The Truman Show

Felicity

Christof may have controlled the first thirty years of my life, but I wasn’t going to let him dictate my future. Not many people can say that their entire life was a lie. Not many people can say that they’ve never met anyone real, only actors. How would you feel knowing that your wife was fed the line “I love you”? It’s hard to fathom I know but that was my existence. Ever since my escape from Seahaven, I’ve been living a re-birth of sorts. It’s remarkable knowing that every decision I had ever made up until this point was manipulated. Everything from the sweater I wore, down to the spoon in my cereal had been chosen for me. The rain drops that I assumed were falling from the sky were merely water vents designed to create the illusion of an element. It was all fake.

There was however an exception in the form of Sylvia. From the moment I met her I knew she was the one. My marriage to Meryl was nothing but a sham. Christof tried to make me love her from the start and for a while the manipulation worked. It’s easy to fabricate feelings when you’re desperate to feel something, but how could I trust someone who favoured Febreze over my ambitions? I wanted to see the world and Meryl wanted to see the mall. There was nothing spontaneous about her and in time I knew that I could never truly love her. The day I slipped on the sidewalk was the day that changed everything. She was the only one who stopped to see if I was okay. I remember thinking that there was something not quite right about that. The rest of the street just walked on by like robots. She didn’t have to stop you know I was quite capable of helping myself; but she did. There was something genuine about her face that day and I knew I had to see her again.





Two weeks went by until I saw her again. She was standing outside the bakery across the road, so I jumped at the chance to talk to her. I wouldn’t normally go to this bakery but I was tiring of my usual routine and thought what the hell; I was allowed to be friendly right? Wrong. My attempts to connect with her were squashed by Christof and she was immediately removed from the show. It took five steps in her direction before a sudden car crash made it impossible to get to her. At the time this seemed unbelievable, but now I can actually laugh about it. How I stayed so ignorant all those years is beyond me. As soon as I escaped from Seahaven, Sylvia was there waiting for me outside of the studio gates. Apparently once she left the show she started protesting for my release and was thereby banned from the premises. I couldn’t believe it once I found out. On top of everything there were people out there who wanted me to be free and Christof did everything in his power to try and shut them up. I even heard rumours of death threats. Many people thought I would seek revenge upon my release but what would that achieve? The biggest bitch is karma I say so let her do her job.

Sylvia and I chose to put the past behind us months ago and have never been happier. We already have a baby together called Felicity who is the light of our lives. She looks just like her mother but has the spirit of her father and is constantly looking for new places to explore. I don’t know what I’d do if any harm came to her. Not many people know this but upon my release from the show I received a letter from Christof stating that when the time is right my first child will suffer the same fate I did. I’d never want this information released however as all we want is to live a normal life with the same level of privacy as anyone else. I know it will never happen but I have to try my best for Felicity’s sake. Imagine the media frenzy if the press got a hold of the letter? He is so bitter about the demise of his show that he is determined to start afresh, his dream of course being Felicity to play the star.




What he meant by “when the time the time is right” I will never know but due to the nature of the situation (and my paranoia) I have Felicity under constant surveillance. I don’t know what drives me crazier, the fact that my child is under the same scrutiny that I once was, or that somebody could be so obsessed with reality television that they would risk everything to get what they want. By everything I mean his very life. I swore to myself that if Christof ever came near my children he would be a dead man. It would be a quest to say the least as he’s locked up these days, but I truly believe that there are no boundaries with that man and he will stop at nothing to get what he wants. I should check on Felicity actually, she’s been quiet over the monitor for a while now and I promised Sylvia that we would do something special as a family tonight. It is after all, a year since my escape…