All students wrap around the opaque tan auditorium. All surfaces dull, without reflection. Each plastic seat contains a person. Every bald acorn face, identical in size and shape. Each set of eyes look up at the wall. Only the labels on the uniforms separate the students.
The projector displays a video across a dull white wall. Every student watches the wall as they listen to the monotone voice, “All humans born must have their internal eyes and secondary brain removed.” A black wand magically hovers around the waist of a drawing to indicate the almond-shaped objects. “At one time, the secondary brain and eyes exist so humans could look inside themselves to recognize their ailments. Today, due to evolution and scientific advancements, we find these factions unnecessary.”
Everyone in the classroom looks the same. No student raises a hand or questions the video’s lesson.
“All humans develop in an organic pod. All develop unnecessary defects. These defects require removal to keep everyone equal. A baby may have a lump or a hole between the legs. These issues we quickly fix. The doctor who ejects each human from their pod discards the lump, internal eyes, and secondary brain to fabricate a new place identical to all other humans where their urine may flow. The doctor seals the larger hole and leaves only the necessary holes below the hips for excretion.”
Development requires the lifetime attendance of all humans. Each student stays informed with the knowledge the Intellectuals deem necessary. Every day the students receive a reminder never to open the heart-shaped locket around their neck. These life-long students receive their daily lesson of how the locket holds power to destroy reality. Only one person ever questioned how a small locket could destroy reality, X4927. X4927 claimed to one day open the locket to see what exists inside. Afterward, X4927 revealed to Z9375 about the person inside.
“When I looked inside, I saw an eye, but when I moved the locket, I saw a nose and then a mouth. I think a person who looks like everyone else exists, trapped inside the locket. I wonder if we released this person if they could destroy reality,” X4927 accounted. After X4927’s claim, Z9375 informed the superiors. X4927 disappeared.
After the bell rings, students gather into the spacious cafeteria. Fingers thoughtlessly tap the green button as pizza-flavored goo plops onto each tray. Spoons slop the food into each students’ mouth—no one talks.
The bell rings as students form a line to attend history.
History lesson never changes. Another video as every student sits quietly and listens to the monotone voice. “The great race and gender war,” different colored cartoon characters with angry eyes and frowns create tribes to attack one another. “The war that almost destroyed all humans, until the great intellectuals discovered a solution.”
“Skin color caused all wars.” The angry-faced, rainbow cartoon characters stand next to each other on the screen. The guns and spears bounce up and down on the screen as the voice continued to lesson. “Once human skin contained different pigments and layers of antennas referred to as hair covered the body,” hair grows on each character as swords appear in their hands. They barbarically attack one another in a war as the different characters swirl into new characters. The characters smile and look the same.
“Today, we no longer worry about war. Unnecessary differences no longer exist. The Intellectuals solved the world’s problems with the decision to remove all physical defects such as gender and race.”
All the students leave the auditorium, receive a shot and necessary medications as their program continues through games and other activities until the lights shut off. They sleep in their tiny beds, alone—this lesson they receive every day.
About the Creator
Keep reading
More stories from Hiosta Van Dillis and writers in Fiction and other communities.
LOKI’S RUSSIA
The class arrived in Saint Petersburg on a Wednesday. Our first trip amazed me through the red walls of the Hermitage museum. The Peacock Clock’s mechanical movements mesmerized me as something I would have expected from a modern Steam-Punk Animation. In front of the Peacock Clock, the man with an eye patch first appeared. He opened the conversation by explaining the artist. He claimed James Cox’s creations during his time as a goldsmith were quite phenomenal and nothing like anything imagined today. This clock was purchased as a gift by Prince Potiomkin for Czarina Catherine. He informed just like this clock, Russia’s history hides more mysteries than any other timepiece because the writer is the Norse god, Loki.
By Hiosta Van Dillis3 years ago in Fiction
The Boy & The Tree
I guess being homeless isn’t as bad as I thought. At least I get to develop a strong bond with Mother Earth. Tuval, a depressed, withdrawn, bookish 14-year-old high school student, felt no more warmth, comfort, peace, and confidence in his life. The family’s vast, beige, villa-style house became a war zone; Tuval heard nothing but constant yelling, cursing, breaking glass, punching holes in the walls, and kicking cabinets. His bald, grumpy, sociopathic alcoholic father ruled the home with his cold-hearted nature. His miserable, indifferent, prune-coloured haired, overweight mother never listened to what he had to tell her about how he felt about his family. She always dismissed him and said things like, “Man up! It is a part of life!" Him and his brothers were at odds; they never got along and they had nothing in common with Tuval, so he’d often be seen spending time in his bedroom alone every night after dinner. The whole concept of family living covered his body with goosebumps.
By Talia Devoraabout 14 hours ago in Fiction
High Rise, Deep Impact
I have witnessed a death that I relive every time I step into an elevator. Although it no longer affects me as deeply—given that it's been 11 years since the incident—it remains a heart- rending memory from my first and last day as a paramedic. My initial call to the scene involved a man who seemed to have fallen down the elevator shaft of a high-rise building. Alternatively, it might have been that the elevator moved upwards while he was working on it. Different scenarios were being considered when I arrived.
By Penelope Henaina day ago in Writers
Comments
There are no comments for this story
Be the first to respond and start the conversation.