Opposite is having something or someone different from another.
Example of opposites can be
Right and Left
Normal and weird.
Legal and illegal.
Sane and insane.
Innocent and guilty
Prey and Predator.
At a young age, we are taught about the food chain and that there is a top and bottom of the food chain. The wolves and foxes chase rabbits and hares as they flee and hide. Bears stalking the shore of rivers as the fish swim by, waiting till they can strike. Snakes, stealthily slithering by as they watch a mouse. Vultures circling around a dying corpse, waiting for it to take its last breath. Then there’s some animals, like pigs, that will eat anything to fill their stomach.
In the end, while the predators are hunting and eating, they won’t see the hunter with its shotgun hiding in the bushes.
In a country called The United, there are two sides.
There’s the Authorities, the top of the food chain. The wolves, snakes, bears, vultures, and pigs of the country. They love their money, using it to feed their greed, lust, and gluttony. Because why have one piece of cake when you can have the whole thing.
They use their money to stay on top, to control everything. Every business, every organization,
every human.
The Authorities control the rules, what and who gets to live in The United and what is cast out. They examine you, exposing every single aspect of you and you better hope you’re exactly what the rules state.
Women must be in a dress covering every part of their body except their head, even their hands. Not one piece of lower body skin in sight because as the rules state, “A person can not handle the power of a woman’s skin.”
Men must be strong and have a fit body, even if that means having a gut. But nothing skinny, for the rules state, “A skinny waist must be for the ladies, not the lads.”
Both genders must stick to their gender assigned clothes, if not they are deemed mentally ill. Unfit to live in the United.
For the skin, it must be pure white as whole milk for the rules state, “Skin that isn’t snow is just dirt.”
Hair must be natural and clean. Clothes must be classy, nothing alternative that makes you look like a witch, a vampire or a clown.
The Authorities treat these rules as sacred, always clean, classy and natural.
Physical appearance isn’t the only thing either. Relationships must be man and woman for the rules state:
“Same sex relationships must be only platonic and nothing more.”
Women are only taught how to be a loving wife because the rules state, “A woman’s goal in life is to find a husband and have a family.” For men, they must never touch a cleaning tool or a kitchen tool because the rules state, “A man shouldn’t put a woman out of work.”
So many rules and directions to the United lifestyle, it can be so hard to keep up. That’s why Authorities get the access to break them if they want. If they want to dress up differently just for fun they can get away with it. If they want to destroy their neighbor country, no one will stop them. The Authorities can break every rule if they want, and no one will bat an eye. Because no one can even talk back to them, for the most important rule states,
“Always respect the Authorities.”
The other side of The United are called the Followers. The rabbits and hares. The fish and mice. The dead corpse and the slope of the food chain. The ones that are really held accountable to the rules. Even if they break one rule, they are sent away to a reformation camp where they will be changed to fit the rules. By psychological force, or physical force. Some stay for a week and come out brand new. But some stay forever, and are born in the camp.
Die in the camp.
No one talks about the dying part, and if you bring it up to the Authorities, they will deny and then send you off for accusing them in the same breath. Even though the corpses are piled into an oven and burned, the fumes of the burning blood and flesh fills the air and no one can escape it. Not even the Authorities.
To stay away from the camp, most Followers have submitted to the Authorities. Praising everything they said. Fed their fantasy that they were the human gods of life. Ignoring the clear zipper to the wolf’s disguise.
However, for the people who saw the zipper, they played along but never stopped fighting back, never stopped their lifestyle. They created an underground society called the Real United.
Back before the United became what it is now, it had different rules created by the Progenitors. They escaped a tyrant and traveled the ocean for a new land. That’s when they hit an untouched land and created the United. The Progenitors created a society of freedom and created the Court. They were created to protect the rules and to keep sure they represented the United. The Progenitors also created the Main Head. The Main Head helped fight and created an equal United. They guaranteed the safety of everyone’s equality, no matter what they identified. Everyone could speak whatever they wanted, even if it wasn’t agreeable. Everyone has the right to control their own bodies.
Until the Day of Change, where the new elected Main Head destroyed the rules and created a new United. People fought for what they believed was the correct United, but the Main Head chose to focus on what he wanted to hear. He fired the Court and created the Authorities. Silenced the fighters, manipulated everyone’s brains to think like him, and created an invisible barrier wall to keep everyone in and keep the other countries out.
For the fighters and sent off Court, it felt like they were defeated. They couldn’t do anything to change the mind of the Main Head. They could make a speaker the size of the planet and scream into it until they broke their voicecords. But the Main Head would never change. For his power fed his hunger of pride.
What was worse is the Main Head, even with all the money he had, never paid for the necessities. He cut off pay for hospitals, making all hospitals shut down for the followers. He cut the funding for education, making all schools shut down too. Since he cut ties with all the countries, the trade stopped. Meaning there was no more supplies for the followers. Including food. After all the changes, the Main Head cut all main broadcasting and created his own communications media. Where he can choose what to show to the public. Making everyone uncertain of what is true and deceitful.
When the fighters thought it was time to raise the white flag and become a follower, one of the court members found an abandoned cave that used to be for underground raves. The best part about the cave was it looked like a normal cave in the middle of the forest and the inside was covered and could fit a whole city.
That’s when the fighters created the Real United. Where they kept the old rules of the demolished United and assured their beliefs will stay the same. Unlike the Authorities, they care for everyone. Protect everyone and will fight and scream if they see danger. In the Real United you can be yourself. Love who you want, dress as you want, and not have to fit under discriminatory rules.
The food chain always has a top and a bottom. But with humans it’s different. Instead of foxes and wolves hunting down rabbits for food, Authorities hunt down fighters speaking way too loud. Instead of bears stalking fish, Authorities stalk Followers to keep them in line. Instead of a snake following a mouse, Authorities follow the Fighters that need to be exterminated. Instead of vultures circling a corpse, Authorities feed on the air of the burnt corpses coming out of the camp they created. Because just like pigs, they will eat anything.
Just to fill their power hungry stomach.
Author’s Note:
The meaning of this story is to show people not to forget you’re history. Always remember who you are and never let the bigger person change you.
Avery Rayne Strickland | 15 | Sacramento, CA | @averycosplay101 on TikTok
