Distraction

I’m staring out the window,

of this elderly school,

Some bricks have rusted,

while others seem new,

The grass isn’t perfect,

but it’s green and it’s growing,

This day will pass quickly,

the way things are going,

Outside there’s a warehouse,

a massive tool shed,

and beyond that there’s woods,

where the leaves are long dead,

There’s a truck by the tool shed,

but the words I can’t read,

The colors are vibrant,

they stick out in the weeds,

It’s winter and chilly,

fog feathers each pane,

I wish I could leave now,

but time still remains,

I can feel myself out there,

away from this class,

admiring the woods,

the bricks and the grass,

But I’m struck by reality,

what’s wrong and what’s right,

I have books I must read,

and papers to write,

I turn away from the window,

with just one last glance,

It’s my time to focus,

this is

life

not a trance.

Right or Privilege

Juliana pulled two black curls of hair behind her ear and sighed, staring down at the floor. “It’s not that I resent the counsel, I just don’t feel like I belong with them. I think that they’re duties are definitely important to the community, I mean I know mine were. I just need a change of pace, a change of career. That’s all.” Although this seemed like a simple request, it was the complete opposite. Juliana realized this the moment she began to plead to Mr. Beyer.

“You’ve been told before Ms. Jones, the job that was chosen for you in your drawing years ago will be your job forever, whether you like it or not. The chip is inserted, and to take it out would make you a disgrace to this community; remember Harry Wilburn?” She did remember him. In fact she remembered him quite well.

Harry Wilburn had always seemed a bit odd to her. He had been in her class during school each year, and he had always been a troublemaker. Or had he? Some days he would be mouthing off, but others he would be apologizing to someone for something, or taking the blame for someone else’s duties. He was brilliant at music; that she could never forget. The council had suggested he could be a musician and although he loved music, he refused and said he would simply take the random drawing just like everyone else. Music, he said, was just a hobby. Well, next thing you know, he was picked as a musician. He begged for them to detach the chip, “I beg of you!” he’d say to anyone who’d listen. “Help me get this out!” Street-watchers would repeat the rules to him, which only seemed to aggravate him more. Then one day he decided to take it out himself.

What followed for Harry was the worst kind of pain. He wasn’t a doctor so he didn’t know how to remove it surgically, but instead he cut his own arm off. The next day he went to the hospital, begging for some kind of bandage to help him refrain from bleeding to death. To his dismay every doctor there shunned him, not willing in the least to help him. Nobody came to Harry’s funeral, in fact he was simply thrown in a nearby ocean, to be forgotten forever. But Juliana hadn’t forgotten him in the slightest.

“Yes of course I remember. But I don’t have the will to cut my arm off, and besides it’s not like it would be so hard to just remove it.” This had come off more hostile than she had intended it to, and because of instinct she backed away from Mr. Beyer slightly, as if virtually preparing herself for something.

Mr. Beyer glared at her shaking his head. “Many people wish they could be council members. They want the responsibilities and privileges you have. If I were you, I would stand back and appreciate my career, and maybe watch my back.” Was that some kind of threat? His eyes were ice cold, and his body was still, almost in a frightening sense as if he had turned into a statue. Juliana was silent, eyes wide and expectant. “Is that clear?” Mr. Beyer snapped causing Juliana to take another step back.

“Yes sir.” She quivered, fear striking her. For some reason it was proving very hard to lose eye contact with Mr. Beyer, it was as if her eyes had to be dismissed. But she was a grown woman, with rights too. She would dismiss herself.

“You're dismissed, Ms. Jones.” Mr. Beyer said with a sly smile. Juliana walked away with a new sense of loathing. The next day she did not appear at the council meeting.