Big Brother is watching you.
-George Orwell, 1984.

‘Our current government is perfect. It is the most perfect it can be. There is nothing wrong with it. We ourselves are safer than the people of 50 years ago. All of this is because of the Party, which has ruled for 47 consecutive years. This government is based on the innovation of technology and using it to prepare ourselves for the future. One might question our freedom, but in giving up our freedom we ensure our safety.’ The girl read aloud. She was standing on a large wooden chair in the center of the classroom, as she was the shortest in the class. She looked up at the surrounding students. They blinked, their faces unemotional. God, this is so embarrassing.
‘Have you anything to add, Lauren?’ Ms. Winston asked. Her face was drawn taut over her bones, and her skin looked like it had the texture of boiled chicken. Her eyes were wide, giving her a paranoid appearance.
‘We are living in a Utopia based on the foundation of science. We are more trapped than ever. What else could I possibly add that would convince you that we are prisoners?’ Lauren questioned.
‘Miss Lauren Betsy Walker, I cannot believe what just came out of your mouth. We are in a beautiful society without any crime or violence. Jacob, who and why was the last person murdered?’ Ms. Winston asked. One of her veins was popping in frustration.
‘The last murder was in 1960. Joshua Lee was found naked in a back alley, stabbed to death. There has not been a murder in… six, seven, 48 years, miss. And nobody knows for certain whom he is. He has commonly become known as Joshua Lee, because he had a bag with those names on it. Officially, he was a John Doe. Nobody knows why he died, but it is presumed to be drug-related.’ answered Jacob. He had a huge grin on his face, applauding himself.
‘Good work. Lauren, we are in the safest place in the world. Everybody wants to live in Primero. The only other country that is not a war zone is Russia, and that is soon to become part of Primero. Then we will spread across Europe with this government, and this planet will be what we always dreamed of.’
‘You don’t understand though. When we gave up our freedom to live safer lives, we become nothing more than sheep, and the government are the shepherds. We have given up our culture just so that we are safe.’ Lauren complained.
‘Lauren. I cannot convince you that we are safer than ever, can I?’ Miss Winston asked.
‘No Miss. Never.’
‘I guess that when you do not willingly obey this government, then it becomes a government of fear, doesn’t it? Is that what you want? To live in a government of fear, rather than one of hope and dreams?’
‘Miss… please. Not again.’
I’m afraid so, Lauren. Jacob, get me the syringe please. Now. It is time to administer the daily punishment serum.’
Oh No. Please… not the injection.
Miss Winston pulled on some white gloves as Jacob pulled open a small white box lying on his desk. He pulled out a small syringe, with a clear fluid in it.
‘Hold her down, Adam.’
Adam walked from his desk and grabbed Lauren’s arm. She retaliated and punched him in the nose. As she pulled her fist away, Adam fell to the floor. One of the girls screamed.
‘Miss Winston!!! She hit Adam!’ somebody called out.
‘That stupid girl! She’ll definitely be punished now! Where is she, I’ll show her, that-’
But the door was open, and Lauren was gone.


Mr. Wilson was sitting in his chair. It was a funny chair- parts of its covering had fallen off, and white foam was sticking out of the corners. Mr. Wilson had no objection to this though- It soothed his shoulders as it rubbed against them.
It was Saturday Night. He was watching the news. The blueish screen cast a supreme light over the whole room.
‘In other news, another triumph has been made for the Party today as they unveiled a new project they have been working on entitled ‘Again Version 1.0.’ Have you ever read a book that was so good you wished you had never read it, just so you can have the joy of reading it again? Well, this has been made possible by Again. It is a new injection, which sends a message directly to the brain through various blood cells travelling through the body. When it reaches the brain, it rewrites our ‘databank’- our memory box, as some people call it, and so you can enjoy that book for the first time, once again. All of this has been made possible by Mr. Alexander Wilson, head of the Party. Congrat-’
Wilson turned off the television. He was sick of Again. It was too good. The Party demands complete control, and this could be considered controversial. Perhaps restraining the people from doing absolutely anything will limit their freedom. The door-bell rang. Wilson stood and walked passed the clutter of his one-room apartment and opened a door. A man fell onto the floor. His clothes were sowed together from various patches of cloth, and all were coloured brown. He had the appearance of a dog and smelt really strange.
‘Give me a fix.’
‘Wait, you can’t just barge in here-’
‘I want to murder someone for the first time again.’
Too many possibilities- wait. Did he say murder?!
‘Murder?! Please don’t kill me. I only have the  punish serum, please don’t-’
Wait. Punish. Murder. I see connections.

