No Light

No Lights

My voice can't be heard, my mind can't be seen, everything before seemed like a dream.

Plain, boring and dull, that's the only way to explain the world I live in. No colors, no voices, no opinions.

I walk down the sidewalk full of broken pieces of glass and old oak tree roots trying to break through the concrete. I stop to stare up at the dome that prevents us from seeing the world as it once was; a world of creativity.

Keeping a lookout for drones that are usually on watch, I turn the corner into an unknown alley and uncover a door. It was covered in leaves and vines, bugs slithering all over its frame. I open the door, which sounds like it would break, and saw stairs leading into the darkness. I walk down and the closer I get the more I hear, the more I see, the more I feel free. I have found my paradise, a vast room full of colors, and people who are talking, no sign language. There are people who are singing to each other, dancing in the corners and smiling. None of this is permitted on the surface but underground is a different story. It's like an illegal drug, one hit and you're addicted.

As I walk through the crowd, people smile and wave at me. As I resume walking, I bump into something. I look down and see a small, frightened little girl, she seems 6 or 7. Looking up at me, she starts to tremble. Her dress was ripped and she has bruises along her arm.

"Hey, you okay?" she looks up at me in shock.

'Why are you talking, why is everyone in this place talking, everyone will be thrown into the dungeons,' she signs to me.

"It's okay, you can talk here, this place is a secret, they don't know it exists. What is a little girl like you doing down here. My name is Winn, what's yours?" I asked. She looks around cautiously, clutching onto her dress, before answering," M-my n-name is is Olivia, I don't know how I got here, one moment I'm leaning against a wall, next I'm here, what is this place?" That must have been the reason for the reason she looked like she did.

I looked at her with pity. She was born into a world that denies the act of creativity. She has never experienced a world where people laugh, dance, sing, or did anything that allows us to be ourselves.

"This is what the world was like before now. The world that was made of colors and was full of love, laughter, joy" I explain to her with tears threatening to escape from my eyes.

She looked up at me, confusion taking over her face, and asked. "What's laughter?"

"It's just a way of showing you're happy.," I said with a smile on my face, sadness filling my eyes.

"What was the world like before?" she said, curiosity written all over her face.

"Back then the world was filled will a lot of things, one example would be colors. Would you like to see some colors?" she nodded as I finished my sentence. I asked her to follow me and I led her to a dim lit room which was filled with paints of different shades. She walked in with curiosity, which was now a usual expression.

"Do you know what colors are?" I asked. She shook her head no, which was not surprising.

"Okay, come here, I wanna show you something," I said as I reached down to grab a brush and a can of paint. She walked in and I handed her the brush that I had dipped into the can of red paint.

"Now take the brush, place it on the wall and move it any way you want," she cautiously did as I told and began to paint. She added more life to the wall, which used to be dull, with every stroke she made. More and more till she dropped the brush and tears began forming in her eyes. She moved her mouth unable to speak a word, a sound, anything. She turned to me, slowly, tears streaming down her face, regret in her eyes.

"Thank you for everything, all of this, but I'm sorry," she said. Reaching into her dress pocket, she pulled out a button. " I'm sorry," she repeated as she pushed the button.

Drones barged through the door tailed in by the government officials. They tackled me and wrapped my wrists in cold, heavy chains. They struck my head repeatedly. My vision became foggy as I felt blood drip down my face. The last thing I saw before I fell was the color of red on the wall I helped create. Suddenly, I was left with no light.