Chapter 1
*****TW. TALKS OF SUICIDE. CURSING*****
It has been 10 years then the day happened. Now, 14 years old, I have to care for the house as my mother did. My other siblings have already moved out, so it is just me and my father. We aren't the wealthiest people, so after school when I get off the bus, I have to start making dinner because dad doesn't get off work till 7:00. I usually can't get my homework done because I have so much to do. The homework usually gets done before school starts. But luckily, the school day is almost over, and Summer Break will begin. I just have 2 more weeks of this personal hell till I have a more spread-out hell. And Termination Day.
Termination Day is the day every person dreads. Because our world suffers from overpopulation, we have to have one official day that we "deal" with it. Termination Day. Termination day is on the 21st, and the announcer will name 5 ages to be killed. Those ages have to go to the city hall, where they are never seen again. Every year, listing to the announcer, as happy as he can be. And the companion, whose smile is unsettling. But the thing that always gets me the most, is the screaming of the families. Then, 5 minutes later. Silence. Like the eye of a storm. Silence. What we all experience. But nothing like the silence after Termination Day. The sad, depressing walks of the poor, unfortunate people.
Many people usually follow the rules, knowing that they would all have the same fate and just want to get it over with. When some people watch Termination Day, they will have a gun, a rope, or a knife ready to commit suicide if their age gets pulled. I remember a story where an age got called, and a loud bang came from the door beside our house. My mother said it was just that the TV had just been knocked over, but after not seeing the neighbor for a while, my innocent brain was not innocent anymore. I knew exactly what happened. From then on, every time I hear a bang on Termination Day, I know it is not a TV falling over...
Another thing some people do after getting their name called is they will try to hide. Hiding seems like it would be a good idea, but the Government knows. They know everything. From the minute you are born, they would put a very small chip in your body that tracks if you are alive or not. It tests your heart rate. When it stops beating, the Government would know. So if you would hide from the Government, it would just lead to a worse fate than just going. (I know from experience) Every time I hear someone trying to hide, I think about my Mother and cry. I know they and their families will be very sad for a long time.
Though, there are some very lucky people who fall through the cracks and escape. I have heard of one. His name was Alex Helming. I've never known if it was true, but apparently, people at school did.
When I ever get called, I hope I can escape...
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"Hey man! How 'you doing?" My friend, Devin, said.
"Good!" I replied.
"HEY, GUYS!" My other friend, Toby, yelled.
"HEYY!" I yelled back as he came running to us.
"Two more weeks till school. Ughh. I just want it to end..." said Tody, with an attitude that I haven't seen from him before.
"What are you bitchin' about!?" I said to him.
"Termination Day. Imagine if it is us. Like, it would be horri-"
"Shut up man! Come on, what are the chances it is going to be us? I would kill myself if our age was called!" I was pissed at him at the moment.
"Guys! Let's just get to school!" Devin said, breaking our anger at each other.
School is not too far away from my house, only about a 15-minute walk. I usually wait about a block down for David and Toby. They are really the only friends I have. They work with my busy schedule and deal with my anger a lot. I do not have anger issues, but it comes from the stress and anger at home, which pretty much I have to do everything in the house. While Father is at work, I have to walk to the nearest grocery store and use his work money to buy us food. After that, I have to cook it for each other. When we were able to choose classes, instead of doing construction, I had to take foods class so I can make things for him and me. It makes me mad that I have to do all of this stuff every day for him. I just want to have fun for once. Go out with friends and play ball. But that only happens in the summertime, which is only 3 months. I get maybe 2 hours to hang out with them before I have to do things around the house.
School almost feels relaxing to me. Though I get bullied constantly, I fail every class, take a nap for one period of the day (usually math), and do a lot more things that irritate or anger most other people. It doesn't affect me, though. It is actually quite relaxing. I would rather have bullies getting up all in my ass instead of cooking all the damn time.
After our little walk, we get to school, Forest Lake High. Our school is pretty big. In our grade, we have about 5,000 students per grade. 203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡC6wqpFX3P0
School is pretty boring. All I get from it is blah blah blah test. blah blah blah homework. Bell rings. Rinse and repeat. Except there is one class that I LOVE. Science. Science never fails to amaze me. With Biology, I love to dissect frogs and other animals and study human anatomy. And I love mixing chemicals and other stuff in Chemistry.
After school, I walk home with both Toby and David, and we usually talk about school and other shit.
When I get home, I have to start doing chores. It usually consists of vacuuming, cleaning the house, take out the trash. But the worst part is cooking. It takes me so long to finish all of them, by the time I finish all the chores, I have to eat dinner. After dinner, more chores. And a trip to the grocery store.
___
"Finally. The last day of School." I said
"I think I did well at my finals. What about you?" Tody asked me.
"Eh. Probably Flunked them all."
"You know that will come back to bit ya, ya know."
"Eh. Whatever. I don't really care."
"Ok. This is my house. Cya man!" Toby said as he ran to his house.
He's a peppy guy by the way.203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4GqdgREyzl
___
Dad came home. He wasn't happy today. He stormed into the house and yelled my name. I scurried toward him as fast as possible because his yelling means business.
"I saw your report card. ALL F's! ARE YOU KIDDING ME!? I DON'T KNOW HOW YOU FAILED EVERY SINGLE CLASS EXCEPT SCIENCE. HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE?! YOU WOULD'VE HAD TO DO NOTHING IN THOSE CLASSES! IF YOU DON'T START ACTUALLY PARTICIPATING IN CLASSES, YOU WILL BECOME A FAILURE!"
I had no words to say. I just said, "Yes father." And went back to my room.
At least School is over. I hope summer break treats me better. 203Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfJCxNgTRAP
