrance
She is but five years off from the age of possibility
The age of ability
A feeling saturates the base of Diana’s stomach
As though her intestines begin to twist
As if she is to plummet from the top of a cliff
It is not a painful sensation
Not an immediate harm to herself or others
This feeling, Diana knew, is a product of her lack
Her only choice is to acquire that which she so desired
However, Diana could not embark upon this journey alone
Her youth, while fading away,
Remains a hurdle she must overcome
Her one chance to restock her substance
Relies entirely on Gideon
Gideon, a warlock in Diana’s eyes,
Is her only connection to the world of the adulthood
While only seventeen,
He obtains identification saying otherwise
This powerful card unlocks the door to this world
This identification is the tool Diana needs
To acquire that which she does not have
Canto II
Seventeen-year-old Gideon
Sits on the stairs to the teenagers’ school
Diana approaches him with caution
She taps his shoulder lightly
Riddled with anxiety and deprivation,
Diana explains her bothersome manner
‘Gideon, I have come seeking your help
That which I desire most,
That which most teenagers desire most
Has escaped me
Slipped through my fingers and into my lungs
Yes, I have no more juul pods
At your mercy, I beg
I beg that you equip me with the weapon you bear
Your fake ID’
Gideon’s everyday grimace melts with sympathy
Gideon understands Diana’s quarrel
As just one of the teenage addicts,
He vows to Diana to supply her with that which she needs
‘I will help you’,
Gideon tells her
‘This journey will be tiresome and expensive
You may doubt yourself at times
But you must remember that reward which you seek’
The front door flies open as a loud bell echoes through the school
Teenagers flood out, nearly trampling the two
Diana and Gideon share a look
As though they are to enter battle
They depart from their comfortable position on the steps
They walk in silence to Diana’s car
The pair get into the car
As the ignition is started,
So is that within Diana’s soul
Her fear begins to develop into excitement
The paralyzed look of terror upon her face
Molds into a slight smile upon the side of her mouth
She shifts the gear into drive
They depart from their eight-hour temporary prison
And enter the outside world
Canto III
Diana pulls into the parking lot of a strip mall,
At the command of her leader Gideon
They exit the car
The Californian sun beat down on Diana,
Intensifying any nerves of hers
The two enter what appears to be a vacant shop window
A man sitting inside makes sharp eye contact with Gideon
Gideon and this strange man nod in unison
Without no verbal communication,
The man understands why Diana is here
Gideon and Diana follow this man,
Named Alfred
Through the vacant room, to a staircase
Alfred makes his way down the stairs,
Expecting the teenagers to follow close behind
Gideon begins, but Diana hesitates
She closes her eyes and inhales,
Trying her hardest to replicate the powers of her device
One foot in front of the next,
She makes her way down the staircase
Below the vacant shop is a bustling industry
Multiple employees, and many more customers
Diana is positioned before a camera
She tilts her head down and to the right,
Trying to make herself look as old as possible
The camera flashes, capturing her refined, youthful beauty,
Soon to be corrupted
She is then walked to a table
In which she must fill out a short form
She writes down her name
She pulls a string of various numbers together
To successfully produce a false address
Before long, Diana had created what seemed to be a new person
Diana and Gideon exit the store
Gideon remains, allowing Diana to venture on her own
They exchange a kind nod, as Diana turns to make her way back to her vehicle
As she sits in her car, Diana dwells in her excitement
No longer is she reduced to her teenaged status
She has nearly transcended time,
Jumping from age seventeen to age twenty-two
Gripping her new ID,
She has the world,
And more specifically the nicotine industry,
Within the palm of her hand
Canto IV
Diana zooms down the street,
Searching for a shop that can refuel her device
As she swerves through lanes,
Nearly running red lights,
And just barely preventing major car accidents,
She has little on her mind aside from her beloved juul pods
Diana slowly approaches a shop with a red LED sign
The sign reads “Smoke Shop”
A shudder rushes down Diana’s spine,
Pulsing throughout her body,
Ending at the tip of her toes
Her ID sits in her cup holder
She makes eye contact with herself
Well, her twenty-two-year-old self
Diana remembers what she is yearning for
What she would do for that wave to crash upon her mind once again
For the chemical to enter her bloodstream once again
She gives a solemn nod to her twenty-two-year-old self,
Saluting the work that she’s done
She swipes the card from the cup holder, and into her wallet
She exits her car swiftly,
So as to discourage herself from turning back
She approaches the door carefully,
Nearly apologetically
Before her hand could even graze the door knob,
She spies two people out of the corner of her eye
She turns to look at them
A boy and a girl stand just feet away from her,
Looking as nervous as she does
Diana approaches the team
They are, like her, but young teenagers
Freddie and Allison are their names,
Seventeen year olds from California
But to the owners of the shop,
They are the twenty three year-old Texan organ donors
Diana absorbs Freddie and Allison’s worries
She decides that, in order to complete her mission, she needed these allies
The three teens inch closer and closer to the door
Diana pulls the handle
Before the door opens more than three inches,
Just enough for Diana to barely catch a glimpse of that which she so desired,
She hears a shout from behind her
The teenagers turn around to come face to face with that which they feared most
A police officer
‘Where did you get those IDs?! You must be children!’
