Touch Starved
The alley was long and dark. Amelie’s heart was beating fast and it took a tremendous amount of effort to put one foot in front of the other. Did she really want to do this? This wasn’t right. She shouldn’t be here. But her friend had told her it would be the best thing she’d ever experienced.
Human touch. Amelie couldn’t imagine anything more perverted and forbidden. Why would you touch another human being and risk being exposed to germs? That would break so many of the health laws that had been put in place over the last few decades.
Epidemics had become so horrible and deadly when antibiotic resistance in bacteria had taken over. No antibiotic had worked anymore and people had died like flies. Humanity had been close to extinction but the last survivors had been able to rebuild society. The new laws prevented most diseases from spreading.
And why would you want to touch somebody anyway? Reproduction could be achieved by fertilizing an egg cell in a vial and then raising it in an artificial womb. Sex itself was far more pleasurable with a robot specifically programmed for it than with a human. Doctors had a vast array of machines that could assess a patient’s health and were only needed to make final decisions.
Nobody she knew had ever been touched by another human. Well, nobody besides her friend Kira. And that friend had sent her into this dark alley to meet another woman who provided human touch for a fee.
”Hello?” Amelie called out quietly, too afraid to raise her voice. ”Is anybody here?”
”Yes, my dear”, a sulky voice responded. ”You are Amelie, aren’t you? Your friend told me you would come. I usually don’t immediately meet with new customers but Kira said you are not from the government.”
While she had been talking, a tall woman had emerged from a corner of the alley. She had to be around forty years of age and her face showed a soft smile.
”Did you bring me my money?” She asked Amelie, who nodded and handed her a bundle of banknotes. The women took them, quickly counted the money and then put it in a pocket inside her jacket.
”Very well. I assume you’re completely new to this?”
”Yes” Amelie answered with a voice several octaves higher than she intended.
”Then I don’t want to overwhelm you. The oxytocin your body will release because of the touch will already be strong enough even when it is just a short hug.”
”The what?”
”Come to me”, the woman requested and opened her arms wide.
Carefully, Amelie stepped towards her. Her thoughts were racing. What was she doing? This was not only highly illegal but also highly disgusting! She was about to be hugged by someone. This could not be right! This…
The woman wrapped her arms around Amelie and pulled her to her chest. Amelie was a bit shorter than the woman and her face ended up pressed against the woman’s shoulder. For a moment, Amelie tensed up and felt the need to push away, but then the woman started stroking her hair and she relaxed.
This felt better than Kira had described. Amelie closed her eyes and let herself be swept away by the experience.
When the woman finally let her go, Amelie was shaking a bit.
”I have never experienced anything like this”, Amelie said. The woman smiled again.
”Not many have. The fear of punishment and sickness is too big. But people have forgotten that human touch is important for our health. We need it to bond with people, to form trust and to be generally healthy and happy. Our society has become cold and depressed because we deprive ourselves of the most basic need besides food and drink.”
”How long have you been doing this?” Amelie asked.
”Oh I don’t know exactly, but I think I started when I was 14 or 15 years old. My parents provided this kind of service too, you know. I grew up with cuddling and affection everywhere. But then, the police caught both of my parents in the same week and took them away. They were put in prison for violating health regulations. I’ve never seen them again. Shortly after that incident, I followed into their footsteps.”
Amelie shook her head.
”That is horrible.”
”Yes, it is. But the state of our whole society is horrible right now. When people don’t touch each other at all, it is much easier to feel hatred and resentment.”
”Can I come back next week?” Amelie wanted to know.
”Of course. I’ll be here until they will take me away too.”
Sources:
What does Oxytocin do?
Oxytocin production + Facts
Violence and Touch Deprivation in Adolescents
[Touch in Early Development](https://books.google.de/books?hl=de&lr=&id=qMvsAgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PP1&dq=%22touch+deprivation%22&ots=pTC8LoTDH2&sig=2AVIZfu10zd_QHamCxf6YztJ9Ss#v=onepage&q=%22touch%20deprivation%22&f=false]
Touch starvation is an actual problem in our society, especially between single adults. So help yourself, hug a friend (but ask them for permission first).
