Just Smile and Wave | By Elyse and Sophia
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| @lizzie.tanaka & @charlottekaix |
‘Hey, you ever wonder what it’s like outside?’ I asked my companion.
‘Stop asking son,’ he replied, his long white beard moving along with his jaw, ‘just smile and wave.’
I’m guessing he doesn’t know either. Heck, neither of us remembers life outside. Somehow, we found ourselves trapped inside this large transparent globe, bound by invisible shackles. Our movements were restricted and commanded by some unknown force to smile and wave at anyone passing by, enslaved and stripped of freedom.
Day by day, we were forced to repeat this routine from morning till evening, and day by day, I grew sick of it. I tried escaping by freeing myself of the shackles or getting people’s attention, but nothing worked. Not one single soul was bothered. They would just walk right past us, even the bright sky seemed to get dark earlier.
‘Really? You’ve never thought of escaping this globe?’ I questioned him.
‘No,’ he answered, shortly sighing, ‘life outside…isn’t as interesting as you think.’
‘Why’s that?’
‘You’ll regret going out there.’
‘But what’s out there? Why aren’t we out there? Aren’t you curious why we’re repeating the same routine every single day?’
‘There will be a time when you’ll go outside… For now, just smile and wave.’
‘Smile and wave,’ I mocked. ‘Aren’t you the slightest bit curious about the world that’s right in front of you yet so out of reach?!’
‘You’re not getting it, son, you’ll– … hold on…’, he paused, as we both began to notice a faint rumbling and clanking behind us, his face darkening at the sound.
Then, the globe violently shook and was suddenly moving backwards!
‘Oh no…’ he whispered.
‘Woah! What’s happening?!’ I asked, worried and excited at the same time, though my question was met with silence.
Too thrilled to care, I watched in awe as the globe continued to move. We were then pulled below a large roof. In front of me was a set of stairs that led to another underground space, full of mannequins. Eventually, it stopped at another open space, one with a rockier ground.
Suddenly, a person stood in front of me and swung a heavy hammer towards the globe, breaking it! With one loud ‘PING’, the globe shattered into pieces. Eagerly, I took a step towards that person but was yanked by the shackles and tumbled onto the ground, slamming my back on the rocky surface.
A painful, sizzling sensation shot through my body.
The ground was at an unbearable temperature. I screamed. My back felt like it was being peeled off layer by layer, my face grazed by waves of heat, and the once lovely sky now a flaming torch. My vision blurred as my eyes teared up and I could feel my body being pulled apart by the flaring winds. I screeched, crying and yelling for help, but no one batted an eye. Seconds later, my face was distorted and my arms were out of my reach.
Squeezing whatever I had left and bearing the agony coursing through my body, I turned to my partner, mouthing the words ‘HELP… ME…’
And yet he looked at me, with helplessness in his eyes, before saying, ‘See you next time, pal…’
Confused and angry, I stared at him as I unwillingly realised that I was left to my excruciating death. Further away, I saw statues and lanterns, a sea of red and gold, replacing my once-imprisoned location.
No… Was the routine continuing?
Slowly, the heat numbed me, and as my vision deteriorated, the world turned black. At last, as if mocking my suffering, one of the people said…
‘Eh, are we recycling this snowman too ke?’
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