oh no

by bofa xesjum

darrell opened the cabinet. there were four shelves in it, and three of them were bare. the fourth held a single glass, and sticking up out of the glass were some objects he had never seen before. those must be the lollipops, he thought. just as he was reaching for the glass, he heard a voice behind him. “oh no, you don’t, young man.” darrell turned and saw authority, with her elbows stuck out and her fists on her hips, scowling at him. “i was - i was looking for some medicine,” darrell managed to blurt out. “you know the rules,” authority replied. “if you want medicine, or anything else, ask one of the attendants, who are always awake and ready to serve you.” “yes, ma’am.” “your story is transparently bogus, you little worm. you knew the rules. now you must pay the price.” * later that morning, as the sun was coming up, a new boy, named darius, was admitted to the institution. two attendants took charge of him and escorted him to authority’s office. authority was seated at her desk. behind her a picture window gave an excellent view of the mountains surrounding the institute. authority gave darius a copy of the 20 page pamphlet which described the rules and regulations of the institution in painstaking detail. she told darius to read it, and to attempt to commit it to memory, because he would be held strictly accountable for adhering to its contents, and that no defense or attempt at exculpation or mitigation would be considered, if he were found in violation of them. the attendants then took darius up two long flights of stairs to the room he would share with three other inmates. none of the three were in the room. after making sure that darius unpacked his clothes and books and other belongings and put them away neatly in their proper place, the attendants told him that he was free to wander around the grounds - subject to the rules and regulations, of course - and left him. darius put the pamphlet into his pocket and went down the stairs and outside. the first thing he saw was a girl - a girl about his own age, the first he had ever seen in real life. “hello,” the girl said. “hello,” darius replied. “my name is dawn.” “my name is darius.” “do you like lollipops, darius?” “i do not know what a lollipop is.” “i will tell you. listen carefully.”