The Thinning

In a dystopic world that could quite possibly become a reality in the not so distant future, a single standardized test determines who lives and who dies.

I’m going to start by stating the facts. The UN calculates that there are more than 7 billion people on this earth, yet less than 200 years ago, we numbered less than a billion. The world exceeds over 3 times its capacity of human life. In less than 10 years, the demand for food and fuel will overtake food production and one in four people in the world will not have enough food to survive.In a nation so deprived of resources, each country faces its only option: decrease the population size.

Some countries decide it best to cut off the citizens aged over 65, or shed people with disabilities or mental hindrances, others allow only one child per family. In the US, only the smartest children are permitted to survive. July 27th every year, marks the day of “The Thinning” a day that strikes fear into the hearts of American citizens across the country. A day that may or may not, mark the end of days for someone you know.

Filtered through miles of single-file paths surrounded by meters of tall, iron fence, directed towards the center of the grid. Masked guards search your bags for evidence, any scrap of proof you’re planning to cheat. Step by step, you make your way inside the “school” institute and into rooms with your fellow classmates, all biting their nails in fear. When the clock strikes 9:00, the gates slam shut, metal shutters cover the windows and all outside light is banished. You take what might be your last breath of outside air, and you are closed inside.

Each year from Grades 1 through to 12, a single standardized test determines who lives and who dies. You have two hours to complete the test. All grades are final. Students who fail will be eliminated. You just sit there, mind swirling as your tablet’s light fades out and you await your fate. Screams echo throughout the room as each name on the list is read out, one by one and another child is pulled up from their seat, kicking and struggling against the guard. At least thirty people I know disappear every year, without a trace. Erased to the point that you question whether or not they even existed at all.

Your heart pounds in your chest as the list is drawing to an end and you watch the line of unsuccessful children, bound to one another with heavy chains, begin to make their way down the empty hall. Inch by inch, the fallen angels drag their chains towards both the known and the unknown, slowly being driven insane before they even make it there. I can’t imagine the pain. Knowing you are going to die, inevitably, indefinitely. You are going to die today, tomorrow you will not exist. Tomorrow, nobody will know your name, you will cease to exist. You are walking towards an unknown, an unknown that you only know one thing about, it will kill you. Yet, you do not know how.

The method of thinning changes each year. Those who are not part of the reckoning, are “encouraged” to watch,and though you are not forced to watch, the alternative results in a very similar fate to that of the children. So you obey, as most others do. Your head is strapped tightly into the headset, visibility-adjusted to the point where you could almost be in the room itself. Room 101. You look around the room, gulping as you look into the eyes of those fear-stricken faces. Faces of children, children aged 4-18, whose tears streamed down their faces. Yelling, begging for mercy. “I want my mummy,” the little ones sob, “I’ll be good I promise,” scream the tweens.

Your heart aches, you want to help them. Everyone does. Oh, how I feel for their families, their friends, their lovers. Imagine losing everything you’ve ever cared about, having to  watch the light fade out of their eyes, as a powerless coward, too afraid to do something. But it’s all for the best, isn’t it? At least, that’s what they say. “The US has a higher average intelligence than any other country in the world,” Governor Brooke’s words echoed from the headset, reminding you this was a good thing. A necessary thing.

The lights dim, the faces fade, it’s for the best you remind yourself. “Let the Thinning commence,” the voice in the headset murmurs in its usual, robotic, monotone speech. For a moment it’s silent, deafeningly silent, just for a moment. Before piercing screams begin to drive themselves right inside your skull. You watch the bodies slump down, one by one. Blood dripping onto the floor. Drip, drop. Drip, drop. Each droplet tearing into your heart and ripping your insides to pieces.

You breathe, just once, before the voice awakens your dumbstruck mind once again, “The Thinning is over, please return to your duties,” and the world moves on. As if nothing had ever happened, and the people who existed today, do not exist tomorrow, and in your mind you question, if they even existed at all.

Author's Note

This was an English assignment, it was based off a movie trailer, we were supposed to write a descriptive dystopic piece, approximately two pages long and without a plot or definitive characters. I hope you enjoy!