False Illusions (ONC2023)

𝙲𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚝𝚎𝚛 1۞

☼︎☼︎☼︎
ⁱ ᶜᵃᵐᵉ ᵗᵒ ᵗʰᵉ ʷᵒʳˡᵈ ᵃˡᵒⁿᵉ ʷᵒᵘˡᵈ ᵈⁱᵉ ᵃˡᵒⁿᵉ
☾︎☽︎

'And that's why I would rather sleep than listen'

I wrote the last pages of my essay with vivid concentration. I had fallen asleep during math class, again. Not the first time and probably not the last. I was told to write an essay on why I love sleeping in class and I had written a 500-word essay on why math sucks and would rather sleep than allow my ears to bleed.

I looked at the geometrical clock hung on the wall, it was still the wee hours of the morning. I got up from the hard bedroom floor and turned towards my window. It was dark outside which was expected. Living underground where you see no sun, moon or stars makes it like so. If it was morning, they would switch on the top lights generated by the generator. I was born with this system and probably die with this system. No one has ever fought hard enough to break it and no one wants to go to the surface to suffer from the war.

We live a mundane life down here, my parents refuse to tell me the good stories on the surface just the bad ones. They ruined my image of what the world above us would look like.

Still, I want to feel the sun on my skin, the evening breeze and see the stars as they twinkle in the sky. Those are far-away dreams and according to daddy, dreams were not meant to be fulfilled.

I turned away from the window and walked out of my room with a tired expression on my face. I could hear my parents moving about in the kitchen. Dad was probably preparing breakfast and mum flipped through the old newspapers she collected from the surface.

Our house was small, tiny to be precise but compared to most people who live down here, we were kinda rich because we have a bunker with a kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and sitting room. Which was different from the ones others live in. If you don't have these things in your home, you would have to wake up early to use the public bathroom and stand in line for breakfast and dinner. Could take forever to reach your turn if you came late.

My bare feet padded through the kitchen tiredly toward where my father stood.

"Food from the surface?" I asked, looking at the fried sausage.

"Yes. Had to steal them from the confiscated goods" Dad said.

"Ohh, daddy has become bad" I wiggled my eyebrows while chuckling.

Dad shrugged his shoulders. "I tried"

"Too bad you would not be eating those sausages or bacon," Mom said from where she was seated. Her delicate fingers flipped through her newspaper gently.

I looked at the brunette lady whose eye bags had fallen due to the stress from work and glasses.

"You can't be serious. Dad mostly brings these stuff for me"

Without looking at me she replied "That's why your punishment for sleeping in class would be having to go stand in line and wait for hot soup and bread"

I gasped. "Can't believe that twerp told you. Such a blabbermouth" I said annoyed.

I silently cursed the math teacher in my head.