Freedom 8-4629

     My name is Freedom 8-4629. I was no different than anyone else. I looked the same, I talked the same, I lived the same. But I thought differently. That was my one flaw. I was cursed.

     It started at a very young age. Not when I was living in the Home of Infants. I was a little too young to be troubled by such thoughts then. It was some time after I moved to the Home of the Students. There was a thought that started gnawing at the back of my mind. "This isn't right. Humans aren't supposed to live like this." In the earlier years We- no, I just dismissed it as nonsense. The council told us how to live and the council knew what was best for all of us, right?

     But as I grew older I started believing that it was true. I can't explain why. I just felt that it was true. That maybe this thought had come from a spot deep in my soul that still remembered the unmentionable times. Remembered what it was like before the great awakening. But remembered what? They told us nothing of the unmentionable times. It was forbidden to speak of it, as the name implies. Was it better then? Was it-

     I can't even understand my own thoughts. I guess that makes sense though. They are about to burn me to a crisp in front of the whole town. Of course my thoughts are going to be a little scrambled. Let me think……… Ah! Yes. After I was sent to the Home of the Peasants.

     I had been working in the field one day when I discovered a door on the ground next to the fence. It was made made of smooth metal and it was halfway buried under the dirt. I leaned over to open it and see what was inside. But I saw nothing. Only a ladder leading down into the darkness. I knew I had to explore it. But not now. Someone might see me. So I shut the door and went back to work, making a mental note of where the door was.

     Late that same night, after stealing a candle, I went outside and found the door again. I held my breath and lit the candle. I crawled down the ladder into the darkness and held the candle aloft. It was just a small empty room. The walls were made of smooth rock like I had never seen before. There was a small stack of what I now know are called books. Not knowing what they were at the time, I carefully walked over to the pile. I grabbed one and opened it. I was very intrigued when I saw it had words in it. I flipped through the pages but there were some words that I did not understand. But I was very curious. So I grabbed the smallest book there was and left, intending to come back later to look at the other books.

     I snuck back into the house and and hid the book and the candle under my mattress and went to sleep. I woke up in the morning bright and happy, the thought of the book a bright hope. Maybe an explanation of the thoughts that had been bugging me for so long. I went about my daily duties as normal, giddy in anticipation of reading the book. That night, after I was sure everyone was asleep, I hid behind my bed and started reading the mysterious book and opened up a whole new world.

     Over the next three weeks I read all of the books from the little room and I learned so much. Including the forbidden word. One simple word. That is all it takes to get strapped to a stake and burned alive….. But I'm getting off topic.

     I was still so trusting of the council. I demanded to speak to the them. And I was granted my wish. All I was going to do was report that I had found the room. I always work in that area and if someone else were to find it and report it, I would be in a world of trouble. But while I was speaking with the council I said it. The forbidden word. It was an accident, but it was too late. They heard me. And now I would have to pay. I didn't say We. I said I. That one tiny word. The oldest council member was the only one who spoke, as the others were too stunned to say anything. He ordered that I be sent to the Place of Corrective Detention for holding until I was burned in front of the town.

     They lead me to my cell and I sat there waiting for my fate. There was nothing I could do. This was the way humans lived now. That thought that had been bugging me was from the unmentionable times and it was wrong. Maybe things didn't work like this back then, but they do now.

     The next day they had some men come and rip out my tongue so I could no longer speak. Oh how much it hurt. It still does, the ghost of a knife cutting through my tongue.

     Two days later, today, they lead me from my cell. They are currently tying me to the post to be burned. So here I am. 16 years old and already I have set my fate. As I look out across the square I can see the Uncharted Forest. I think I see a man out there. But no one has run for a year or so now. Am I just dreaming that I see a person out there? Probably. He shakes his head and walks back into the Forest. I look down at the crowd and see something that startles me. A young man. My age I think. What is so startling is that he looks so different from all his brothers. Surely he is cursed just as I am, only more so. I hope he will not suffer the same fate as me. I look down at his bracelet to see his name.

     Equality 7-2521.

     "Good luck, Equality." I mouth to him as I feel the fire start to eat my skin.