Words Unspoken

A warm summer breeze entered from my window as birds began to chirp and tweet in the early morning. A soft tired groan escaped my lips as my hands reached up to rub my face as I slowly woke up from a deep restless sleep. Not a moment later, my alarm went off and my hand reached over quickly turning off the annoying buzzing sound. My eyes darted over to check the time, it was already 6:30 a.m. already a great start to a Monday morning. I layed in bed for a few more minutes, lost in thought as my gaze shifted towards the ceiling and recalled the dream I had. It was an...interesting dream, if I do say so myself, something I wish was real. Something that my parents would disapprove of or get upset with me if I ever told them.

The world wasn't like this many years ago. It was, as some would say. Unique. People were wearing bright colored clothes, using phones, and all sorts of technology, and I saw myself amongst those people, free and happy. Being able to do and say and wear whatever I wanted without the fear of being stopped or even killed. But of course all dreams come to an end and I wake up to a neverending nightmare. I snapped back into reality as I heard my name being called by a familiar voice.

"Samantha!! You're going to be late for work!" My mother called from downstairs, most likely already in the kitchen cooking up breakfast for everyone. A long sigh escaped from my lips as I forced myself out of bed, my arms stretching over my head as a yawn escaped my lips. Coffee was what I definitely needed.After getting out of bed, I strolled over to my closet and opened the doors, revealing a dozen shirts, white button down shirts and the shelf underneath were khaki pants. Yes. Khaki. "Here we go again." I muttered under my breath as I reached over grabbing a shirt off a hanger and a pair of pants before changing out of my plain beige pajamas.

Closing my closet door, I tossed my pajamas in the hamper before walking over to my vanity and grabbed a scrunchie, pulling my long strawberry blonde hair up, making sure i had no hair strand loose, I sprayed some hairspray and tugged my hair and twisted it a few times making a ponytail. Adjusting my shirt collar, I stared at my reflection in the mirror for a good minute before nodding at myself and stepped out of my room.

"I have a meeting tonight at 7 sharp, I won't be home until 8." I heard my father, Paul, say as I stepped into the kitchen. Everyone was already seated. My father took a sip of his coffee as he looked through a bunch of papers in his hand, most likely related to work. My mother, Laura, was eating a bowl of fruit before replying to my father. "That's fine dear." She said as I made my way to the cabinets and pulled out a mug. "Good morning Samantha." My mother said sternly. "Good morning." I replied back as I poured myself a cup of freshly made coffee.

Leaning against the counter I took a small sip as the fresh scent of coffee lifted through my nose. My brother Kyle descended from the stairs and entered the kitchen. "I apologize, I was taking a shower." He told us as he sat down at the table.

"It's alright Kyle." My mother replied as she skimmed the pages of the daily newspaper. Televisions aren't as popular as they used to be. Many middle and lower class working people don't own any technology, why you ask? Equality. Which of course sounds ridiculous. For the past 70 years, everyone around the world dresses exactly the same, speaks exactly the same. Sounds great doesn't it.

Reason we don't own any technology is because the government doesn't want us to get influenced and get sucked back into what the world used to be like many years ago. Which to me, sounded like a much better time than what we have now. What we know about the world from before is through history books, journals/diaries from people who lived through that Era.

But now, we are in a whole new world. No cellphones, no television. How do we communicate, well first off, we know each other's work schedules and if things change we use pagers. Yes. Pagers. The thing that was invented over a hundred years ago. It was popular during a certain period of time, the 1990's, I think, and then cellphones were invented. Which I believe were much cooler. But as I mentioned brfore, pagers are back. Sometimes I feel rather than the world progressing with new technology and inventions, it's reverting back to its old ways.

The voice of my mother snapped back to reality. "Samantha, it's almost 7, you're going to be late for work." She said as she looked up at me through her rectangular glasses that were resting on her nose.

"Yes, yeah I know, I'm leaving now." I replied as I set my half empty mug in the sink and grabbed my satchel from one of the hooks in the kitchen. "I'll be home by 6." I said and waved goodbye before slipping on my shoes and stepped out of the house. Once I closed the door behind me, the warm summer air hit my face as a small smile formed on my lips. Making my way down my front porch, I glanced back at our Bungalow house before quickly walking down the sidewalk, making sure I was not late for work.

Thankfully my boss, Jill, was pretty relaxed and lenient on my schedule. I've worked at this pharmacy since I was about 18 years old, and it was my mom who found this place for me, even though I didn't really want to work here. But Jill welcomed me with open arms and to this day I consider her as a second mom. She was an older woman in her mid to late sixties, and a sweetheart.

Unlike my own mother, Jill is more considerate about my thoughts and my dreams. If I ever told my mother, I'd get scolded or a lecture about it, but if I spoke about it with Jill, she genuinely listened to what I told her and that's one of the many things I love about her.

It was already 7 and I made my way into the tiny back office of the little pharmacy. It was perfect for two workers here. There was a small light brown round table at the back of the room against the cream colored walls and two matching light brown chairs next to the small table. On the other side of the room there was a longer table and on top of that was a coffee pot, and some plates and bowls with little snacks. Sometimes Jill brings in some baked goods like cookies or brownies that she would make the night before. Taking my satchel off my shoulder, I placed it on the hook on the wall behind the office door and punched myself in so I was right on time.

