I chase the book that flies into a
school. The school itself has children going in and out of on conveyor belts.
They appear different when they come out with their heads bigger, but their
bodies are smaller. They look just like the monster the hero fought. Heck, some
of the children that come out look almost exactly like the monster. Very few
come out normal while even fewer appear to have improved.
When I go into the school, I’m reminded
of why I hated it so much. None of the things that they taught me about gave me
an idea of what I wanted to do in life. In high school, they always emphasized the
high paying jobs in medicine and science. If not that, then business, the army,
or sports. These are the only options given to me as the valid ones. Everything
else was shunned as being too risky or only for those who could make it for
sure, which is strange because people always talk about the stars that never
seemed like they would make it but became famous and wealthy anyway.
The student’s faces look braindead as
their minds are filled with garbage mixed in with books from a mechanical
teacher. I remember writing this in school and everyone agreeing with me on it.
So many people liked my work and I denied them and others my complete work. All
this was, was a hobby for me I said despite everyone saying I had a talent and
should do something for it. Instead, I just threw it away for something I had
no interest in. I wasn’t even good at the job I ended up taking. It’s one of
the reasons why I felt responsible for losing the job.
A hero comes crashing into the building. He looks around the school in disgust.
“So, this is must be one of the
sources of monsters,” he says as he clenches his fists in anger.
He then starts breaking into the
rooms, destroying the machines, and freeing the children.
The loudspeakers in the school come
on. A voice that sounds like it could be the leader says, “You’ve finally
managed to find us eh, hero? It took you long enough with that useless lump of
meat in your head that you call a brain.”
“It’s a heart and it’s something
that you lack.”
“Oh, I have a heart. I just don’t
use it to think for me in everything I do.”
“And that’s why you lack it. It’s
all shriveled up and corrupted. Just look at what you’re doing to these
children.”
“They’re getting the skills they
need to succeed in life.”
“What’s the point of being successful
if you lose yourself?”
“You don’t know what you’re talking
about. Let me educate you.”
A snake tail tries grabbing the
hero, but he manages to dodge out of the way. He then grabs onto the tail and tries
to yank down the snake from the ceiling. The tail is too slippery for him and
he loses his grip and smashes into the wall as a result.
“You’re going to have to do more
than that to get me, hero.”
“I’ll get you soon enough. Just you
wait.”
The hero then continues freeing the
children from the rooms.
I look to the creature of
imagination and ask, “Is there any way we can speed up this process for him?”
“What about your book?”
“We can find it as we go or after
the hero defeats the leader.”
“If you say so, we should find the
power room that makes the machines operate. Turning that off will free the
students.”
“Okay, take me to it.”
The floor beneath me falls out and I
fall through another two floors until I reach a dimly lit basement.
“That’s the second time it’s
happened,” I say as I lift myself up from the floor.
“Hey, it’s your work.”
“Oh, that’s right.”
Let’s see, where would the power
room be? Ah. Probably past this do not enter sign with a lightning symbol on
it. This doesn’t look like a power room. It’s a maze with different paths with
pipes that come up from the ground and go in different directions. Following
one set of pipes brings me to a room called training where children who’ve been
absorbed all the garbage spit it at the newer children. They’re given help by a
machine in the room, so turning it off should stop this.
Turning back and following another
set of pipes leads me to a room where parents are educating their children on
why they should be in school then go to college, what they should prioritize,
and what kinds of jobs they should pick. Again, these parents are helped by the
machines, so stopping the machines is better than intervening. I just noticed
how bad it smells in here. I’m not sure if it’s the smell of school that brings
up the bad memories that sicken me or the smell of the garbage running through the
pipes. Either way, it’s a surprise that no one seems to be bothered by it.
I take several turns while following
my instincts and finally come across the power room. It has a giant machine in it
that has the pipes from the ground connecting to it. The machine mixes the
garbage, combines it together, and spreads it throughout the rest of the
school. Some of these pipes are labeled. Hm. I don’t really remember being
taught stuff on sexuality, revisionist history, identity, or false religion in
school. I remember learning so much more through my family, videos online, and the
collection of religious and spiritual books that my dad has. Whatever the kinds
of trash they’re being taught here doesn’t matter now because I’m pulling the
plug. I pull a lever, which shuts down the machine, however, it starts to break
apart because of all the building pressure from the lower pipes.
“Get us out of here!” I tell the creature
of imagination.
“You don’t have to tell me twice.”
The creature of imagination flies
us up to the top floor of the school as the floors flood with garbage. On the
top floor, we find that the hero is confronting who must be the leader. It’s a
singular snake with three heads. One snakehead has half a male and female head,
the middle has money for hair and a dollar and cent sign for eyes, and the last
snakehead just looks like a plain snake.
“Subtle on the message, eh?” the creature
of imagination says.
“This was made when I was in high school.
What do you expect? I still like it.”
“Mom? Dad? Is that you?!” the hero
says to the snake with the male and female head.
“Yes, it’s us son. Give up your
useless job as a hero. Let the authorities handle it. What good has your job
truly done if it’s only constrained to here? Other people in the world will
suffer regardless of what you do.”
“That’s not true! It doesn’t matter
if haven’t helped everyone in the world. It only matters that people got the
help they needed.”
“Come on, friend. Listen to us.”
“Not you two. I can’t believe you’re
a part of this! I thought we were friends!”
“We still are. That’s why I’m giving
you a second chance to say yes.”
“No, I refuse. I’m sticking to what’s
right. Friends don’t make others commit evil deeds.”
“You don’t know what you’re talking
about. Let us educate you.”
The snake starts fighting the hero.
Since the snake is so large and fast, the hero barely stands a chance against
it. That is until the children he saved and their parents enter the room to
cheer for him. He regains his strength and defeats the snake. Everyone cheers
for him as he takes the snake then throws it out of the school and far into the
distance. The hero is then carried out of the school by his adoring fans. This
is, of course, how I imagine things would go.
In reality, no one gets instantly
famous as the hero I imagine does. This is just fiction. As soon as I think
that, the world starts getting dark. The people slowly and painfully melt along
with everything around me. I fall into an abyss with my drawings screaming and
decaying around me. I’m trying to imagine something like I do before, but
nothing is happening.
“Hey, hey! Do something!”
I look to the creature of imagination
to see that its eyes are gone with has an expression of horror on its face as its
body is decayed with its skeleton showing. Yeah. I understand now. This is a
fitting end to the story. It wasn’t going to do much good anyway.
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