Lauren was sitting on the corner of the street. She had her arms propped up on her legs, and her face covered by them. Her school jacket was lying on the floor, with a few dollar bills lying on top.
I don’t even have enough money for a bus fair.
She looked up at the various people around her. It was the first time that she had noticed how different she was from them: they all were wearing well-fitting silken suits, with black, polished leather shoes and a fedora to add to it. She also noted all the billboards hanging from various lampposts and buildings. All of them said:
Again! The new super-drug! Available at all pharmacies soon. Courtesy of Alexander Wilson, leader of the Party.
I better not do what I did in class again. I hate the Party, but I’ll be administered with the Punish serum again.
A man stopped in front of Lauren. She could not see his face because of the intense afternoon sun, but could tell from his silhouette that he was dressed the same way as the others.
‘Ms. Lauren, I believe. You resisted the Party this morning, I believe. Come back to school. We will administer the Punish serum and then you can go home.’ He said.
‘Who are you?’ she asked.
‘Sorry?’
‘Who are you?’
‘I am an official locator. My job is to find rebellious persons and neutralize the threat. You see, the threat you present is simply unacceptable. It will spread, like an epidemic, around the world. We have done the best we can, but still… people stray from the pack. Now come to school and have the serum.’
Think fast!
Lauren grabbed her school coat and threw it into the air. All of the money started fluttering towards the ground, blocking the man’s view. To add to her fortune, people scrambled to get to the money and plucked it out of the air. When the crowd dispersed, Lauren had disappeared.


The murderer was sitting in the chair in the center of the room. The room was strange. It had no décor and was completely white, apart from one single mirror. It was of course a one-way mirror, and Mr. Wilson stood on the other side of it with an advisor.
‘What do you think we should do? We can’t just… kill him. He’s the first murderer to be found in… so long.’ Mr. Wilson sighed.
‘The Punishment serum is not enough, so I have provided a more useful purpose. We use him to find rebels. And kill them. Perhaps.’ continued Mr. Wilson.
‘Alex… You are joking, aren’t you?’ the advisor asked.
‘No. I’m serious. It is a better solution than the punishment drug. More shocking.’
‘Shall I tell him, Alexander?’
‘No, let me.’
Mr. Wilson turned a handle in the wall. A small door popped out of the wall, and as Mr. Wilson walked through, it closed seamlessly.
‘So. You’re a John Doe. How’s that working out for you, John? I also hear you murdered a lot of people. You covered everything up and avoided the Party penalty. You have two choices at this current time. You can take the penalty, or, you can do what we want you to do.’ stated Mr. Wilson.
‘Do what you want? Are you kidding me? Well tell me.’ John asked.
‘You are administered a weekly charge of the Again drug. You kill selected people. What do you think? 1 or 2? A or B?’
There was a long pause. John’s eyes were wide in shock.
‘You want me to kill people? Why? Isn’t your supposed world a Utopia? A world without violence?’
‘We want you to kill non-believers. If we permit them to live, then we make a danger for this society.’
‘When can I start?’ A wolfish grin appeared on John’s face.


Lauren ran down the dark, grimy alleyway. She was being chased by a man. She had seen his face: bald. That was all she could say. She could not really describe the shape of his ears or the way his nose looked or the colour of his eyes. All she knew was that he wanted to kill her.
She saw a garbage can and slid into the space between it and a large garbage tip. She lifted up the can and spilled its contents on her and she threw it into the tip. She could see him through the garbage. His head turned as he scanned the alleyway. He pulled a switchblade out of a long trench coat and flipped it open. He advanced towards the garbage tip and knelt down. He was almost in front of her. He felt the ground and looked directly at her. He stood up.
Something started ringing. He pulled out a mobile phone and flipped it open.
‘Hullo. Yes, it’s John. I couldn’t find the girl. I’m going to continue searching.’ He flipped it shut again and left the alleyway.
Lauren waited a few minutes before she jumped out of the rancid trash. She wiped her pink skirt down and ran out of the alley. She had to get home. Her parents would understand. She started sprinting down the road.


