Chapter one: The Cleansing Nominations
Death. It's what happens a lot in New York City, well it happens everywhere. America the once free and opportunity country is now highly over-populated with people. But that's nothing new, the whole world is highly over-populated with people. Africa is crowded with people, smashed together. Europe is particularly drowning in people. Australia's people spilling over its edges east and west, north and south. North America compacted with people, houses smashed together and stacked on top of each other with, ridiculously tall apartmentt buildings that reach the sky, office buildings becoming homes for some people. South America is flooding with people. Asia is over-flowing with people. Even Antarctica seems to be a little crammed. So of course there's a simple solution, that everyone as in the countries agreed to, and if you didn't well that country wasn't its own anymore, so each year from each country from each state, region, or city how every you pick or sort your country, they pick. One school out of a draw. They kill that whole school. The people there die young or old. But of course it can't be an even picking, the more funding your school needs from the government the more times your school name is put in there, this means the more money the parents have the less lightly they are to get picked, my school lives off of that funding.
My name is Thea Kylie Crow and I have had to live like this for my whole life lucky enough to never get picked. My grandmother tells me the layered ages when the world was extremely over-populated but it was beautiful she says her grandmother told her of the thin ages the time when everything was perfect the population was stable and calm. She tells me how people would play all day, everyone together and policemen would wave and be friendly. When the police knew their limits, when it was illegal to kill someone especially a child. But now it's different. It's cruel and selfish world. Though it only happens once a year, the cleansing, it scares people and the deaths never end, the police have all the power and can do anything they want, they can kill someone and say it was for the over-population. No one has the courage to tell the big people that we hate the cleansing though, it wouldn't matter. The nomination as they like to call it is today. At school enemies hold hands, friends hug tightly, good friends cry silently with each other but the best friends sobs echo down the halls. The laughter and happiness usually radiating off the students has been drained and has disappeared. The smiles have faded as the day had came closer. It's totally silent, no one talks. The only noise is the sobs of best friends bouncing off the walls. Everyone slowly and nervously walks to the gym. The place where we find out if we die, or our siblings or friends but someone always dies. And every year an innocent dies, innocents die, you can't help that no matter what one innocent dies. The drawing part is what everyone pays attention to not the talking about population or the reaction but the picking especially our picking, New York's. At the moment we were in the top ten school's in New York to get picked. The school is full of mostly low class kids but a few others, this school is different, unlike other schools our teachers talking about rights and freedom and creativity and happiness. The other schools learn restrictions and populating the correct number of children and laws and rules and hatred for the population and supporting for the government, the schools were filled with cruel people. The huge TV flickers on. I hold tight to my best friend's hands, Anna and Lily. My other best friend, Jackie hugs my side tight with her small frame.
"Hello this is the annual nomination for the annual cleansing. Like every year we will start with Alabama then continue in alphabetical order" the man says in a monotone voice, his brown eyes dead and his gray and white hair that's thinning is gelled down side ways and his lips thin and straight with no emotion.
He reaches his pale, wrinkled hand in the glass bowl filled with black slips of paper with white writing on them. He picks one and pulls his hand out opening it and looking up no reaction whatsoever.
"Alabama nomination is Stevenson High" he says his voice the same monotone. I can see it, silent for a minute, then some people would sigh in relief that their siblings would live for another day, but some would break into sobs. They would beg not to be taken by the guards waiting out each exit of every school to know the nomination, but no mercy is shone on them as they are taken. Some would be killed there for fighting but other that don't were taken to the closest military base and are killed there the next day or that night. Some asking for paper and a pencil to write some final words to their friends and family if they have any alive. The states went. California. Delaware. Florida. Georgia. Hawaii. Indiana. Kentucky. Louisiana. Michigan. New Jersey. New Mexico. "New York's nomination," everyone stiffens and grips tighter to each other. "New York East High" the man says his reaction the same emotionless face
New York East High
New York East High
New York East High
I repeated the name over and over again and again in my head
Shit
OUR school
OUR school
OUR school
The same thing repeats again and again till it sinks in and my heart sinks.
Why
Was what I was asking myself
Hi
This is my story
As you can probably tell my idea kinda came from the hunger games
But it's just the concept of the story, the cleansing is the only idea that was inspired by the hunger games and please don't comment how this is like the hunger games because I know that's where my idea came from!
So ya hope you enjoy guys
Till next time
Ren
