Isn't It Time You Were Brainwashed?

After a graduation ceremony, all the people I know filter out of the large room and fade away into the verdant forest. I meet up with Andrew and Aaron, they look ridiculous in their caps and gowns. We clamber off the road, across a large log and onto a small mountain trail.

I am in the van with my family. We are in a hurry. I look out the window and see that much of the other people and cars are beginning to film over with a strange white substance, like they are covered in a chalky mold. When they are fully covered in the substance, they become zombies. Our van is becoming slower to respond, I can tell we are being converted, but we are nearly out of the city.
Pulling past a stoplight, we do a u-turn into a park. There is a grassy area surrounded by hills. Another family has sought refuge there and are playing frisbee, relieved. We ask if we can join them, they agree. As we begin to settle in for the night, though, the cold sets in, and we realize that we have no blankets, nor provisions. Nervously, we decide to split up. Mom journeys over the hills in search of food, while Dad and I head back to town to get blankets and sleeping bags.



Our control center is infiltrated. The lights go out. A small beam of sunlight from a crack in the ceiling illuminates the now-prolific dust motes. THe building is suddenly ancient and full of grace. As moss crawls over the stools and display panels, several phosphorescent beings flow in under the crack of the doors. Their glow illuminates the entire room. They have the appearance of land-dwelling jellyfish, without tentacles. It seems they can take any form they like. They circle the edge of the room, and as they come to rest, a small lightform presents itself in the center of the room, in the beam of sunlight. It stretches upwards, un the sunlight is refracted through it into each of the other strange beings. This signals the beginning of an intricate dance, which proves to be sometimes hesitantly mournful, sometimes blindingly violent, but always brimming with light and colors.
They finish. We are convinced they have bestowed special abilities upon us.

I encounter a blonde boy of about thirteen. He is exceedingly rude to me, but I let him continue on his way.
A little farther into the building, I literally run into the same blonde boy. He apologizes profusely. I realize that the strange beings have brought special powers to the world, but in balance - there is good, and evil - hence the two blonde boys. They appear to be the same, but have dramatically different personalities. I must bring the two of them to the room where it all began - the control room. However, it is by now an ancient ruin and getting to the center will be difficult.

Dragging the boys by their arms to my car, I am stopped by a Hispanic-looking man. He seems to think I will do the boys harm. I insist that I have magical powers and that I am on an important mission. I try to barge my way past him, but his compatriot appears. I grow Exceedingly frustrated. I try to demonstrate my powers on the car, but nothing happens. As they continue to smirk and block my way, I concentrate with all my might on my magic. I finally succeed in making the locks on the doors wriggle violently, but my aggressors do not notice. They drag the boys away from me and towards the city.
All is lost.

Earning My Way

There is a party at my "house" that somehow involves me working and running errands, such as going to the bank.

-

I emerge out of a forest onto a two lane road with a field on the other side. I am dehydrated and utterly exhausted physically and emotionally. I stagger over to the bus stop on the other side of the road, accidentally stumbling into the ditch. I need to get away from that forest as fast as possible, but when I check the schedule the only buses coming are the Community Transit 8--s, which will not take me home and cost more than the 15-odd cents I have in my pocket. This being a life-and-death situation, I choose to throw myself at the feet of the billionaire living at the nearby mansion in hopes that he will give me a job and I can earn enough money to eventually take the bus home. I know however, that this is hoping for a little too much, because poor people like me can never just earn money from rich people like him. According to the rules, I will essentially be required to sign my body and soul away for a year before getting my payment in the end... if I'm lucky.

I ring the doorbell and somehow convince his footman to let me speak to the master. The man who comes to the door is a sweet, kindly gentleman, who has to pry himself away from the adoring orphan boys he has rescued to talk to me.

"Please sir, " I begin, "I was wondering is you might have any positions available, you see, I am in desperate need..."
The man looks uneasy and his footman cuts in, "We have no positions now. Go home."
I think of the forest I just come from and feel an intense fear, though I cannot recall exactly what I fear so much. I cut the footman off somewhat forcefully and say, "I just spent a month in that forest with my brother and he didn't make it out-"
The old man stops me and says, "Come in, I'm sure we can find something for you to do."
I step inside the marble-floored mansion, filled with leafy plants, light, and playful young boys. As I change into new clothes and an apron, I feel a sadness when I think of my separation from my own family, as well as something like guilt at the mysterious loss of my brother, and confusion about my situation in the house in relation to the other orphans. Why wasn't I taken in as this man's child? Was it because I asked for work to begin with, and not care?