Lauren felt the sun on her face. She jumped awake. She realised that she couldn’t; something was restraining her. She looked at her  hands: they were tied to her bed with chains. Lauren looked up and saw her father at the end of the room
‘Lauren, how could you do this to yourself? You’ve been administered with the Punish serum whilst you were sleeping. Everything’s going to be alright now.’
But then, something happened.
Her father tore his own face off.
What was lying beneath was the man from the night. He pushed all of her father’s clothes off of himself and peeled away the remaining skin.
Everything’s going to be all right now…Now that you’re dead. I killed your mummy and your daddy. I slit their throats open. I saw the blood spill onto the ground. Do you want to see their bodies?
No! No, I don’t! Get out of my head!!!
You can’t see them anyway. I crammed their bodies into a trash compacter. They’re dead now, Lauren. They’re dead! And now you’re going to die too!!!
AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Lauren woke. Her face was sweating. She was in her bedroom. She got off her bed and ran down the hallway to her parent’s room. She swung open the door. Her parents were lying on the bed.
And the man was sitting next to them.
‘Lauren Betsy Walker. You are a challenge to me.’
‘Who are you? GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!!!’ she screamed.
‘What’re you gonna do? Kill me?’
Why didn’t my parents wake when I screamed?
‘You killed my-’
‘I assure you, they’re quite alive. Merely drugged.’ He reached to her mother’s face and started stroking it. Lauren approached, but he pulled up a knife and put it at her mother’s throat.
‘Why are you doing this to my family?’
‘Wait- to your family? You gotta be kidding me! Didn’t you hear the news? All betrayal will be punished with the full Party penalty: death. You’re not the only one. I am an official locator. And everybody will be quite glad that you die.’ He answered.
‘What do you mean?’
‘The Party sent out a broadcast this morning. They used brainwashing, I believe. And I think that everybody is outside this house, also.’
Lauren ran to the window. Standing silently outside was thousands of people, all holding axes and torches. Among them she could see various classmates, as well as Ms. Winston. They could see her. When they saw her, they started pounding heavily on the front door, and with the axes chopped it away. Lauren could hear them running up the stairs.
Lauren ran to her room and she locked the door. She silently activated her web-cam, which would immediately download to her laptop when it was next turned on. She sat on her bed and waited for the man.
He bashed the door open and closed it behind him.
‘Why are you trying to kill me? Who sent you?!’ she screamed.
Let the people see the true ways of the Party.
‘Because you don’t like us. And because, I am a dead man, which means I can kill all I want.’
‘A dead man?’
‘Yes. My name is Joshua Lee. I died 48 years ago. Mr. Wilson, the head of the Party, arranged this for me.’
‘Why?’ she asked, shocked.
‘So that I could come back after years of government enhanciles running through my body, mental conditioning and brainwashing to make me the perfect killer. Sorry, but it’s time to die.’
Joshua advanced towards her and grabbed her hair and thrust the knife towards her throat.
‘Please! I’m only ten years old!’
‘Betrayal Is Evil. So says the Party.’
Lauren thrust her elbow into the killer’s side, and he retaliated. She ran at the window and leaped out of it. As she hit the window, the glass broke into millions of tiny shards. One of them hit the killer in the back of the head, and killed him. The people finally got in as she silently ran away. When they saw that nobody was there apart from a man lying on the ground with blood gushing from his head, they left the house. All but one. Ms. Winston walked to Lauren’s laptop and snatched it. She ran out of the house, clutching the laptop to her chest.


And so it came to be that the Party ended. Ms. Winston shared the file that Lauren recorded with the world, and the world was appalled. The people rebelled against the government and the ways of old continued. 5 years after the rebellion, Lauren Walker was found by the police and was reunited with her family. She had been living at various hostels throughout the land. Let this tale teach you what will happen if we continue our ways.

Finis.