hush.

prologue

november 1, 1956

stanford, california

It was a cold November day like any other when this began. The sun shone like a gleaming gold pendant, illuminating the white buildings of Stanford University. I was walking to my Psychology class, appreciating the crunchy fallen leaves that crackled like a warm fireplace when I stepped on them. As I jogged across campus, I noticed that a boy to my right had dropped his books. "Here let me-" I began, but the boy didn't appreciate my help. "Get away, Red." he snarled, grabbing his books I sighed and headed off. This was nothing new. Lately, people began to judge me for my strange name and tree trunk thick accent. Since the outbreak of the Cold War, xenophobic sentiment was widespread. I didn't understand their prejudice towards me, though. I moved here when I was 5 with my family, and considered myself as American as anyone else. Finally, I stopped walking. I had arrived at my class. I pushed open the door and walked through the aisle, causing a sea of whispers to ensue. Kids wondering if a was a spy, nothing new. I quickly took my seat, trying to ignore the whispers.

The rest of the class passed by without incident. As I was packing up, however, the professor called me to the front of the room. "I've noticed that the other students are questioning your loyalty" he said, looking at me with genuine concern. I simply stared at him, trying to find out how he had picked up on this. "Here" he said, giving me a form "Take this." I continued to stare, but his eyes betrayed only the fact that this was all the context I was going to get. After a few more moments of staring, I gave up, stuffed the form in my bag, and left the room.

That night, I crashed down onto my couch, exhausted from the day's studies. Suddenly, I remembered the form in my bag.I began to read the first line: You have been selected for a classified government experiment. A smirk tugged at my face. Soon, they all would see just how American I was.