Once upon a time, there was a great company, run by a powerful CEO. He produced DVDs but they were special DVDs, only available to a certain part of the populace that had been born with the right birthmark.
The Marked, as I’ll call them, lived on one side of the street and the Unmarked lived on the other, and all over the place, really. The Marked had been told, in a special mailing, that there would be…someday!…a super special DVD that would be delivered. Those who opened it and watched it and followed the directions would be shown the way to the Most Excellent Home of the CEO, where he was readying a special resort community complete with awesome roller coasters and water slides and perfect schools and NO tuition…all that great stuff.. for those who found the way there. It would be really amazing. The Marked waited anxiously for this DVD.
Meanwhile, the Unmarked lived their lives, doing their thing, just like the Marked did. They had jobs in the same places, sent their kids to the same schools, all that stuff. Occasionally, there was friction. Because, of course, the Marked were special and everyone knew it. They had a ritual they undertook when a DVD was delivered. It was brought to their mailboxes by a special truck, in a special box, with a special note inside. The Unmarked watched this ritual and shook their heads. It was only a movie. What was the big deal? THEY had DVDs, too.
The CEOs of the company took a long time to build this ultra-exclusive resort community. Fathers got old and died, their children grew, and still, the reminders came. Sometimes, the Marked thought they saw glimpses of the waterslides being erected far, far away, but no notice came. The Unmarked went through their lives, too. Sometimes, they were curious about the elaborate mailbox ritual of the Marked, but didn’t comprehend it and so just kept on with their lives.
One night, a truck drove through the neighborhood. It wasn’t much of a truck. It was a plain white one, really. No markings on it. From the shotgun-seat, a representative of the company tossed out plain brown boxes onto the lawns of all the homes of the Marked.
In the morning, all the people got up as they always did. The Marked went out to the curb to check their mailboxes. No, nothing their from the DVD company that morning…that was odd. Some noted the box on their lawns. Some crinkled their noses. Others carefully stepped across the dewey green grass to pick it up, only to discard it, thinking it was a bad joke. Maybe from the Unmarked, for they were understood to be jealous of the Marked movies. Still others shrugged and took the DVD inside. The last remnant of the Marked ones discussed the impropriety of this being brought to them at all, and loudly rejected this offering, tossing it across the street to the now-curious families who were Unmarked. After all, the really special, promised DVD surely would be brought by Ed McMahon at the very least, complete with balloons, TV cameras, and a huge amount of confetti. Right? Of course. It had always been expected.
All during that day, the DVDs were discussed. Some of the Marked watched the movie and still thought it a bad joke. Some of the Unmarked watched the movie, too, amazed that they could understand it, for it had long been thought that the Marked had a secret language known only to them, which was why they had special DVDs.
Some of the Marked watched the DVD that very morning. Instead of a bad joke, they found it was the really super special DVD, because yes, the resort community was all done! And they were to go! With a happy heart, they jumped in their cars and took off. Others of the Marked who watched the movie still thought it was a joke, and a bad one, at that. They threw that DVD away, confident that others would be delivered.
During the night, quietly, some of the Unmarked packed what they owned and drove off according to the directions on the DVD. Not all of them, but a few thought that maybe…maybe…the promised resort community might be open to them. They left quietly, but they left and never returned.
The next morning brought sunshine and dew again to the neighborhood. Several families were missing, but the rest didn’t mind. The Marked went on waiting for another DVD to be delivered. The Unmarked carried on with their lives, both those who had not seen the DVD and those who had but had disregarded the directions.
No more movies were ever delivered. Mail might come from some unknown zip code, but no more movies were ever brought to the mailboxes of either the Marked or the Unmarked.
It is thought that some of the DVDs still are tucked away, there in that neighborhood. Sometimes, someone will take one out and watch it. Sometimes another family moves away. Sometimes, a stray DVD is found on the sidewalk.
And once in a while, someone blogs about this neighborhood. Like me. 