"I apologize for being a little late, it won't happen again." I called out as I grabbed my nametag off the coffee table in the office and made my way to the front of the store behind the counter. Jill looked up from the newspaper she was reading and gave me a small smile shaking her head.

"Samantha, it's alright, you're one of my hardest workers." She said as she shifted her gaze back to the newspaper, the same exact one my father was reading this morning. A small chuckle escaped my lips as I placed my hand on my hip tilting my head with a raised eyebrow.

"I'm your only worker." I replied, shaking my head as I took a step backwards and plopped myself down on the swivel chair behind me. My eyes were fixated on the clock, this was going to be a long day.

"Have you been reading the newspaper, keeping up with the news recently?" Jill asked, breaking the long silence in the store.

"To be honest, No I haven't." I said with a shake of my head. And I am being honest, there was no point. Nothing has changed and nothing is going to change. Everyone's lives are going to be stuck, in a timeless loop, looking exactly alike, day after day.

"Well, there have been some rumors...a group of people rebelling against the government." She said. I raised an eyebrow, now interested in what she was saying. "What group?" I asked with curiosity as I shifted in my chair slightly to get a better look at her. Jill just shrugged her shoulders as she kept her gaze on the newspaper before flipping over to the next page. "No one knows who they are, or where they are." She said, turning her head to get a better look at me, noticing the awed look on my face before adding, "But like I said, they're just rumors, probably nothing."

Closing her newspaper, she set it down behind the counter on the lowest shelf before getting up from her seat. That spark of amazement and hope in my eyes had now vanished into thin air as the sound of the door opened and shut, letting us know our first customer of the day had arrived.

A few hours have passed and customers came and went every so often. Jill was helping the customers by the counter as I organized and restocked our shelves, but got lost in thought on what Jill had mentioned earlier. A group rebelling against the government? Now that would be a sight to see. I realized later in life that my life felt like a continuous time loop, stuck in the same spot and never moving forward. This is definitely not a life I wanted for myself, and a life I would not want for my own children, and grandchildren, if I ever make it then.

All throughout my history classes in High School, we've discussed how the world was back then, why the former presidents and every president after them enforced these new laws and rules. Dressing the same, speaking the same, no phones or any other technology.

My thoughts went back to what Jill had said this morning, A rebellion group. If there is one, they wouldn't really be out in the open or they would already have been caught. But like she said, it was just rumors.

A small sigh escaped from my lips as I finished restocking the last shelf filled with pain medication before taking the empty box outside to the back alley and tossed it in the large trash bin. A gentle breeze hit my skin for a second and I breathed in deeply, closing my eyes and enjoying the weather for a moment. A few seconds passed and I came back down to reality, making my way back into the store. It was already late afternoon and there were a few customers browsing around, one was a couple at the counter as Jill helped them with a refill in a prescription and another was an older gentleman, in the cold and flu section observing one of the boxes.

"Good afternoon sir, is there anything I can help you with today?" I asked with the most politeness in my voice, a small smile on my lips. The gentleman turned to face me as he peered down at me through his glasses.

"No thank you young lady, I think I found what I was looking for." he said as he lightly shook the box. I gave him a nod and smiled. "Great, I can help ring you up." I said to him and motioned him to follow me to the counter. As we got to the register, the gentleman set the box down and reached into his jacket pocket, pulling out his wallet.

"Is there anything else you'd like me to help you with?" I asked him as I scanned the cold and flu box.

"No, I think that's all for today." He replied as he handed me a twenty dollar bill. After giving him his change, I placed the box inside a small bag and handed it over to him.

"Thank you, have a wonderful rest of your day, come again." I said with a smile. The man just gave me a nod and a wave before leaving the store.

The hours passed fairly quickly, but it was an easy day, since there weren't many customers throughout the day. The sun had finally set. Jill was checking the register as I walked up to the front door and locked it, turning off the open sign before making my way to the back office and grabbing my satchel, slipping it over my head.

"Have a good night Jill!" I said with a smile looking over as she packed her bag with her newspaper and glasses case.

"You too sweetheart, I'll see you bright and early tomorrow morning." She replied, giving me that same heartwarming smile as I stepped out of the building from the back door which heavily closed behind me. Adjusting the strap of my bag I began to make my way down the sidewalk towards the direction of my house. The pager attached to my belt buzzed a few times, glancing down to check, I stopped in my tracks reading the page, which was my mother letting me know that dinner will be ready soon. I continued to make my way down the sidewalk, as soon as I was about to make a turn to myself, something caught the corner of my eye across the street. My eyes furrowed slightly as I tried to make out what it was.

Looking around at the empty quiet streets, the only sound was the chirp of crickets and the dimmed lights of the street lamps. I hesitated for a moment before rushing quickly across the street to the alley way of two houses, both with For Sale signs on the lawn. I looked around once more to make sure I wasn't being watched. Slowly I crept over to the wall where large letters in a bright red color were painted on the house. The letters were T.I.S. Under the letters was a phrase, We Will Not Be Silenced. My eyes widened as I stared at the wall, frozen in shock as I took in the scenery in front of me. I blinked a few times and shook my head quickly before looking around once more hoping no ond zA ms . I glanced back up at the letters and words before moving my legs and racing back home.