Short Twisted Stories

Superiors

Prompt: Create an allegory
(A.N.: This one isn't so short, it's actually like 16 pages long so if you don't want something that long, the next story is Emily which is actually short)

"No," I said the word without even thinking about it. She had wanted me to do something completely horrible to someone who didn't deserve it and I wouldn't stand for it. The look on my superior's face made all the cuts and bruises from the beatings worth it.

Later that day, as I made my way home, I thought of what I would say to my father, Edward Hughes. He had always had a sharp eye and a tongue to match it and had been a great and powerful general in the army. But that was before he had discovered that the country's problems were not the result of idle workers and Manipulators, but that the source was the people running it--people like himself. He resigned his position as quickly as the government would allow and warned me of the dangers of joining the military. Not that I listened, of course.

A few years back, my father and I had a falling out. I knew that the best way of defying him was to join the military. So, like a fool, I signed up. I had gotten my wish of making my father despise me, even if it was temporary, but I had also made my life a living hell. The military of Astork is vigorous and harsh, squashing any free will of all soldiers and any thoughts of rebelling. All minds associated with the military were focused on being absolutely perfect. This was because all Superior officers were very strict and expected only perfection from their lower officers. Even desk assistants had this problem. If they turned in a report only seconds after their boss expected it, they would get a beating of a lifetime. So you can only imagine my beating after blatantly disregarding a direct order.

As I made my way home, I thought of the unfairness of the system which our country was so rigorously attached to. I was unaware of where my feet were taking me and soon found myself outside of my home. It was made of mud, stone, and cement with one story and a basement. We had few windows because glass was so expensive, but the skylight gave us plenty of light. We had a larger door than any other home with it being about 7ft tall and 5ft wide. The house wasn't much, but I had made alongside my father and that's what really made it home. I still lived with my father at the time because it was customary to support your parents with your wages if they didn't have jobs of their own. Not that he needed any of my help with money. His job at the military had set him up for life as he received a weekly pension of ♛100, which was our highest form of currency. The lowest form was ♝ which I only made ten of a week. To put that into perspective, one ♛ is worth ♝50. So he had no trouble getting by on money, it was me who needed the financial support. But the other townspeople didn't need to know that.

I stood outside my house for a little longer, my bottom already aching more just thinking about what my father would do to me once he had learned what I had done. I debated whether I should go inside or go to my best friend Zuko's house. Then I thought of his father and decided mine was probably the better option right now. As I walked inside I had expected to be bombarded with insults and lashings, but to my surprise, I wasn't. In fact, my father was missing from his usual chair and wasn't in the kitchen either. I looked all over my house, but he appeared to be out at the moment.

'Just as well,' I thought to myself, 'I might actually get a few moments to myself for once.'

With that thought in mind, I settled down in my chair and began a fire in the fireplace. I had been sitting there for no more than a minute when Zuko came bursting through the front door.

"Percy!" he gripped the doorway and was panting as though he had run here all the way from the town.

"What is it?" I said impatiently, "You didn't get in trouble with another one of the local groups again, did you?"