I am currently the vice president of my college’s
Creative Arts Club. It’s part of my job to come up with creative activities to help foster creative thinking and that, well, get my club members producing art. This past week we did a
flash fiction exercise where we were all
given the same opening sentence and had 20 minutes to write a one-page story. I enjoyed what I came up with
so much that I came home and rewrote it for the blog. Here it is for your
reading pleasure.
Sound the Alarm
An unfamiliar alarm rang out stopping the hustle and bustle of the
city square. It wasn’t one of the normal alarms signaling our city’s normal
daily activities. Instead, it was the
loud, grating, angry emergency alarm causing everyone to freeze in place. The
citizens looked around in confusion not sure what they are supposed to do at
this point. A virtual teleprojector
appeared from thin air. The Mayor was on screen
sitting stiff and meticulously groomed like a marionette puppet. He began to
address the city.
“My
fellow citizens of the great common wealth of Pacifica,” His eyebrows formed a
deep menacing furrow, “We have reason to suspect that a domestic terrorist
group is at work within the borders of our fair city.”
A
whispered gasp was heard over the square followed by heavy silence. Everyone
was listening intently to the mayor’s every word. Instinctively, I pulled my
jacket closer around me letting its collar
conceal part of my face. It was the same drab gray
standard issue designated to all factory workers.
“This
terrorist group is a Trojan Horse, referring to themselves as the Saviors,
espousing propaganda against the city of Pacifica and the Authority.” The Mayor
cautioned, hardly blinking his dull glassy eyes. “We urge our citizens to not
fall prey to their unnatural ideologies and anarchist agenda. As Mayor, I
encourage all our citizens to be ever vigilant and report any of the following
suspicious behavior, anyone not performing their assigned duties, anyone
expressing clear or implied discontent against the Authority, anyone out after
curfew without proper documentation, or any other behavior out of the normal. Together
we can stomp out this extreme organization. We thank you in advance for your
complete cooperation, it is deeply valued and mandatory.
As
quickly as the teleprojector appeared, it
was gone. There was a brief pause after the message before the citizens carried
on with their day. Many exchanged quick glances. Gone was the puzzled look of
confusion. In its place now was fear and suspicion of their neighbors. The
Mayor’s corrupted seed was already starting to take root in the hearts of the
citizens. It was a brilliant move by the
Authority, turning neighbor against neighbor. The more divided we are the
easier we are to subdue. If we are busy looking for fault in one another we
will be blinded by the control going on around us.
Eventually,
everyone picked up and carried on with their allocated tasks for the day,
though a little less defeated than they realize. I smiled ruefully at the blank
air where the Mayor gave his message. Soon a different alarm would sound. The Savior’s
alarm that would awaken a new era for the people of Pacifica, the country and
nothing will ever be the same. They had no idea what they are up against, our
roots went deep back to the rise of the Authority and our day of reckoning was
close at hand.
There
was much that had to be done. Revolutions don’t happen overnight. The people must
be ready for it to take hold. Pacifica was close but needed a push in the right
direction by the Saviors. But first, I
had to put a knife into the heart of the person who sold us out to the
Authority.
