The symbol was everywhere, as if watching me, whispering in my ear repeatedly “You’re old, Rosie.” The inverted pyramid that was suppose to remind the nation of our past failure at demographics, it was there to remind us that people like me were the reason things were the way they were.

I was old; there was no way of denying it. All the signs were there, the grey hair conformed it, the wrinkles in my face, the way I went to bed early. I never used to go to bed early. But then again, I went to bed alone now.

Europe had been a dream once, something that moved people and gave them hope of a new future; the dream was now making sure there would be someone in twenty years, that there would be a future to be taken care of. All over the 28 nations you could see the dark blue inverted pyramid over yellow posters, requesting breeders to help the union.

A breeder was someone whose only purpose was to have children, and young women were needed more than anyone else.

They all would go and live in a special neighbourhood the people had nicknamed ‘the nursery’, and they had all the cares someone could have: twentyfour hour medical assistance, a good house, food, entertainment, etc. All they had to do in return was stay healthy and in shape and go to the clinic once a month to try and get pregnant.

These would be their lives until they were 45 years old, around that time they were dispensed and would live in a house paid by the government with all the other breeders, so that they could grow old and die in comfort. It was not a glamorous life, but it was necessary to save the nation, not to mention Europe itself.

For years people had focused so much on career and working on a better life for themselves that they had forgotten to have children, and the result was catastrophic. It was the Europe we have now.

A Europe where 75 year olds, like myself, were not considered that old, in fact were in very good shape to work, and we had to because there were no retirement plans anymore. You either sustained yourself or the state certainly would not do it, they did not need to anyway, the less old people the better.

But I had known a different Europe. A Europe with some, not to say a lot, of problems, but a Europe that took care of its citizens. I guess now I knew a Europe trying to survive.

I could feel a headache coming so I popped another vitalin, a special pill that contained a certain combination of vitamins that allowed old people to stay healthier and work longer. All I wanted to do was go home to my dog and sit on the sofa watching movies until I fell asleep, but there was no way the damn bus would arrive.

I lived in an old neighbourhood with lots of old people that had somehow managed to stay all this long. I could not help but notice all the houses that were becoming empty, ready for the first generation of breeder children to take. It would still be a while until then, they had to go grow up and one thing they had not been able to do yet was speed human growth, but I wouldn’t bet my buttons they would not try it sometime soon, there is even talk of cloning whole human beings around.

The moral value of human life seems to have gone into crisis, when human life itself was not renewing very much. I guess it was somewhat of a vicious cycle; the more scarce human life was the more ruthless would be the processes to obtain it. The bringing of new humans to the world had already been dehumanized and lost all its beauty. So why stop now?

I was the daughter of a woman and a man that loved each other so much they had wanted to create a new life together, that was more than the entire breeder children could say for themselves. And so I cannot help but wonder, how will they feel in a few years?

Will they be okay with being the product o the survival necessities of our species? Will they care that they weren’t brought to earth with love?

How will this affect them? Will it affect them at all?

All the consequences of bad politics, bad decisions and egocentrism natural to the human species are now falling upon us. Question is: Are we handling them well?

Finally I could see the bus, coming through the fog, to take me home, and the posters did not bother me anymore. I just need a good night sleep. I have work tomorrow.