By Dan Norton
Six students from Kew High School participated in the Victorian High Ability Program (VHAP) for English this term. The program focused on extending and developing students’ abilities in English. Students participated in online sessions each week throughout term 2. A sample of the students writing focusing on the ‘Dystopian World’ can be found below.
I stare up at the ceiling. The bland and grey tiles stare back down at me. I can only see a dry desert of tiles that seem to go on forever. I look down at my feet. The damp, stained carpet looks back up at me. Suddenly, a sound echoes through the vast empty area. It startles me. I walk towards the noise that seems to be coming from outside the window. I look out at the empty sky, no trees or grass in sight. A faint, artificial breeze pushes against my skin. I look down at the car, a vein of electricity surges through the air and hits the car from the sky. It comes to a halt. The car seems to descend rapidly, although it passes through the clouds and out of sight. I close the window and move towards the door. As it opens, I step out into the vast hallway. I run towards the elevator and cram myself in.
As the elevator slowly moves down, a snap is heard, and the elevator starts descending. It gains speed quickly and soon enough the people in the elevator start to panic. No more will my life go on. This is the end.
I see nothing. Not black or white, just nothing. Describing nothing is impossible, but that I what I see. But then colour drain through my eyes. I start to feel. I start to think. I start to see. I move my heavy body up to a standing position and feel it drop again. I feel weak and tired but still I am alive. I look around me, only just being able to move my head. A sea of bodies is presented to me. It feels strange. Why me? Why not them? Questions buzz through my mind and a feeling of overwhelmingness rushes through my veins. Then I realise, I had just dropped from a height of over ten thousand floors. I stand up rather quickly and abruptly. I don’t feel a weightiness in my body anymore. I open the doors. I step out. The breeze catches me off guard and drops me to my feet. I feel hurt and bruised. Soon enough, pain rushes to my body and stabs me like a needle. I stand up and my legs feel weak and floppy. I look out at the wasteland. Plastic is littered around this world. More and more rubbish pile up as rubbish rains from the sky. The government banning rubbish bins was the worst decision yet. They thought it would have been better having robots collect our rubbish, but they didn’t account for how slow the robots would be. I push through all the stacks of dirty rubbish. A small light in the distance is hardly noticeable but can be seen.
I shuffle towards this small building, lights illuminating the place. As I get closer, the building gets bigger until it fills up my vision. With my legs in immense pain, I push on. As the sun seems to set in the sky, I reach it. The towering building has lights scattered over the bland walls. I look towards the door and walk towards it.
A machine greets me at the door. “Hello Jacob,” the robotic voice echoes throughout the foyer. I grab the nametag he is holding. It has two words printed on it, Jacob and Worker. This world has turned into only a state of work. No time for joy and happiness. Only the depressing world of the workforce. And only one job, building robots. We have no last names. No sense of family. Overpopulation was an issue and so the government put an end to new life. They would just let humanity die out. I was one of the few last ones. I was taken away from my family at the age of 3. Now I don’t know who would have raised me. I feel alone in this world.
Laying in my bed, I think. I think about what happened this morning. The pile of bodies on the elevator floor. This wasn’t normal and this wasn’t uncommon. Many accounts of people being killed by a falling elevator were all over the news. With over 1 trillion people in the world all living in the same tall buildings, its bound to happen. I just can’t believe I had survived it. Suddenly, a blaring siren struck me by surprise. An alarm, but why? A panicked voice that could barely be made out shouted on the intercom. It says something that makes me panic as well. I run to closet in my room and get the hazmat suit out. Someone bad was about to happen. A huge sound like a shotgun ring through my ears. A huge mushroom cloud appears through the window. I brace.
My vision goes blurry, and my lungs start to feel pain. I see nothing, again. I don’t know what to do. This is bad.
Thanks,
Seth Bolwell
