Keagan felt that his head was going to explode. He felt as if his brain was
pulsing back and forth, making the sides of his brain bulge in a rhythmic
fashion. Each pulse felt as if a knife was being shoved into his head. He
wondered if he had gone insane, or if he was the only one who hadn’t gone
insane.
He wondered how the world had been so transformed. He knew that the world
hadn’t always been this sterile mindless nightmare; he’d read about a
different time in history books. He didn’t know a lot though, because history
wasn’t being taught much anymore. All he had found out was that it was a time
of chaos and pain; people said hurtful things, people killed one another, and
people were unhappy most of the time. Keagan wondered if it was really that bad;
could it really be worse than the world today?
Nobody fought anymore. Nobody killed one another. Nobody thought anymore.
Nobody did much of anything anymore. There was no longer a need for a court
system or silly things like the First Amendment; everyone thought the same
things anyway. There were national security guards in every town, but most of
the time they just stood around looking tough. There wasn’t much of a
political environment either; the people still voted, but it was merely a
charade. There were only two families that ran for President, so there wasn’t
much of a decision to be made. People only came to polls to get the free
promotional items anyway, they didn’t give a damn about the election. The
world revolved solely around consumerism. The only things people talked about
were what nice new things they were going to buy. Most everyone worked in some
sort of retail or advertising business, there weren’t really any other jobs
available. Advertisements were everywhere. They were on clothing, buildings,
vehicles, jewelry, sidewalks; you name it, and chances were it was being
sponsored by someone. Even the fortune cookies were just another
marketing scheme. When you opened your cookie you were greeted with an ad for
the newest detergent or a promotion for the newest cell phone. People worked
9-hour days, 6 days a week. Any free time they did happen to have they spent in
front of the all-knowing Tube. Television was the only the religion people had
now. They watched it dogmatically; it provided them with their opinions and the
advertisements for the newest gadgets.
And no one seemed to mind. Anyone that had objected to this new life style
had mysteriously disappeared during the Great War. No one knew much about it,
besides that it was the aftereffect that had produced their current lifestyle,
and that was as much as anyone cared to know. Except for Keagan that is. From
what old books he was able to scrounge up, he learned that in times before,
there had been things like art and romance and political debates and thought. It
hadn’t all been great; there had been a lot of pain and killing and hurt in
the world, but there was emotion and feeling in the world, and that was
something worth living for.
Today was the day of the big celebration. The people were given the day off
and there was a huge football game, which in actuality was just an advertising
stunt, which made the people really happy. Keagan was fortunate enough to get
tickets to the coveted game, but all he could think about was his pounding head
and the sickening world he lived in as the fans cheered on. It was halftime now;
time for the commercial for the album of the newest corporately-manufactured pop
music lip-synch performance, also known as the halftime performance. As the
performer walked on stage she greeted the audience with an advertisement for
hand soap.
That was the last straw. Before he knew what he was doing, Keagan was moving
out of his seat and onto the stage, much to the amazement of the audience. He
climbed onto the stage, pushing the performers out of the way. He grabbed the
mic, not completely sure what he was going to do.
"Can’t you see what you’re doing," he shouted.
The sea of faces stared blankly at him.
"Don’t you see that you’re wasting your lives? There’s no more beauty
in the world. No more thought, no more love, no more passion. No more anything.
There’s no more life. You’ve traded your souls for tiny phones and shiny new
cars," he continued. He thrashed around on stage, destroying millions of
dollars’ worth of stage equipment and tearing down the throngs of advertising
posters.
"Stop letting people control your life. Think for yourself for a change. You
have to do something to—" but before he could finish a single shot rang out.
It hit Keagan right through the heart, and he fell with a quick thud.
There was a moment of shocked silence. But soon after a small team of
national security team advisors came and quietly lifted Keagan offstage. The
performers walked onstage again, cheering on the crowd and passing out free cans
of cola. The crowd roared, and the game continued without another mention of
Keagan’s outburst.
As Keagan’s body was dragged outside of the arena, a tiny smile was
visible on his face.
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