For Your Safety

Bonnie woke with a start, jerking upright as she heard the door down the hall kicked in. The sound of boots hitting the hard wooden floors and the shouting of men as they kicked in yet another door. Bonnie could tell by the drum of feet and the echo of orders being shouted that someone did something bad. She pushed up from her stiff mattress and stepped lightly to her wardrobe, mindful of the noise she made. She picked out a cute-looking pink cardigan to go over her black turtleneck with some light blue loose-fitting jeans to complete her look. She then grabbed her sneakers and put them on; as she opened her door, she saw the many officers down the hall at her neighbor’s room... The front door was kicked in and screaming inside. Bonnie never liked the old man, Mr. Henson, anyway; he always spoke brashly and got in her face—people shouldn’t be like that.

She turned down the hallway and walked towards the staircase, placing a hand on the railing as she took her time descending. A few more officers ran up past her—barely even acknowledging her—which again made sense. Why bother her when she didn’t do anything wrong? Besides, everyone had things to do; the officers had Mr. Henson to deal with, Bonnie had school to attend, Miss Grove had her flowers to water and dog to feed, and so on.

Bonnie stepped out of the apartment building into the cold, brisk air, the trees all perfectly trimmed as they were every single Monday at 7 o’clock sharp, and the sidewalks clean. Everything in the city was perfect and beautiful—they had the Clean Air Act of 2030 to thank for such. Bonnie walked over to her bicycle, unlocking it from its stand and getting on the seat. She always rode her bike to the main campus in the morning—it was better than walking the whole way. As she pedaled past others going about their morning, she couldn’t help but wonder about that thing she read about in a book... What was it? Oh. A Car. They used to be so popular—she inferred, since back almost 100 years everyone had one—although they were outlawed and all scrapped because of the Clean Air Act restricting things that caused pollution and smog. A lot of things were removed and changed; No more Fossil Fuels, No more Gas, No more Cars, No more factories that mass produce harmful emissions... Yes, it was hard for everyone to adapt to the change. But it was necessary—so clearly it had to go.

THE CAMPUS

A 10-minute bike always made Bonnie feel better; she got to feel the breeze and the fresh, clean air in her lungs. She stopped in front of the campus gate and put her bike in its rightful place, locking it up nice and safe. Bonnie entered her campus; walking through the large main entrance, she could see other students at the college. Most had been sitting on the grass studying before classes—No running, No laughing, No fooling around—but that was the norm. Why would anyone be joking, laughing, or running in a place designed for learning? The ideal was laughable, really.

Bonnie walked to her first period of the day: History. More specifically, the failures of the 21st century. Bonnie walked past an oak tree and was mid-reaching for the door when Caleb, an upperclassman who was quite ordinary, opened the door for her, “Allow me,” he said, politely gesturing a hand for her to go.

“Thank you,” she replied, walking through the doorway. “are you headed to your first period?” she inquired as they walked together.

“Yes,” he nodded, “I have my Mannerisms class,” he replied.

She nodded quietly, listening to him and waiting for him to finish fully before responding, “Ah, I wish you luck.” she smiled.

He smiled back before saying his byes and making a turn down the academic hallway. Bonnie waved a bit, then continued on her way.

Bonnie walked into the lecture hall and sat down in her assigned seat, pulling out a book from her desk to read while she waited for the period to officially start...

LECTURE TIME

As the bell rang and knocked Bonnie out of her reading, she set the book down and promptly raised her head straight and squared her shoulders as she sat firmly and promptly in her chair. She made sure not to slouch or look disinterested, as it would be disrespectful to her professor and his profession.

Mr. Von walked in, with his crisp air of professionalism as always; his combed gray hair and his clean formal attire were never once a letdown. He started speaking, moving his hands about as he talked and moved about the room. “Today, let’s discuss a quite distasteful era of human history,” he stated blandly as he moved his hand up, “2025. An unremarkable year,” he gestured. “Cars, Pollution, Crime, and Unruliness,” he summed it up. “that doesn’t even mention the freedom they gave children,” he added, turning to look at all the twenty-something-year-olds in the room. “You all will be adults by twenty-five; some of you must be excited for that.” he finished, smiling lightly to them… The legal age was moved up due to the scientistic finding concluding one is most mature at twenty-five and not eighteen.

Mr. Von circled about the room again as he started speaking again, “Can you believe that in the 21st century children could do almost ANYTHING? See almost ANYTHING? Horrifying. Parents let a computer teach their children and let them do and say as they wished, and they saw Horrible Things—Truly Horrible Things. Now everything is carefully selected, monitored, and watched by the government to prevent children from seeing anything that might be harmful to that still-developing brain of theirs,” he expanded the thought.

"I'm sure you've all gotten used to the warnings, and precautions taken for Your safety," He added gesturing to the crowd again. "We value you, as you are our future." he reminded them pointedly.

Bonnie could recall the dozen times, when she was younger coming across a page or video that would flag her device, and she’d get a warning and blocked page that stated, ”WARNING! DANGEROUS FOR CHILDREN; VERIFY YOUR AGE OR EXIT NOW." the first few times it scared her; she thought she did something wrong, but over time she understood that it was not her fault but the content’s fault, and she had a duty to protect herself from it. Never once did she want to know what it was—it was probably something so terribly horrifying or gruesome for her to not be allowed to see—and that thought disturbed her, although she never saw what that might even look like...

The end. 4 now. probs 4 ever.

<:

BYe.

Enjoy this.

Stop Scrolling...

I said Stop.