My Voice

What if your only freedom was your voice, but it was silenced. What would you do? Me… I’d get myself thrown into punishment.

 

January 23, 3074

            My name is Lily. Today I am turning 14 years old. I would say it is my birthday, but birthdays are illegal. Even writing in this journal is illegal. My mother found this journal in the Scrap. She found the, what she calls, “ink” by The Fence.

My mother knows out of fear that I will not talk, so she got me this. She gave it to me wrapped in newspaper clippings from the 2000’s and would say, “Here you go Lily, the next best thing.” Then she would smile.

My mother does not care for the rules of The Land, even though they’re there to protect us from each other.  One of the rules in the land is we are not allowed to talk. That’s the biggest rule, and my mother breaks it everyday. I do not know how she has survived not going to Punishment for the past 14 years. Oh, another thing is we do not have numbers. I only know what my age is because my mother tells me.

            She was born before the black out and learned lots of things they don’t teach us today, like how to talk.

I know how to talk, I just choose not to because I do not want to go to Punishment.  

She said that before the black out the world was a happy place, every one had a neighbor and friends and love was always in the air with church bells ringing every second. But now all of those things are illegal; love, friends, and only one church is left standing, but the bells are so cracked they cannot ring anymore.

“And biggest of all,” She says, “We could talk whenever we wanted and as loud as we wanted!” Yelling at the top of her lungs. I would always shush her and run to the windows to see if any Gates were coming. The Gates are the guards of The Fence, and the takers of people to Punishment. They can talk whenever they wanted to.

My mother says we come from a special family. Proud speakers. Even singers, but whenever I ask what singers are she simply says, “You’ll see.” But I never see anything. When I showed her what I had wrote today she simply said, “See how much you got to say, but can’t because of fear?” Then she would go back to knitting my scarf for tomorrow.

School starts tomorrow.

 

 

 

January 24, 2074 (Morning)

My mother woke me up this morning, shaking me until I got up. I groggily got up and started to dress in my uniform. A black mid skirt, white blouse with puffy sleeves, white socks and the most uncomfortable loafers ever. This was simply the uniform for school. And the only clothes I’d get to wear for the next nine months.

            I looked into my mirror and adjusted my uniform, my brown curly hair into a pony, and made sure all the icky stuff was out of my eyes. My mother peeked through the door. “Oh don’t you look cute.” I put my finger to my lips the minute she spoke.

            “Sorry.” She said, holding a hand up. She held orange juice in the other hand. I motioned for it and she gave it to me. I drank it, happily. I had been so thirsty. My mother watched me as I drank it and I thought I saw tears appearing in her eyes. I quickly ran over to my window and shut the curtains. That had been a big step for me, closing the curtains is against the rules. So was crying.

            “Oh I’m sorry Lily, I just can’t help the fact that I can’t just home school you.” I tilted my head at an angle and lowered my eyebrows, letting her know I didn’t know what that was.

            “Oh I’ll tell you when you get home.” She scooted me downstairs and stood at the door as I waited for the car.

            My mother told me that when she went to school everyone rode on a bus, but they became illegal when the black out happened and having friends became illegal.

(Afternoon)

            School was okay today. My computer seemed nice. We don’t have teachers, as my mom says she had, but instead computers. They teach us what they think we should be taught.

            When I got home my mom finally told me what home school was.

“It is when the parent teaches the child at home. And the parent can teach them whatever the child wants to be taught.”

            I wish I could do that.

 

January 26, 2074

             Today it rained, which is rare, so we didn’t have school. The report we got over the computer said,

            “Dear 7098 (our address),

Today it is raining. We advise no one to go outside for this weather could possibly be an affect of the black out. The Gates have been kept in housing today also.

            This is NOT a warning, this is a rule.

Sincerely,

            The Gatsen”

 

The Gatsen is like our government. My mom says the government before the black out was the best in the world, but when the black out struck they got scared and made the rules, taking away all our rights. My mother told me free speech was one of the rights.

            My mother didn’t care for the rules and told me to go play in the rain. She said that was the funniest thing to do as a child. I obeyed her, after all the Gates were in housing. I’m not scared. At least I don’t think I am.

            I walked along The Fence with this very journal in my pocket. The Fence was a large chrimnite chain that reached all the way into the sky, well that’s what it looked like. Chrimnite is the toughest metal in the world, the Gatsen said it was the only thing good from the black out because the explosion made it and they used it to protect us from the Forest. The Forest is the other side of the world. One where people cannot live, but    my mother says that when The Fence was put up people got locked into the Forest and learned to live in the Forest. She said she would rather live there with freedom then here with rules.

