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I was sitting in my muffled sheets admiring the small silver hoop I'd found in the toss yard the other day. This morning I noticed that it had a close fit when I put it around my middle finger.

I wonder what the purpose of this used to be? What if-

My train of thought was interrupted by my mom walking into my room. I quickly slide the hoop off my finger and hid it under my covers.

"Kyle, it's Tuesday, so I need you to run to the Market for me."

"Okay...I'll just be a couple minutes."

She gave me the look she always gives me and then turned around to leave, closing the door behind her. As soon as the door was shut I slid the hoop from underneath my white sheets into my hands again. I wiped my finger across its smooth surface trying to pick off some of the grit that had grasped itself to the surface. I admired it for a bit more then put it away in a box that was filled with other interesting things I had found.

I let my feet dangle off the edge of my bed and skim over the cold grey tiles that covered my entire floor. A silver metal desk stood in the right corner, and my white dresser in the other. My walls were covered with gritty white paint that gave off an unpleasant smell. I stood up from my bed, and walked across the room to my dresser. I opened the doors which gave out a familiar creak. Inside I gazed upon the usual white and grey attire we were required to wear everyday.

I looked to the inside of the right dresser door where an old mirror hung. I gazed upon myself...
My brown hair was scruffy and starting to twist off in different directions. I licked my hand and attempted to pat it down. My eyebrows often smushed together whenever I concentrated or focused to hard on something. I leaned my head in closer, looking into my own green eyes. I blinked. And then brought my head back.

I unhooked a white shirt and a pair of grey pants. I slid on my shirt which had a kind of baggy fit to my body, and stepped into my pant legs pulling them up. I backed farther away looking at myself in the mirror again. I shoved my hands into my pockets which I often did. My pockets had been worn through a couple times, from forcing my hands into them all the time.

Ever since The Law of Equality was passed, we were all forced to dress the same as one another. There was no singing or dancing allowed, or anything that involved the arts in which had been banned after World War III. The decision was made because the government felt that too much money was wasted on materials used for the arts, that could be used to help out the economy. The government believed the only way to have complete control over the people, was to wipe out all the arts, which they thought made some people more superior than others. They didn't want those people, to group up and overthrow the government.

The government began to see all art as dangerous. Statues were knocked over. Art museums were emptied. The Golden Gate Bridge was painted grey.

There was many disputes and uprisings in different states. This caused the overthrowing of the government and separation of the states from one another. The states that had agreed with the Law of Equality, had set up their own form of government within the state. And for the people inside, whether they agreed with the law or not...Nobody was allowed to leave.

It's been 74 years since World War III in 2064, and nobody knows what happened to any of the states outside of our own. And The Law of Equality gets more limiting each year. It started out with just small punishments such as, paying a small fine or doing community service if you were caught participating in the arts. After that it was a couple years in prison and the taking away of your property. In worse cases, death. But there was one punishment...that was considered to be worse then death... If someone did something to deserve this it would have to be truly great. The government would publicly humiliate the entire family for all of its future generations. They would be stuck with a label that can never be removed...untrustworthy.

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