Sonny awoke to the sound of his alarm, blaring across his room. Shit. He thought, after waiting a few minutes, he scrambled out of his bed and walked out his door. The thick scent of eggs and toast reached his nose as his eyes got used to the sight of his homely apartment, he walked down the hall and across the living room to reach the kitchen. The television growled in the background as his father eagerly ran about the apartment, looking at the TV, then checking on the eggs, and finally fumbling through some random papers. All in a very precise pattern.
"Morning, papa." Sonny said. His father beamed up towards Sonny.
"Sonny!" he yelled, running to the kitchen and dumping the contents into two plates. "My boy, today is a big day for me, for you, and for the whole city. We must eat well for the grand election!" Sonny nodded in agreement.
"Have you decided on who you are going to vote for?" Sonny already knew the answer, but he always loved to hear his father's answer.
"The Alliance, of course!" His father boomed, running to the pile of papers and revealing a small poster. The poster showed an elderly man speaking to a crowd, under it in bright letters saying 'Alvy, the Voice of the People!' Sonny sat down in the couch his plate and began to eat. His father continued. "I mean look at the polls!" he pointed to the television, a news report flashing between crowds, polls, and politicians. "We are winning by so many points, the people are behind the Alliance, and so am I! They'll put this city right and the whole earth will know peace." Sonny quickly finished his breakfast as his father spoke.
"I would love to keep talking but I must go to school." Sonny lifted and walked about the apartment, getting ready for the day. He hurried to his room, and came out fully dressed in jeans and a t-shirt. After that, he fumbled to the bathroom and took care of his hygiene. He flickered at his phone shortly afterward, a wall of texts and other notifications, mostly dealing with the election. Sonny sighed and headed toward the door, backpack in hand.
"Sonny," his father piped up. "Don't forget to vote in the school election, and make sure it's the Alliance!" Sonny giggled and nodded.
"Of course papa, the world must know what the youth has to say." He waved good by and left the apartment complex. The thick scent of smoke and industry came in as he walked down to the bus stop. He took the time to thoroughly look through his phone. The only thing he payed attention to was a group chat with three of his friends.
"Hey Sonny, who are you voting for?" Said Felix, a French immigrant. Sonny grinned and typed out his answer.
"The Alliance dummy, think the fascists or moderates will win any seats?" After waiting a solid minute Felix responded.
"They might get ahead in our district, but they're all screwed otherwise." The group then devolved into laughs and other small messages before Sonny put his phone back into his pocket. After waiting for just about another ten minutes the school bus arrived and he loaded onto it. It took a whole twenty minutes of boringly pondering just about all things a boy his age could want to. He finally made it to the school and ran off with the rest of the kids. He made it to the theater, where everyone was supposed to be today. He found his circle of friends in the back middle section, and moved towards them.
"Morning Sonny, ready to beat some fascist scumbags?" Said his friend Matteo. Matteo was a tall and lean man. The usual blond hair and gold eyes that came with every Berliner. To his left was Niko, another fellow of Berliner looks. Niko was slightly fat but a very optimistic one. Niko was a comedian amongst a group of far-left extremists. And finally there was Felix in the flesh. He was shorter than everyone else and had coal black hair with blue eyes.
"Depends, beating up a racist during election day gives us double the sentence, and I want to actually vote this year." The whole group laughed. Sonny sat beside Matteo and looked around the room. They talked and laughed as friends do for a while before it was time to start the school day. The principal of the school, a youthful looking man with just a slight hunch approached the center of the stage with a microphone.
"Students, faculty, and staff." He began. "Today is a very special day for the West Berlin Secondary School, for it is election day. And the government has suggested, as it has for time and time again, to commit to a school election to see what the youth want in comparison to those who can vote. Our prestigious school," The last line was met with a few snickers and whispered rude remarks. "Has decided to attend such festivities this year as well as many years in the past. Instead of classes, each room will be assigned to a youth organization of many of Berlin's popular political parties. Each hour they will be giving speeches and demonstrations of their stances, we encourage every student to go to these lectures. Especially of parties you are not aligned with, maybe your ideas could change." He paused. "All students shall vote for the party of their choice on the last hour and the results will be announced at the end of school. You are dismissed." With that, the chaos began. Every child in the theater darted around the school, looking for places to hide, or classrooms to learn from. Sonny separated from his group to go to the room representing the Alliance. He entered the classroom, the largest of all the others and sat near the back. He fiddled around his backpack and other things before Niklas sat in front of him, tapping on his desk.
"Still apart of the liberal hivemind, Sonny?" Niklas and his group of allies were natural enemies to Sonny and his company. Niklas was strongly built and taller than most, with the most prominent golden eyes and blond hair in the room.
"Still a racist, Niklas?" Sonny sneered. Niklas chuckled.
"I'm a fascist, not a racist." Sonny leaned back, amused and frustrated.
"It's the same difference dumbass." Niklas slammed his fist on the table.
"Maybe if you weren't so much of a dedicated moron and go to any other party meeting, you would know the difference." He stood up and walked out of the classroom.
