THE REBELLION, by Toby

“One, two, three.” Heartbeats echo around the town square. “Four, five.” Sweat drips down foreheads. “Seven, eight, nine. Ten! Name?” The boy answers: “Stripe 86Q, Sir!” A hush falls round the tense square. “Masks on!” A hissing noise fills the silent square, the boy falls down paralyzed; his eyes still work. Stripes descend down onto the boy, the Stripes have no mercy.

The wind whistles through the quiet streets of Abergavenny, the remains of a small market town in Wales. A solitary pigeon coos, leaves rustle along the road, getting caught in the potholes that now cover the muddy road. All curtains are drawn, all doors are locked shut. No one gets in, no one gets out! ‘Tick! Tick!’ Bells shatter the deadly silence; 5 o’clock has arrived, yet again.

All the televisions zap on, unusual for such a poor town. The grainy image of the tyrant, General X, fills the screen. “Hello citizens of Abergavenny, I’m speaking to you as a friend, a father and a ruler. You are under my domain and you will be proud.  I am proud of this town, your leaders before me broke you, enslaved you and even killed you! I am not like them but when another tribe threats to attack…” He pauses for a moment, staring his tribesmen in the eye, “Grey and Black have teamed up and are armed to the brim. We do not team up, we are not weak. Stripes will not lose. We will win!” Televisions screens blacken, forced salutes fill houses; no one says anything bad about X. They want to keep their lives, unlike some. The REBELS!