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He was taking his test this morning…
The single most important test for any young person at the age of 18.
It was May 25th, otherwise known as the Choosing Ceremony. This ceremony had become a tradition ever since the Earth became a place that could no longer be abundant, that could no longer carry all these people. Every adult who chose to have a kid since the year 2300 signed a paper stating that their child would be admitted into the Choosing Ceremony on their 18th birthday.
Earth had become depleted, and its resources were spewing into the hands of humans, as they always did. So, in 2300, the President and his “smartest men” pooled together their minds and came up with a way to protect themselves and Earth. Their greed, and the need for life.
Most people chose not to have kids after hearing what the Choosing Ceremony entailed but some decided to press on, certain that their livestock was of strong and fortified power and that they could pass the test. Whatever the test might entail.
It was a matter of pride for those who lived after the Choosing Ceremony… for those who were chosen to remain on Earth.
But do not worry, those who did not share such a beautiful fate were given one last day to live before they were killed.
For Wesley, his parents were certain that he would live a very long life. When they chose to have Wesley they smiled at the paperwork and signed his life away, laughing to each other at how sure they were that he would make it out.
For you see, Wesley was born on May 25th, and he was turning 19 at 1:30pm today. His mom was the type who wished on every flower and counted every good luck charm that passed her way, and she knew. She knew that it was lucky that he was born on the same day as the Choosing Ceremony. There was no God so cruel as to kill someone after they’d just had their birthday. (Wesley’s parents weren’t the brightest).
Regardless they woke him up at 8 am, opening the curtains and saying in unison, “Rise and Shine!”. He had already been up for an hour, just staring at the ceiling, trying to predict what could let him live past 19. What did he have to do to make it to 20?
His parents made him the same breakfast they always made him on his birthday and put a singular candle on his cinnamon roll, singing happy birthday to him as he blew it out.
They chatted with him at breakfast about his birthday party later that day and how excited they were to see his girlfriend and his friends. Everyone else had the same anxiety that he had, palpitating like butterflies in his stomach… except it seemed for his lovely parents.
He ate the cinnamon roll as fast as he could and ran out the door, hoping to find some sanity and safety with his friends.
They were going through the same thing and only they could relate. He stepped outside and got on his bike to go meet his best friend, Christopher. Christopher was one of the few kids who no one thought would pass the test. Even when he was little, his parents grew up telling him that he was too weak to do it, that whatever mind games or physical challenges they threw at him, he wouldn’t be able to get through.
It was a sad life when everyone was telling you that you would die before you were even old enough to figure out what you wanted to do. But Christopher grew into a very interesting person because he was so certain he’d only have 18 years to live. He read every book he could and tried every instrument and he was content with the idea that soon, he would not be alive anymore.
Wesley met Chris at the front of his house and they both looked at each other with an anxious expression that bordered on paranoid. Wesley looked down to see his hands were shaking and so were Chris’s. They decided to walk their bikes over. Chris said, “I thought I’d have more time, I didn’t get to do everything I wanted to”. And Wesley nodded. He looked over and said, “Maybe we’ll both pass, and we won’t have to worry about this ever again”. “Maybe it will all be ok”. Then they walked in silence till they got to the big glass doors at their county headquarters.
Chris smirked and said, “Famous last words” and then they went their separate ways. Into the test that would decide their fate.
Wesley went through the doors to an examination room with one old lady who sat in the middle of the room and told him to take a seat.
He stared at the piece of paper that he had to bubble in.
Really? He thought… His whole life came down to some multiple-choice questions?? What kind of life was he living? To be short stocked out of possibilities just because of something he didn’t choose. Why did he have to do this? Had anyone ever pushed back?? It wasn’t his choice to be born into this life, it wasn’t his choice to take this test. What would happen if everyone stormed out and didn’t take it?
What if he did that? Now. What if he just left and decided to talk to whoever made these rules?
His eyes swam over the possibilities, and he noticed that water was dropping onto the paper. The first question was, Do you love your country? Bubble in yes or no.
And then he had to explain what he’d done for his country. Well, what had he done?
Why did it matter? What had his country done for him?
The lady watched as his hands shook and as he stared at the blank paper.
She said, “Don’t worry, these anxieties are quite normal before any test. But do remember, you only have 90 minutes to complete it”. Then she pointed up at the wall and said, “They’re watching”. He followed her finger to the camera which he hadn’t seen before. It was perfectly nestled in the corners of the white walls.
He grimaced. In a fit of rage, much unlike him, he pushed the chair back and stormed out with the old lady running after him screaming, “What are you doing…”.
He slammed his fist in a hard knock on the door where he’d seen Chris go in and he yelled, “This isn’t the way we’re going out, Chris. If we have to go out, let’s go out trying everything we can”.
Chris walked up to the door and opened it with a crack. He said, “Have you gone mad?”
And Wesley said, “Maybe… but, I have a plan”.
