5844 by George Harrison
Owen woke up to the bell.
“Wake up!! I want this building finished this year! Won’t get any work done asleep!” shouted Mr. Williams. This was Owen’s first week at Construction camp and he was not enjoying it. He was 13 years old and was at the camp because had been drafted. Everyone at the camp was randomly selected for a job and he happened to get this one. At this job, people have to build houses, hotels, and other buildings.
He got out of his stiff bed and got dressed. Mr. Williams threw a hard bagel at him. This had got to stop.
After a long day of hard work in scorching heat, Owen went back to his cabin. He fell asleep within seconds.
The next day Owen was so fed up with his work that he started to organize a union. This labor had to end. He was sure that people would agree.
“Matt,” he said to his friend as he walked by. “Matt, I want to talk to you.
“What is it?” asked Matt.
“Aren’t you sick of having to work all day and having no free time at all?” asked Owen.
“Well, yeah,” Matt replied. “We all are.”
“I thought so,” said Owen. “So I’m going to protest. And you’re going to help gather people to join the union.
“Well, this is our job. They’d actually kill us if we rebelled.”
“I’d rather be dead than work here,” said Owen. ”So are you with me or not?”
Matt thought about it.
“Yeah, I guess,” he said. “But I hope you know you’ll die.”
Owen started gathering people to rebel. Before he knew it, people were coming up to him asking if they could help. The plan was working.
“Where’s Owen?!?” shouted a high-ranking councilor, Dave. “I need to talk to him.” Owen approached nervously. “Owen!! What’s this I hear about rebellion? There’s rumor I here about you starting a union!! Is this true?!?”
Owen didn’t know what to say. If he was caught lying, he would be killed. But if they found out that he was leading a protest, he would also be killed
“Uh…” stammered Owen. “There is a union, but I can’t say who the leader is… Really.”
Without another word, Dave left, muttering to himself.
The next night the union met in the storage.
“Hello everybody,” announced Owen, standing at the podium. “You all know why you’re here. The rules here are unfair and we have to put an end to them. At the end of the gathering, there will be a petition to sign at the back of the room. It will remain there for a long time.”
Owen gave a speech about the unfairness of labor. At the end of the speech, many signed the petition, but Matt wasn’t one of them.
The next day, Dave went up to Owen.
“OWEN!!!” screamed Dave. “Didn’t I ask about the union!!!” Dave had obviously found out about the rebellion.
Owen had no other choices. This would be his only escape. Run. Without warning, he bolted away, running the fastest he ever had. He was about to turn the corner when Dave drew his gun and shot. Owen collapsed at the feet of Matt. Matt looked down at him both sad and furious. He charged at Dave, so mad about his friends’ death that he forgot why he was running. They collided and Dave went back and hit the wall. Matt jumped on him and a fight broke out.
“You killed my best friend!!!!!!” Dave threw Matt off him and ran as fast as he could. Matt couldn’t keep up with him. He walked back to Owen’s body and carried it to his room. That night, Matt signed the petition.
The funeral was held three days after the killing. People signed the petition afterwards. Almost everyone had signed their names. They had to track down the people that didn’t sign. If they could get everyone to sign, the plan would work. Matt went around searching for the people who didn’t sign, convincing them to sign.
“Joan, you haven’t signed the petition, right?” Matt asked.
“No, I don’t want to die,” she replied.
“You won’t. They can’t kill everyone that signed the petition or else they would have to kill everyone. They can’t kill everyone. Trust me, you won’t die, but everyone has to sign or else the plan won’t work.”
“Oh, all right,” said Joan. “But it better work.”
After a long time, Matt got everyone to sign. The time had finally come. They would present the petition.
“Owen,” prayed Matt. “Help me with the petition. I need your help. Please.”
He went up to the head counselor.
“You know,” said Matt. “I’ve been thinking that the hours that we work are too long.”
“Oh really?” replied the counselor.
“Yeah. In fact, I think that I should be set free and be able to choose my job.”
“Saying that is against the law. You know what the punishment is. Death.”
“Well, if you’re gonna kill me,” said Matt, “you should probably kill the people that agree with me,” he said, showing the counselor the petition. “Everyone at the camp signed it, so you’ll have to kill all of us.” The head counselor stammered.
“Imagine yourself trapped in this camp having to work in the heat all day with no free time at all. You’d feel the same way, wouldn’t you? If we’re free, then you’re free. You can do whatever you want. So what do you say? Freedom to hundreds of children, or death to all of them?”
“Oh, all right. You’re all free. Go,” replied the counselor.
“Thank you,” said Matt. “You did the right thing.”
When he told the others, they exploded with joy. A swarm of free people ran out the gate, trampling Dave. Matt couldn’t believe it. He wished Owen was there. He was free.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
