An excerpt from Simon Parker and Guillermo Ortego’s contribution to our Radical Visions of Future Government collection.

Beneath the Stones is a piece of speculative fiction written by Simon Parker and illustrated by Guillermo Ortego. The story transports its protagonist from 2019 into 2030 and uses their encounter with a new world to tell a story about a different type of government and society. In this future, time is a resource which can be redistributed in the same way a government might with money. The story invites us to imagine our lives beyond the constrictions of full-time work, and explores the resulting impact that has on society.

I creak into consciousness, the weak February light infiltrating the room through a gap in the curtain. I’d worked late yesterday and felt like I could have slept for a decade, and a night of tossing and turning hadn’t done much to improve matters.

My next thought is to roll over and go back to sleep, but a lie in isn’t going to pay the bills. And then it hits me: if it’s light, I’m already late for work. I tumble out of bed, cursing. After a hasty cup of coffee and a shower, I’m out of the front door and running for the bus stop. But instead of the usual hastening crowds, the pedestrians are meandering at a pace I start to find infuriating, and I mutter and swear as I push through a gaggle of dads pushing buggies at a crawl.

There‘s usually a queue of thirty waiting for the bus, but today there are just five sad-looking commuters in expensive-looking suits. I step onto the bus and look around uselessly for a sensor to wave my debit card at, though none appears. I’m reaching the point where my obvious confusion is about to turn into anger when I feel a light touch on my elbow and turn to see a lady in her mid-70s, her hair a mass of greying curls and her body wrapped up tightly against the cold.

“Young man,” she says firmly. “I really think you should come with me”. The grip on my elbow becomes a little harder as she steers me away from the bus stop. Before I know what I’m doing, I find myself walking away from the sad line-up and towards a nearby park. I start making furious protests. “What do you think you’re doing? What’s my boss going to say?”.

“I’m Ava, and you’re talking like one of those suits,” replies my acquaintance. “Listen, this isn’t the 2010s. No one in their right mind goes to work on a Wednesday.” I can be a little absent-minded, but I wasn’t the sort to mislay an entire decade – when I fell asleep last night, it was very definitely still the 2010s.

“You really are like those commuters,” she replied, smiling. “Always worried about the time.

Now, you still haven’t told me your name.” I introduced myself as Joe Guest.

“Well, Guest,” replied Ava, “I can see you’re confused and feel like you’re in a strange land, but I’m sure you’ll find your way home. And there’s a glorious winter day ahead of us which I mean to seize.”

I found her words oddly reassuring; perhaps I was dreaming. Or maybe I’d wandered onto the set of an immersive theatre experience? Whatever this was, I decided to try and silence the anxious voices in my mind, full of targets and timetables, in order to explore this new country. My first question was simple: if no one worked today, what were those commuters doing at my bus stop?

“Some people have never been able to accept the fact we don’t work like we used to,” Ava said. “Those men are what we used to call ‘city traders’ - and they refused to accept the four day week. But instead of fighting them, we took pity on them. A local charity took over a few office blocks in Canary Wharf and created fake trading floors. The brokers feel like they’re working in the old way, but their computers don’t connect to anything, so they can’t do any harm. Now if you’d like to learn more about our customs, let’s walk on...”

You can follow Simon Parker on twitter @SimonFParker and Guillermo Ortego @willortego

Explore a selection of the other contributions as part of our Visions of Government 2030 feature.