W I N N E R O F T H E J O S H U A W E I N Z W E I G S H O R T S T O R Y C O N T E S T, M I D D L E S C H O O L
PUNISHMENT WITH NO END ____________________________________________________________ by Emily Zalewski, Grade 8 “Everything you do will be seen. Everything you say will be heard.” The words ran through her head. Although only attending the Education Centre for six months, the daily, cold, monotone voice over the intercom was engraved in her memory. “You must be prompt, and we expect full focus on education. Proper uniform is mandatory. We will run a further uniform check at 12:00. Read the Education Centre’s book of regulations.” Of course Nora read the book. Well, it was read to her. She never learned to read. Every child had to know the rules. Every child had to be “formed into a proper adolescent” with formal manners and etiquette, and attend an Education Centre. Breaking a rule meant punishment. Nora had broken rules before, but they were always small. Silly regulations such as not wearing her hair in the correct two braids. The smaller the rule broken, the smaller the field, and the easier the task of finding the pin on the blade of grass. This time, it was different. The field was 8,016,000 square feet large, 167 times the size of a football field. Nora had broken the most valued rule. “Do not defy the Government.” Any act of defiance or disobedience of the Government would result in prodigious punishment. Only when you place the lost pin into a rectangular compartment on the right side of the locked door is your punishment complete. Nora had been alone for over two years. Her only contact were the meals served to her three times daily. No one to talk to, nor to learn from. She was behind her whole class at the Education Centre, who’d be starting the third grade. If Nora ever completed her punishment, she’d have to start from the beginning. All of this torture, and Nora sat wondering what she’d done to deserve this. After the first year of attempting to complete her punishment, she’d given up hope of ever escaping. Now, every day, she would scream out for help. “Please let me out! THIS IS IMPOSSIBLE!” The memory of her last day with civilization was starting to fade. One second, she was talking to her friends, and the next, she was being dragged by guards into the largest field she’d ever seen. “I’m sorry,” she would say in between sobs, in an attempt to breathe through the tears running down her face. “I don’t even know what a hoax is. I’m sorry for calling you a hoax. That’s what my dad said. Please let me out.” That night, she cried herself to sleep, and in the morning, found catharsis in sprinting full speed at the forcefield around the grass, hoping her rawboned body would break it. She tried at this for an hour. Once again, Nora started to run, but came to a halt dashing towards the ground, overgrown grass breaking her fall. At first, there was a scream of pain, followed by tears of joy after Nora realized she found the pin. It created a small wound in the sole of her right foot. With no moment to waste, Nora ran towards the door. It was only a mile away, but it took her what felt like an eternity with the burden of her leg slowly bleeding out. It throbbed with pain
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