            I walked along the edge, feeling the wet water hit my face. Feeling it run down my nose and trickling into my mouth. It tasted so fresh.

            I was straying away from the house and was about to turn around until I saw something ahead. I walked farther along and came to a large, hole. Yes a hole, in The Fence! I looked through not believing it was there. What can break through chrimnite? I saw the forest ahead and saw the trees wet with water, little dew drops falling from the still green leaves and even seeing sticks fall form the weight of the water. The forest floor was littered with brown and red and yellow leaves and pine needles and sticks of every size. It was beautiful.

            I wanted to step through so badly, but knew I couldn’t. Surely The Gates know about this, but if they did then why haven’t they repaired it?

             I faced my fears. I wanted to do this. Just me.

I walked through.

           

Instantly I felt different. I felt lighter, like I could fly. I felt…free.

And the one thing I wanted to do first was talk. I ran along a little path made out of trees into a big opening. I looked back and couldn’t see the fence. Amazing how easily invisible it could get.

“Hello?” I whispered, my voice cracking at the sound of hearing it. “Hello?” I said again, louder. “Hello!” I finally yelled. I felt terrific!

“Hello! Hello! Hello!” I just kept yelling it, and yelling it. I never wanted to stop! I started twirling around myself and heard a plop! I looked down and saw my journal in a pile of wet leaves. I picked it up and watched a slip of paper fall out of the back. I watched it float slowly to the ground. I looked at it from where I stood. It was a photo of a woman, but photos were illegal.

            The woman looked young, and she was beautiful. She had her hair in tight curls against her head with a feather entwined on the side of her head, big luscious lips that shone and big brown eyes with long lashes. Her skin was a light brown, like mine and she smiled as if the world was perfect. I picked up the photo and turned it over. It said Ella in, what I think is, cursive. It was so beautiful. Under the photo there were more written words.

 

At last

My love has come along

My lonely days are over

And life is like a song!

Oh yeah, the skies above are blue

My heart was wrapped up in clover

The night I looked at you

 

I hummed it to myself. I didn’t even realize what I was doing. I didn’t even know I could make a sound with my mouth closed. I realized that I should say the words to what I was humming. I didn’t know how, but I tried saying them in a special way. I started…singing.

            I felt even freer! It was the most amazing feeling I had ever felt! I started singing it over and over again, having the words memorized, until I heard a crack. I looked over and saw a boy standing between two trees. His skin was tan and his hair cut short. His shirt was a dark brown splattered with splotches of different colors and had some tears that looked like they had tried to be sewn up, but ripped again anyway and his shirt clung to his skin because it was so wet from the rain, or was it something else? His shorts were ripped right below his knees little strands of fabric hung from it and that also clung to his skin.

 The strangest things were his eyes, which were a bright green, as if they reflected the color from the leaves. He stared at me in amazement. He started walking forward, but I tried to run away and ended up tripping over my own feet. I fell sprawled out on the ground.

“Whoa!” He said. His voice was so deep, but it felt natural and nice. I felt his hands touch my arm and back and I felt him lifting me up. I stood up facing him. He was a few inches taller than me, but he seemed about the same age as me, and I could tell he was staring at my face and not over my head, even though I was looking down.

“You have a very nice voice.” He said. I looked up smiling. He smiled back. His smile felt sweet and I somehow felt safe around him. No Gates, no Gatsen, no Fence. But in an instant he was gone and I heard the worst sound ever, a raspy and thick voice.

“You there! Halt and come forward!”

            I was being sent to punishment.

I sat in a dark and damp cell underground. At least I could feel the rain. And they didn’t take my journal. In a way I was thankful. I sat there fiddling with my writing tool awaiting my punishment, even though I already knew what it would be. The Gatsen don’t take pity on children. I tried to push those thoughts to the back of my head. I thought about how I felt in the forest.

I had felt so free! Like nothing could touch me, and my voice, that was my voice! I couldn’t believe it! I could have sung all day! And the boy, he was so human, so real, it was almost too good to be true, and his voice was the most beautiful I had ever heard. Was this what love felt like? It felt good.

Maybe the boy had made that hole in the Fence; maybe he wanted me to find it. All the different thoughts were twirling around in my head until I heard a loud bang! Suddenly gunshots started firing. I couldn’t see anything from my cell, but I heard everything. The loud bangs, the gunshots, the shouting of different voices.

But then a very familiar voice shouted above the rest.

Author's Note

I wrote this for a contest! a dystopian contest...please comment!