The end of the world was predicted to happen in 2178. It didn't of course but no one has really felt alive since then. Who would when the government was discovered to be corrupted by a bunch of psychopaths?In 2149, the countries broke out in a war after mutilations of dead people's bodies started turning up in the north of France. Everyone knew that, we were all forced to learn about it in world history lessons. The mutilations were harmless really, until of course you touched the dead mutilated person's body. Deep knife cuts started growing on the victim's body within an hour of touching the mutilated body and before twenty four hours were up the victim would already be dead.
Within a week half the French population were dead. Within a week it was realised that no matter how many layers you wore over your hands, you could not touch the bodies without suffering the consequences.
The bodies may have stayed in France and the war may have been avoided if a foreign assassin didn't send one of the bodies to the French princess. An uproar took place in the newly brought royal family of the French.
The French royal family couldn't do anything not when all of the world's countries were already hostile to each other. It was hard to eliminate the suspects especially when every country was an enemy.
But it wasn't the French royal family that was the most angry. It was the people. Their pride of a new royal family, a family that was agreed upon by the people, was destroyed. It was the French people who set bombs off killing off every source of supply of every country. People starved world wide. Countries fought and went to war with the French.
The greediness of every country meant those whose supplies managed to survive the bombings were stolen by others. War broke out between enemies who had held back for decades.
Soon the country, known as France was no more than a page in our world history books, the population had been starved to death by their enemies and if not starved, killed or enslaved. France was no more than a desert now.
Other countries soon followed suit. The countries we once knew were gone and in their place were 'Lands'. The 'Lands' were as described, lands with newly drawn borders and the few leaders who had bothered to grow what was left of the economy. The leaders like to call themselves our government but they are more like the bullies of a school playground.
There are six lands left, that we know of. Land 4611, Land 4902, Land 2645, Land 5427, Land 3851, and Land 6667.
I was born in Land 5427 and Land 5427 is where I live. Land 5427 is where I found out that the earth was predicted to end in 2178. Land 5427 is where I found out the world didn't end in 2178, it was just mine and everyone else my age.
+++
I was born in 2162, thirteen years after the countries broke out in war and four years after the 'Lands' were identified.
Despite the constant war between the Lands we were still made to go to school and learn subjects. I had read from old world history books in the library that students used to be able to choose their own subjects and speak their chosen language.
We're trapped in what we learn now. We're given set subjects and made to compete with each other for the best grades.
What I wouldn't give to learn the old English... The idea of reading and interpreting books and poetry struck me with great interest.
At school we are only allowed to interpret enemy plans and sources from other Lands. Some are real and some are made up but all are positively boring and lack a story line.
When I was eight, the government started to introduce mandatory summary tests (MSTs) for the students in level 16. The MSTs tested all the knowledge the level 16s has been given, since level 3. Plus a few unknown topics, to see who works well in the dark.
YOU ARE READING
Prompts And Shit
RandomAs described in the title... prompts and shit! (the term "shit" can be taken literally or metaphorically). A small collection of original novelettes/novellas, which didn't seem good enough to be their own story, but seemed too good to not be publis...