ran away when they found out. I escaped the hound they sent after me, but they didn’t find me. They pretended they caught me though. To not let the public know they had failed. To be knowledgeable is a crime where I come from. But books are incredible things! Really, I don’t know why anyone would destroy them.” He finished his story with a sort of sadness one gets at a funeral. I squeezed his hand, knowing that it is hard to talk about your past. He looked up at me, “What about you? Where do you come from? You don’t look much older than twenty.”
“I come from Panem. We were under the rule of President Snow, a man whose hair matched his name. A long time ago, Panem was called North America, but then there were many natural disasters that caused it to be torn apart. The survivors regrouped and became Panem. Panem became a totalitarian society, and we were put into thirteen districts. The lower districts were richer than the higher districts. But the highest of all was the capitol, which is where all of our products went to. I was in district 12, one of the poorest, and we mined coal. Later on in the years of Panem, people became fed up with the way Panem was being led. So they started a rebellion. The districts were defeated, and in turn, given the hunger games. The hunger games are fight to the death style with a boy and a girl tribute from each district, only one survives. The sad thing is, they are children from ages 12-18. I was in it before, twice actually, and it was terrible.” I looked down at the floor, but then looked back up. I have told that story many times before.
“Totalitarianism isn’t very fun. You have to do what the top person tells you no matter what. They can say or do anything and you cannot oppose them.” Mr. Montag’s head shook as he spoke.
“I am glad that we live in a democracy. We get to vote for our leaders, and our representatives. We have free will, and can do anything we want to within the rules and laws of society,” I glanced at my watch, “oh, I would love to sit and chat, but I have an appointment with another newbie in 5 minutes. Don’t forget to forgive, and if you ever need help you know where to find me. It was nice meeting you Mr. Montag.” I smiled, stood up, and walked away, leaving Mr. Montag with his thoughts on the new kind of government we live in.
"Totalitarianism isn't very fun."
Story Inspired by The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
andn Long After Midnight by Ray Bradbury
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