“A clean and well-lit place,” huh? I’m thinking stark boxes, and forced artistry. An oxymoron if I ever heard one.
Thanks for entering. ^^

who was the oppressor? it seems the institution was a gallery or school..

Thanks for reading!

The jackbooted oppressors I had in mind were a vague mashup of industry & government, with shades of 1984 and Anthem or Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand. Those are the first things I reach for when I think of oppressors :)

And, if (almost) everyone’s on anti-creativity drugs, that makes for a nice slice of artificial scarcity in pretty things to exploit for taxes and profits.

This is fantastic, I love where you took it. Was that “clean and well-lit” line an intentional Hemingway reference?

Thanks! And, huh, I have to say I hadn’t read that Hemingway story until just now. I probably just randomly soaked up that phrase somewhere.

I like the form of pills—its been done, but a lot of stuff has been and it works well. The second sentence is great to me for some reason. Good character POV and style.

I love the idea that the rich and high ups would have a sort of creative black market.