Blurry Visions
The alarm buzzed early in the morning signaling a new day for Hendrik. It was always dark and cold outside by the time he got up, but he always knew it was going to be a perfect day. After taking his shower in a room that felt like a sauna afterwards, he went on to put in his contacts.
Having an hour before he had to leave for school, he made some cereal and sat down to watch the morning’s news. Nothing bad ever happened on the news and all they ever showed was the country’s great leader. This was okay with Hendrik since his leader gave his family a place to live for free. When the clock reached the top of the hour, he cleaned up after himself and took his backpack out the door.
The sun was rising on his walk to school making the dew on the grass sparkle like diamonds. The speakers around his neighborhood played the only radio station in the nation. It was always the same stuff every day, but that was okay with Hendrik since his leader has giving his country everything. As he came closer to the school, he stopped by his friend’s house to see if he still was on vacation. His friend has been gone for months, but the great leader granted his friend’s family a free trip to a resort.
After a thirty minute walk, he finally arrived at the school courtyard. The flowers just started blooming for the day with vivid colors everywhere. Eventually the school bell rang and all the students went to class.
Hendrik’s teacher was strict, like every teacher, but he did not mind since it would help him in the future. He sat in the back of the classroom where most of the pictures of the great leader were as well as the influencing posters. His class usually watched a video every day on how another country was trying to change what they did and how they could stop it. Usually violence was portrayed in these films, but neither Hendrik nor his classmates minded since it was mandatory that they join the military later in life.
At twelve, the bell rang for lunch. During this time, Hendrik usually played soccer with his friends, the country’s national sport. Although they played rough at times, the teachers never intervened since they needed to show that they were tough enough to survive in the world. Very few times did people get hurt, but today was different. As Hendrik was trying to go for the ball, he got hit in the face. After getting up from being dazed, he realized that his contacts had fallen out and that he could not see clearly anymore. Everything he once knew seemed to look different.
The bell rang again to go back to class and as he walked through the courtyard it no longer had flowers with vivid colors and blooming blossoms. To him, it now looked like a bunch of dead grass with dirt patches everywhere. He thought that maybe it was still because of him being dazed and ignored it and went back to class.
Back in class, Hendrik’s teacher put on another video. However, this time Hendrik found the true meaning of the film and realized it was a propaganda film. He wondered how a cartoon influenced his views as well as his nation’s. Even though he started disagreeing with the film, he sat through it for the rest of the day trying not to say anything bad in fear of getting in trouble. After a few hours of waiting that felt like a day, the school bell finally rang to mark the end of the day.
Hendrik always went the same way home as he did to school, except this time the sun was at its peak. He noticed that the grass no longer looked like diamonds in the sun from sprinklers and dew, but instead it looked like hay attaching to his shoe with each step. The speakers that were playing the same thing every day now bugged him and he no longer wanted to hear them. His pleasant walks that he used to have on his way home were now ruined with propaganda in which he did not believe in anymore. When he came up to his house, he realized it was not what it used to be. The house, which he thanked the leader for, now looked like an abandoned building in a ghetto. Hendrik no longer felt that his nation was the best and decided to do something about it.
The next morning, Hendrik decided to stay home from school to plan out what he would do to get his country to change. Although he knew he would get in trouble at school for not showing up, he took the chance to change something he felt that needed to be changed. After about four hours of planning, Hendrik finally came up with the perfect plan. He decided to try and get a few of his friends to see the world for what it really looked like by showing them his own propaganda. He knew that they thought the videos they showed now were real, but if he tried to get them to believe what was really true, he would have people to back him up.
Quickly making his way to school during lunch hour, Hendrik felt like he was being followed. Trying not to be late, he ignored looking back and started to run. He arrived at school with seconds to spare for the last part of the day. The teacher asked why he did not show up for the beginning of school and quickly gave the punishment of five lashes. Walking back to the class in pain, Hendrik eventually sat down and talked to his friend on how theirs lives could be different. Fearing that they could be punished, his friends quickly ignored him and got back to their work.
After about thirty minutes at school, the teacher gave Hendrik a note to go to the office. At the time, Hendrik did not know what he did wrong, but he soon learned. When he arrived in the office, he realized two government workers were standing in the room. Showing respect, he stayed in the room and waited until they talked. After a few minutes of staring at each other, the government workers said that he was going on vacation to a resort. Forcefully bringing Hendrik to their car with tinted windows, they started the car and drove out east towards the desert.
What do you guys think?
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