Knowing that she is powerless to the strength of Adults,
Diana screams at her fellow addicts to run
All three throw their identification into a trash bin,
Ridding themselves of illegal product
They approach Diana’s car, and pile in
She drives off,
Panting from the stress that running three hundred feet
Has on her weak lungs
She and her allies are defeated
Their only access to their desires
Lie in an inaccessible location
Diana’s dreams begin to slowly fade away,
Along with her lungs’ capacity for sustained running or physical activity
Canto V
The three teens drive through the Los Angeles streets, hopeless
Diana has accepted her failure,
Understanding that her nicotine withdrawals will remain constant
Diana pulls into the parking lot of yet another strip mall,
Simply needing a place to sit and reflect on her failed mission
Freddie and Allison remain in silence,
Feeling bare without their weapon: their IDs
The teens are bare, abandoned, helpless
Diana opens her door, and steps out of the car
The confinement of the thing is only intensifying her growing irritation
Suddenly, a cold wind brushes Diana’s neck
A faint whisper catches the attention of her ears
‘Diana’, she heard crying from no specific location
Freddie and Allison join Diana in the open
The cries become louder
The three teenagers’ eyes dart throughout the space,
Trying to determine the origins of these cries
Freddie and Allison suddenly stop searching
Their eyes settle just above Diana’s head
Diana turns around
Floating behind her, in a din of gold light,
Is her weapon
Her twenty two year old self, ensuring the completion of Diana’s journey
Diana softly grips her ID,
Astonished at the miracle that had occurred before her eyes
She resumes eye contact with the Diana upon her weapon
‘We are saved! You are the chosen one!’
Freddie remarked at this occurrence
Diana embraced the two young teens
Without hesitation, the children return to the vehicle
Diana reaches a second shop,
Now with a sufficient weapon
However, this is a mission she now must embark upon alone
Gideon, Alfred, Freddie, and Allison remain her mind
She is not only fighting for her prize but also for them
She grips the door handle to the shop
She pulls with a newfound strength
The door opens before her
The breathes in the air of victory laced with second hand smoke
She steps in, allowing the door the close behind her
She grips her precious juul pods,
And those devices desired by her fellow comrades
She approaches the cash register - her final test
She passes a handful of cash to the deceivable employee
He asks for a form of identification
Diana experiences a sensation as though she is removed from herself
She hands him her card
The card that had followed her all this way
With little hesitation, the attendant hands back the card
The items are packaged gracefully into a plastic bag
She carefully takes the bag
Slowly, she makes her way to the door,
Savoring each moment of her accomplishment
She opens the door, and steps outside
She takes a weak, shallow breath,
All that her lungs can tolerate
However, her weak lungs are no inhibitor
She returns to her vehicle
Her device lay within the center console
She takes it in her palm,
So valuing it’s very existence
She un-packages her new purchases, snapping the pod into her device
She touches it to the tip of her lips
And pulls from the base of her throat
From this she receives the product of this device
A thick vapor fills her mouth
Diana gasps,
Capturing the vapor within the clutches of her lungs
This vapor seeps into Diana’s bloodstream
What a phenomenon this is