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Mediocris

A fictional piece of an all-too-real society.

By KaciePublished 2 years ago Updated 2 years ago 5 min read
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Most of the adults of Ovis Island shuffle eagerly into the Album Elementary School auditorium for the annual fourth grade talent show. Some take their seats not so eagerly as the rest.

The children get ready behind the stage curtain in silence. There are some faint wails that fall deaf upon the ears of the teachers setting up the grand decorations. The boy with the red hair sits in the corner with his black hood covering his eyes. He is too nervous for what is to come. Some students have their faces painted with grins, ready to perform their talents for the world. They know exactly what they are good at and know they will easily outshine some of their other competition. The boy with the red hair does not share in their delight. In fact, the boy with the red hair has no talent to share.

The show starts with a brilliant choir number by the children who perform the song The Blue Danube, accompanied by the most talented instrument players of the group. While most of the group performs admirably, every wrong note and pitch stick out like a sore thumb.

"Well I know who won't be singing for their talent tonight," Mrs. Dives thinks to herself as she fans herself with a scoff.

The boy with the red hair spies Robbie Pauperis' hand tremble ever so slightly before it dives swiftly into his pocket. Robbie catches the boy's gaze and his eyes flicker an expression the boy is not yet able to comprehend before he again turns his eyes to the audience.

Clapping fills the auditorium as the song finishes with the signal of the instructor. Afterwards, silence soon finds its place again within the walls of the school.

First up are always the children who have prepared for this day for years. They are children like Maggie Rocker who stuns with her rendition of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata on the piano with pure white flower petals being thrown down on her from the rafters. There's also Luke Polanski who lands head shots on each of the animal figures hidden around the stage, which has now taken the appearance of a forest, with his golden crossbow.

The crowd cheers in approval for the first of the group. The children in the middle perform next and their performances are exactly so: mediocre. Not bad, not amazing. The cheers still roll in however, as it is costume to still show some courtesy. After all, they aren't animals.

Lastly, are the finishing ten children. These are the few that divide the crowd. You can either become one who enjoys watching the embarrassment and terror of these few, or you can turn quiet and ashamed. Do you feel bad, or do you enjoy the weak performances of those who were not blessed with the gifts of the others? The crowd this year seems to mostly fall under the category of the enjoyers, snickering when a child makes even the slightest of mistakes.

The boy with the red hair is last. His set is, well, nothing special. More accurately it could simply be described as nothing, because nothing was on stage. Audience members look around and whisper, trying to guess what his talent will be. He makes his way to the center of the stage like a snail, still hiding in his makeshift shell that is his hoodie. He looks for his parents in the crowd but has no luck spotting them in the darkness.

The darkness seems to grow around the boy who struggles to think so much as a single thought as the darkness consumes his brain. He hides his hands in his pockets just like he remembered Robbie had done earlier. He opens his mouth to speak, but nothing comes out.

The boy catches a glimpse of his teacher backstage. She appears to be getting ready to remove him from the stage and end the show. The boy sees this, but the boy will not take it.

"You," he chokes out faintly.

"You are adults. Adults are supposed to be people we look up to," his voice starts to gain sound. The audience is now in the palm of his hand and his teacher stops dead in her tracks.

"We are kids, only in 4th grade." His words are spoken slowly but methodically.

"How could you do this to us? Judging us on something we cannot change. I wish I could sing. Or even dance. But I'm just...me." His eyes stay fixed on the ground.

"I'm sorry I'm not good enough. I'm sorry I failed." His head is now buried in his hands, tears dripping down onto the stage.

"But you guys are wrong. Wrong for this. Mean for this." He suddenly hears a woman's laughter break out from the crowd. He removes his head from his hands and manages to find the woman's face. Her ugliness revolts him. Her wrinkles bounce as her laughter continues, her eyes gleaming with excitement. And then he sees his parents. They sit in silence behind her. Their eyes not meeting his gaze. The look of disappointment swallowing their faces whole.

The boy with red hair suddenly smiles. A smile like this is one that has never crossed his face before. It's a smile he himself cannot quite comprehend yet.

And with that smile he utters these words proudly, "Go to Hell."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another year, another brilliant talent show! While most performances dazzled us members of Ovis Island, there were a fair share of stinkers in the mix. With this showing we are reminded of our traditions and their importance. While their was almost a historic decision to choose two children for 'The Removal' this year, our pick for that spot was made easy by their display of profanity and a hatred for their homeland.

"His act will forever replay in my nightmares. It was uncivilized, disgusting, and heartbreaking. To think there are children who could be so fowl still being created in our time. It's simply unbelievable and unacceptable. It was only fair he was chosen to be the 'Removed' this year." These words were uttered by the highly respected Mrs. Dives after attending the showing.

Wow, what an exciting year. To Mr. and Mrs. Nigreos we give a big thank you for your cooperation and also thrilling excitement towards our decision and the changes it has brought to your family. 'The Removal' is a time for all of us to reflect on the future and the positive changes we are bringing about in our land. May we all feel a little better knowing we have rid ourselves of the talentless few that hide amongst us. With nothing to offer for themselves, what could they offer us? Remember folks, we are the present. And, we are the future.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Latin translations:

Mediocris~ Average

Ovis~ Sheep

Album~ White

Dives~ Rich

Pauperis~ Poor

Nigreos~ Black

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About the Creator

Kacie

Just an aspiring writer trying to gain experience :)

Follow my adorable kitties on Instagram and Tiktok @joethehoe.finnforthewin <3

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