Chris smirked and threw his hands up and said, “Well, to hell with this test, What have you got in mind… all I could say about my country was that it royally fucked me over.. I’m pretty sure I’m not the patriot they want to be kept alive”.
Wesley broke into a huge grin and said, “Okay, here’s the plan”.
They broke out of the glass building like a bird out of a cage and biked home as fast as they could.
Chris’s parents weren’t home, they’d gone away for the weekend because they “couldn’t bear to see their child die”. Chris took the keys to their second car, an old beat-up silver Honda, and started to drive the two hours it took to get from Milford to DC.
Wesley went over the plan as they drove. “Okay, so we’re going to talk to them. We’re going to beg them to give everyone their lives back. We’ll explain.. that this wasn’t our choice. We didn’t choose to live, and we certainly didn’t choose to be killed. It’s not fair. We’ll throw our hands up at the president like he’s God if we have to, but we’ll save everyone.”
Chris shook his head as he drove. He said, “they’re not just going to let everyone off this year. We have to give them something in return. We could join the military! Shave our heads, do the whole caboodle”.
Wesley laughed.. “Did you just say caboodle? And I don’t think that we’ll be able to prove our patriotism if we couldn’t even lie on the test.. We’ve got to give them something else. Something they really want”.
Chris puzzled over it awhile, talking out loud… “What do they want? A weapons contract? Money? What are we as two 18-year-old teenagers going to do for them?”
“Hey! I’m 19 soon enough.” Wesley exclaimed. “Regardless, we’ve got to try. This is our life. Our future. We have to get it back. We’ve spent far too long with a giant ax over our heads because of them, and I just want it gone”.
“We’re just going to have to talk to them” Chris said. “We’ll make it up as we go.
They parked in front of the White House and laughed at how silly it was that they were trying to meet with the President. How stupid could they be? But they did know he was there in DC, at a press conference. They hatched their plan to meet with him.
They would go undercover as journalists to the press conference and then ask him pointblank why he chose to have the choosing ceremony and… what everyone would have to do to save themselves?
Then they would go backstage and ask him for a pardon. For a pardon for not just them but everyone after them. It felt pointless if they just saved themselves. They didn’t know what they’d have to bargain but what was worth more than their life? They felt like they’d do just about anything…
But what would be asked??
They stole two dark blue jackets which were ironed over and pressed on with an official logo and soon enough they were in the same room as the President.
Wesley’s mind was racing, he wasn’t used to straying from his normal routine so violently. And he’d always been told that he would be able to pass the test.
So why was he doing all of this?? It wasn’t fair, but since when was life fair?
And if he was going to fall at the President’s feet in an act of protest, wasn’t he just sacrificing his pride and bowing to power?
What was more important to him? His life? Or the assurance of everyone’s else’s life? The fairness and justice that comes with being able to live your life with no constraints and no worry about murder.
Camus said that the rebel could never find peace. So maybe peace was not what he wanted. Perhaps it was selfish to bargain for his life and all others without giving anything back. His life was important, yes. But what he wanted more than anything was for this rule to stop. For the power that the President had to kill his citizens to be lifted.
If it was their fault that the Earth was dying and their fault the resources were seeping, they’d have to live with the Earth until everything died. The ruling class had kept all the power and they made sure that everyone who died, died so they could live.
Wesley couldn’t let it happen anymore. He would sacrifice himself so everyone else would live. He would do whatever it took. What mattered most to him was relative freedom and he’d let himself be tied in chains so that others could walk free.
He raised his hand to ask the President a question and found that as soon as he did, two men in suits with black sunglasses were grabbing his arms and Chris’s and were taking them away.
They were taken to a gray back room with a hidden table and very little light.
They waited for what felt like hours. And then the President walked through the doors, surrounded by two armed guards.
He said, “We know what you two are up to. And you’re not the first. But nothing you can do will stop this. It’s the way it has to be”.
Chris looked down at his hands, sullen and withdrawn. He was resigned to go out with a bang, and he never believed for a moment that they could actually change one single thing. This was the way he thought it’d end. At least he got to die by his best friend’s side.
Wesley: however, grimaced and said, “I am the first to come up with a good bargain though. Because I’m not rebelling for myself. No human should have to worry about being killed by their state because they are not enough of a “patriot”. And no state should be killing their citizens and auctioning off their lives like slaves. Everyone deserves better. Everyone deserves to live if they so choose, and not be chained to a contract they never chose to sign. I will do whatever you want. I will die, so that everyone else can live. I will. I will.”
He clasped his hands and as if the President were God said, “Please. I will sacrifice my dignity and everything I have in the earthly body so that everyone else can live.”
The President looked down, at the hands which were clasped, at the person who had been brought to his knees for this cause. And then he shook his head and left.
Wesley tried to run after him but could not.
The next day, 100,000 18-year-olds were killed, including one 19-year-old, Wesley Lewis the 3rd.
Wesley’s 19th birthday party never happened, and he died on his knees, a consumable rebel, pleading for a cause that never came cheap.
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