Reading In Reverse

Does he, spark joy?

My worst fear is not being good enough. I think a lot of people have this fear because in this day and age everyone strives to be perfect. The perfect student, perfect citizen, perfect person. I guess you could say our society is fairly normal, you study in school and whoever gets the better marks gets the better job. Makes sense, right? I've never been really great at anything, and even though I try my best, some people don't see it as enough. Our society is organized by whoever does the best job. And that's decided on a series of tests we take each month. Everyone has to participate, it's a crime not to. Some people have attempted not to test by running away, but bounty hunters always end up finding them. It's not pretty what happens afterward. 

At the end of every month, we gather around a seemingly endless pit that is oddly never guarded. So you could technically just jump in and no one would give a shit. Our test scores are always announced after a public speech made by our mayor, followed by our head organizer, Ms. Kondo. Ms.Kondo is a strict elderly woman who used to have her own TV show about 50 years ago before the world went to shit. Our test scores are all displayed on a massive screen on stage for everyone to see. From the top 30 lowest test scores that are randomly selected, 10 must proceed onstage for organizing. 

I find myself among the top 10 this month and make my way up the stage. I couldn't be more scared, with everyone knowing how low of a test score I got. No one would offer to help me and tutors are too expensive, I didn't know what else to do. And here I am standing, awaiting my death. I am up on stage with a few people I recognize as a young man I take the bus with and an elderly woman on my block. Ms. Kondo then comes right up to me with an uncomfortable frown on her face and turns towards the crowd and yells into the microphone next to her. 

"Does this man spark joy?" My fate rests in the hands of the city now. If the majority says yes then I can stay.

But unfortunately, we can't all have what we want. I am brought to the edge of the pit, surrounded by people screaming profanities at me. I take a deep breath in and feel a pair of hands push me towards my inescapable death.