"Maybe I will." Sonny mumbled. After about two more minutes the bell had rung and the room was full of people. Some had to stand because there were no seats. The student leader of the Alliance walked up to the podium at the front of the room and began his speech.
"Ladies and gentlemen, I am Frantz of the Alliance of a Greater Berlin. A union of five left wing political parties, the Communist Front, the Socialist Party, the Anarchist Union, the Environmentalist Berliner Party, and the Democratic Socialist Party." Small pockets of students cheered for which party they aligned with most when Frantz mentioned them, Sonny gave a small whistle to the socialists. "Divided, the parties could do nothing, but together we shall revolutionize all of Berlin for the people. The Alliance believes in equality in class, equality in gender, equality in marriage, and equality in all things. The Alliance is naturally progressive and egalitarian. We want to take down the one percent, or bourgeois class, give the money back to those who worked for it!" Sonny and many others howled in approval. "And we certainly want to take down those racist, misogynist, fascist bastards who want to oppress others and keep the working class repressed by the business owners!" If Fratnz wrote anything else down, no one could hear him say it. The whole classroom had turned into an echo chamber of propaganda statements and unintelligible yelling. The fires of the leftist Alliance were lit and Sonny was apart of it. He was standing up, fists in the air yelling phrases like 'No racists in Berlin!' or 'All of Berlin, rise for the people!' When everything calmed down, other party members passed out pamphlets, which Sonny skimmed over and threw away. After some general discussion the bell had rung and Sonny left. The rest of his hours were spent wandering the halls with friends and others. Nothing of interest happened except for a fist fight just after lunch between Felix and a fascist, they both were heavily beaten, while Felix was being dragged away he yelled.
"Parti Communiste!" While raising one fist in the air. A common salute among leftists, the phrase belonging to the French Communist Party. Afterward he kept screaming in French until he was taken to the principals office, where he wasn't heard from for the rest of the day. During the transition period between the sixth and last hour, Sonny walked across the classroom where the fascists demonstrated. He looked into the room, Niklas and friends fumbling about with papers and other things. Throughout his life, Sonny has only attended Alliance meetings, but today he remembered Niklas' words. He slowly entered the room, a lump in his throat and sweat on his brow. It was a smaller classroom. The attendance was a mix of average looking students, all in different slouches and bends. One student used the chairs of three desks and laid on it. The other half were students in pitch black shirts and formal gray pants, their backs straight. Sonny slipped into the corner of the room, hoping not to be spotted by any of the fascists. The bell rung and everyone turned their attention to Niklas, who was already behind the podium with great posture.
"Brothers, sisters, and esteemed guests." He began, strongly. "The Berliner Fascist Party stands for many things. Things like a stronger state, a working and proud people of Berlin, and the destruction of the false God of equality." He paused, putting his left hand on the corner of the podium. "But we are not racists, oppressive monsters, or hate the impoverished or working class people." Sonny shifted in his chair. "People call us out on these lies expecting us to crumble like they are irrefutable truths, but they are not. There is no need of race to be proud of ones nation, you do not need a race to be a fascist. We believe that all the people has a voice and a belief that need be heard and respected, the fascist will never fire upon a 'dissident.' Fascism naturally applies to the impoverished and working class. Fascism gives them better wages and makes them proud to be a worker, the fascist does not want to diminish the pride that comes with the hammer." Niklas paused once more. "We as fascists will unite the classes, not destroy them. Fascism will make Berlin strong and united, the individual shall be amplified by his brothers. Fascism is the true party of the people, no moderate, no nihilist, no alliance of uncultured fools can unite the whole of Berlin like the fascists ever could! Long live the Fasces!" All of the blackshirts, and some others rose giving the stiff right arm salute. Sonny was wide eyed in horror. He was angered, confused, and speechless. He disagreed with everything Niklas spewed but he was moved by it, as if he was being persuaded. He did not know what to think. The speech ended and orchestral music played in the background as a booklet was passed out. Sonny took it, it was called The Fascist Doctrine by Benito Mussolini. He stuffed it in his backpack, hoping to forget this whole hour. He rushed out of the room a solid minute before the bell rung. When the rest of the students finally left their classrooms, the intercom went off.
"Attention all students," The principals voice blared. "You are required to move to the gymnasium where the election will commence." Sonny darted across the school and slowed down when he entered the gym. The gym was wide and scattered with voting booths covered with black curtains. He put himself into a line to a booth on the far right. When it was his turn, there was a bright white screen. In black letters it asked, Tap on which party you would like to vote for. The list had all the usual parties, the Liberal Democrats, National Conservatives galore. At the bottom, although, were the Berliner Fascist Party and the Alliance. The days events all stacked upon this decision. His finger hovered over the screen, he did not understand his nerve. He was always Alliance, he agreed with the Alliance, he knew the Alliance. But the fascist argument still lingered, it's strength and absolute stupidity stuck on him. He thought the speech was awful and untrue, but he was oddly compelled by it. In the end, he let out an audible shout and clicked on the Alliance.
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