Future Felons of America

Don't drop the baby,Don't drop the baby the robot intoned over and over again.
The baby came down the chute straight into the arms of a waiting nurse.
The little boy wailed and kicked and then fell limp with exhaustion as the nurse wrapped him in a fluffy blue blanket.
The child was whisked away down a conveyor belt as the robot began it's droning
once again.Don't drop the baby ,Don't drop the baby.
This time bells and buzzers began to sound and colored lights lit up the room.
A huge neon sign flashed...It's a GIRL !!! over and over again.
People in white coats rushed out of doors all around the pod.The waiting nurse
was shoved out of the way as doctors and scientists jockeyed for the chance
to recieve the baby girl.
She's mine this time ,Screamed a red haired young woman in a lab coat.
No way! yelled an older man with a wild white beard.You got the last one and you ruined her.You know we only get three girls a year and you had your chance.
Now get out of my way.Just then a tall man with a head of curly black hair
entered the room and everybody froze.
Doctor Slone! You heard the news! said the red head.
Yes and I will be taking care of our new arrival this time.Too many mistakes!
Our credibility has nearly been compromised by your last disaster.
I will handle this personally.Everyone watched as he scooped up the laughing
baby girl as she whooshed down the chute into his arms.

On the largest Space station in the universe Corazon Martin hung
from the ceiling by her ankles.The room was dark except for the flashing lights on the control console below her.She fought a wave of nausea and tried to think of a way out of this predicament.She knew she was in big trouble.This was her third
offense and there would be no mercy .The heart shaped birth mark on her cheek
throbbed with the excess blood to her head.She arched her body and tried once again to reach up to her ankles but she was too weak from the interrogation
process that had taken place earlier.
A small pool of blood formed on the floor beneath her from the cut on her forehead.She was about to pass out when someone flipped on the lights.
It was Commander Jenkens.He began to lower her down on the devilish device
without saying a word.When she crashed to the metal floor he kicked her in the side
and laughed.
"Well Miss Heart face ,are you in a more agreeable mood now?"he asked.
She lay still ,staring up at him from flashing green eyes.She smiled and said,
"why yes sir I really feel much better now.Thankyou."
" That's good because I have a special deal to offer you my child.As you know
you are at the end of your rope ,(Pun intended).You are a three time loser and it's
over for you.Especially since that guard died in your last robbery .You are hated
by everybody now .That old guard was like everyone's Grandfather on this god forsaken hunk of orbiting metal."
"Anyway ,here's the deal ......can you walk?"
Corazon stood up and hobbled to a metal chair bolted to the floor.She slumped into it and Jenkens handed her an ice cube that melted in her mouth immediately.
She could tell it was drugged but didn't care,He reached behind him for a silver
hose and sprayed her down with warm soothing disinfectant wash which dried
instantly.She felt refeshed as he took two vials of regulation ingestables off his
belt and squirted them into her mouth.
Rainbows of flavor hit her exhausted brain and she nearly fell off her chair.
"Okay she whispered ,what's the deal?"
The commander reached out and touched her birthmark ."Funny,he muttered
to himself,This actually enhances your beauty.However for a heartless one like you it is an ironic marking."
Jenkens sat down across from her and said,"Have you ever heard of
Future Felons of America ?"
She laughed ,"Sure everybody has heard about that but it's just a joke."
"No my Dear let me assure you it is no joke.It is very real and it is your only hope for a future life.The thing is that we cannot enlist you in this project without your written permission.So legally you must sign on the dotted line or no deal.
"well what are you talking about exactly Sir? I'm ready for anything to get out of here."Just show me where to sign!"


Six Doctors and nurses stood ready around Corazone's gurney.She was covered by a warm blanket of some nondescript color but still she shivered
uncontrollably.A lullaby filtered through the sound system and soothed her a little.
She thought of her old Grandfather who had tried to give her a home but who had
died when she was 10.He used to hum that tune at night.Tears welled up in her eyes as she remembered the terrible years that followed.She had lived on the streets ,begging and stealing with noone to care if she survived or not.
Now it had come down to this....becoming a guinea pig in a science project.
She knew that Earth had long since become nothing but a penal colony.
Now she was being sent back there for a second chance.The only problem was that she wouldn't even know it.

The anesthesist sat down beside her and smiled .He shoved two purple
capsules up her nose and said "Goodbye Sweetheart."
The others in the room began to slowly roll her limp body into a ball.A huge
glass lid was placed over her and someone threw a switch.She screamed from somewhere in her shrinking brain and dissappeared in a swirl of acrid smoke.

Somewhere in North America a beautiful baby girl with a heart shaped birthmark
slid quickly down a chute into the waiting arms of Dr.Barney Slone.
"Hooray he said ,now we have one more mother for our Future Felons ofAmerica
However I am going to prove that with the proper nurture ,this little sweetie will
grow up to be a contributing member of our penal colony.Someday our world will
reclaim it's proper place in the universe and we will no longer be a world of convicts."
Look at that birthmark.....I think I'll call her Corazon ."
the end {for now}