Got a scientific topic which you want to see as a story? Leave me a comment!
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Picture taken from pixabay.com
Very well written, its like reading the scripting of a deleted scene from the film "Demolition Man". I shall resteem this :)
WOW! THIS IS THE MOVIE I JUST COMMENTED ABOUT!
Haha, not sure how I mixed up Schwarzenegger with Stallone, guess it must really have been a long time ago I've watched it. :D
Wow @Suesa... you have done it once again. Absolutely amazing work. It seems like these stories just come so naturally to you, why not ever try put together a screen play?
Sorry, this is not completely related to a post.. but in series The Leftovers, there was one character who hired hookers for her. When hooker came in, she put on a bullet proof vest and told the hooker to shoot her in the chest. You could guess she had to get a new hooker every time.
In the series, she did it to feel alive.
Okay, now back to your post.
I couldn't imagine a scenario where I couldn't get to touch other people. This is one kind of eye opener how good society we have, as we can touch other people quite freely. Even a complete failure with antibiotics could lead into such a scenario and it's scary.
It would probably take a bit more than described in my story, but especially if touch is prosecuted, it would become harder and harder to find someone to just have contact with.
I love the story, but you missed the crypto angle. The bank notes would have been illegal because they can spread bacteria. :)
Ah! Well, one can't think of everything. :D
I didn't think of that. Nice thinking @blocktrades haha!
Good point
Very dystopian. I too, must comment on how well written this is.
You've managed to paint a splendid picture of a world that is troubled and challenging in not too many words. Keep it up!
Really like your writing! So happy to find quality content that is both entertaining and informative. You asked if there were any requests for scientific topics? My suggestion, Dopamine and addiction. You can let your heart and mind run wild with the story, but the premise for WHY you should write it (especially on here with so many devoted users) is because we are all changing our brain chemistry with our screens and many of us might not realize what we are doing to ourselves. Just a thought. Lovely stuff and apologies if you already covered a similar topic, but I just found you (total Nube) Cheers! @ecoknowme
Thank you for your feedback, I'm putting the topic on the list!
Great thanks, I'll look out for it!
I suppose she could just start hugging her friend Kira for free and ruin the alley woman's business.
But what if they get caught? :P the story was a bit different in the first draft and basically started with Kira and Amelie hugging. But not everyone might be comfortable with doing something "perverted and dirty" with their friend. A stranger can sometimes be the better choice.
Yeh, I wasn't picking holes in the story ^^ It just made me think about their future. I think it would be funny if there were workers at an amusement park who were dressed up as furry animals and then on the side they were making extra cash by hugging people.
What an idea :D
I wonder if people would disappear if they accidentally hugged someone. Such as if someone fell down some stairs or something and a member of the public grabbed them to stop the fall and it ended up in a hug.
I considered writing a prequel and you're encouraging me :P
And wrestling had to be banned as a sport because of all the hugging. :p
Ok, I stop now.
Well done! I really enjoyed the premise, and the dialog held me in the moment so that I wasn't really distracted by stray thoughts of how germs may be spread in other ways like breathing or exchanging money. Thank you for sharing.
Great story. It reminded me of this one old futuristic movie I've watched a long time ago, can't really remember the name but I think it was with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Sex was basically forbidden there too cause reproduction happened like in your story.
lol, this reminded me of Finland.
There was an Arnold joke in the movie. I think they talked how Arnold became the president and saved the country or something like that.
Arnold had a joke about Stallone in one of his movies, something about Sylvester Stallone being the actor in Terminator 2.
That makes me kind of sad :/
Total Recall? or the movie with Sylvester Stalone, "Demolition Man"?
It was Demolition Man. :)
The story is cool and also lure, wkwkkwkw
great post :D