Scrutiny of a Nation
Emily Holmes
The greeting center was full of
brochures telling of resources
being exploited, rain that
stings your skin, the drop in
economy, starving children
in countries that nobody
know the name of and pointless
wars killing innocents.
The lady behind the desk
faked a smile to me,
she wanted to show how
happy of a place this is.
But I could see behind her
polyester suit and up-do
that this was the only job
she could find. To lie
to the newcomers from
the teleprompter that sat in
the corner. She was fed
information about the
world she once knew
so much about. Her hands
shook as she spoke to
the gentleman in front of me.
Somehow she fascinated me.
I wondered about her.
Why was she here
if she hated it so much?
I looked into her mind
just to see into her past.
She sat in a room full of
40 others, listening to the
man in front of the white board.
She took notes on everything he
said. She listened to the man
as he described how the world
was going to shit. He preached
that they will never own homes,
their families will be raised
in tiny apartments and their school
loans will haunt them till their
dying breath. They were wasting
their time. But the class just
laughed, thinking he was joking.
But all the signs pointed to
the downfall. It was
calm before the storm.
Nobody took the signs
seriously. Our ship is
unsinkable, they thought.
But the fog was too
thick to steer through safely.
The iceberg would come out of
nowhere. She saw the world
coming to an end.
She wished that the man
told her how to survive.
But as I stepped up to the
desk, she looked into my
eyes. She could see I knew
nothing about the world
she lived in. I was curious.
She looked at the corner,
reading the lies that
streamed into her conscious
mind. She shook her head
and calmly looked at me.
She couldn't tell one more lie.
She smiled truthfully and spoke;
Welcome to our planet.
You will be judged on what
you wear, your taste in music,
your size, what you look like
and how you act.
Enjoy your stay.
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