"Here you go." The rations supervisor said jovially as he handed me a flask of hot tea. I couldn't afford my allergy meds, but this was probably the next best thing. The RS was nice enough to give me a discount! What a guy!
I headed down the corridor and started to scratch my face for the millionth time today. I swore it was swollen, but everyone said I looked fine! But what did they know, I think I'd know my own face. I was about to take a sip of the tea when I realised- you know what this'd go great with? The "Enlightening Machine"! It was this lovely projector, except instead of projecting onto a wall like most projectors, it projected directly into your eyeballs! It was a great way to spend hours taking in all of this fascinating information about who to hate and who to pledge your undying loyalty to! And you knew they were sure of it because they never felt the need to tell you why, that's a sign of weakness my father always said.
I made my way down to the room labelled "Maintenance", made sure nobody was watching and crept inside. If somebody saw I was sneaking off on my own like this they might think I'm the Communist! But I told them time and time again I have good reason to keep away, for I am allergic not only to our Communist but also to your suspicious gazes! Anyway, I switch the light on, which flickered twice before illuminating the whole room, which was empty, except for a rack of sedatives, a small wooden chair with leather hand and foot straps on the arms and legs too restrain disobedient students (the type who scratch up the arms of the chair) and of course, the Enlightening Machine sitting on a tripod. Just like any other projector but with two smaller nozzles at the front from which the light came out and winch for changing the machines elevation.
I rewound the tape, turned off the lights, sat down and took a big drink of my tea. It was at the perfect temperature. The machine started to whirr and tick. The light shot into my eyes. I started to feel groggy as my mind was filled with images of our great country and of the animals who seeked to take it from us. I wanted to take another big swig of the tea, but my arms were too weak to move. It took all of my energy just to keep enlightening myself. Things started to slow down. Eventually, my vision was too blurry to be able to make out anything besides the white beams of light just a few feet in front of me. I heard the flask of tea fall out of my lap and hit the ground. It sounded so far away. This was just like last time I was here, except last time I remember taking sedatives...strange.
I couldn't see the white light anymore. The only sound I could hear was my own heart pounding weakly inside my chest. What a waste of good tea.