"Why do I have to wear a uniform to school?" Chloe asked her mother.

"So, everyone knows who you are." was the answer her mother gave back to her.

"But I'll look like everyone else." Chloe protested.

"That is true." Her mother conceded, "and you will belong. No one will question you."

"I want to look different. I want to be able to express myself." Chloe continued making her points.

"No, you don't." Her mother corrected, "You want to fit in and be appreciated for who you are. No body cares who you are, they only care that you fit in. You can try to assert yourself over the group and when you do, they will not accept you."

"But how do I get noticed?" Chloe's pleaded.

"By fitting in." Chloe's mother answered.

"That doesn't make any sense. How do I get noticed if I'm like everyone else, if everyone's the same, nobody gets noticed" Chloe shot back.

"Do you notice people?" Chloe's mother asked.

"Yes." Chloe answered.

"What caused you to notice them?" Chloe's mother continued.

"They fit in." Chloe's found herself responding.

"If you want to fit in, do what they are doing." Chloe's mother advised.

"Okay, I'll try." Chloe answered.

"That's my girl." Chloe's mother encouraged.

Chloe was wearing a school uniform. It comprised of a white button-up shirt on top and a dark green skirt below and black sandals. While she was completely unaware of it, the boys very much paid attention to her as she walked from one class to the next mesmerized by the sway of her hips.

The boy's uniform was similar to the girls, they also wore a white shirt but instead of wearing a skirt they wore dark green slacks with black dress shoes. They were also required to wear a monotone-colored tie.

To open the school day, all the students paid tribute to their glorious leader. The state protected and provided for them, and it was their duty to show their gratitude. Through the wisdom of their glorious leader, they lived a life of meaning and service.

A huge picture of the glorious leader hung in the entrance of their school. It was the first thing anyone saw when they entered its illustrious halls, and it reminded everyone who was responsible for their prosperous way of life. Sometimes Chloe would stop and stare at the young, tall, handsome figure who risked everything to make all their lives better. He deserved to be praised, she thought. He had taken the most risk and they all benefitted from that. They should be grateful. Chloe learned about how greed and commercialism almost destroyed civilization in the dark times. Chloe learned how whole populations were discarded as if they were cattle and made to serve the whims of people who used their power for selfish ambitions.

There were basic reading and writing lessons and some lessons to do with math, but the part of the day Chloe loved most of all was learning how to cook. The glorious leader had commented on many occasions that the people needed to be able to take care of themselves and not being able to cook was a major problem in the dark times. So, he mandated that every person must be able to cook. Chloe didn't want to let the glorious leader down by not being able to cook.

Chloe also felt the desire to be an individual. She didn't exactly hate the uniforms, but she wanted to choose what she wore. She was getting older, and she wanted to show the world that she wasn't like everyone else. However, the pressure to maintain appearance were too strong for her to outright disobey, so she buried her frustration for the good of society. This she did daily.

One day her best friend Kristen, noticed she wasn't her usual self. "Hey, what's wrong?" She asked.

"I don't know" Chloe answered.

"I was feeling kind of down and I met someone who helped me. I think they can help you too. I'm going to be seeing them today, why don't you come with me?" Kristen offered.

"I don't know. You know how my mom doesn't like me being with people she doesn't know." Chloe answered.

"Yeah, I know." Kristen said sympathetically, "But I think she really can help."

Chloe didn't answer so Kristen tried genteelly persuading her, "I promise I will be with you the whole time."

"You promise." Chloe asked for assurance.

"I promise. You won't regret it." Kristen said sweetly.

"Okay" Chloe finally relented.

Chloe and Kristen went to a part of town that Chloe had never been to before. She was starting to feel a bit apprehensive about it. They came to the door of what looked like a long-abandoned building in need of a lot of repairs. Kristen knocked on the door. After a few moments the door opened, and they went inside. Once inside they heard music. Chloe had never heard anything like it before. It almost sounded like noise, but it had rhythm and a beat. Chloe and Kristen came to a large room where a lot of other kids her age was moving their bodies to this strange music. A girl noticed Kristen and greeted both of them.

"So, is this the girl you were telling me about?" The strange girl asked.

"Yeah, I think she's ready to join the underground." Kristen answered.

Chloe looks at the strange girl. She didn't wear a uniform. She wore clothes that Chloe hadn't seen before, and she was the only one who was wearing them. She looked around and noticed that all the kids were wearing something different, and they all stood out to her.

"Do you want to take off that uniform?" The strange girl asked. Chloe just nodded,

"Then follow me."

The strange girl led Chloe into a changing room. There were all kind of different clothes on hangers. "Try on whatever you like." The girl said, "hang up your uniform and when you are ready to leave, just change back."

Chloe started trying on clothes. She wanted to try on everything. She wanted to see how everything looked on her. It took her about an hour to decide but she finally did it. When she walked out on the floor where everyone was dancing, she felt like an individual rather than part of the collective.

"What do I do now?" She asked once she got to the floor.

"Just feel the music and move your body." The strange girl told her.

"But I don't know how to do that." Chloe protested.

"You'll get the hang of it." The strange girl answered, "Just try and relax." Kristen had also changed out of her school uniform, and she just started moving her body. Chloe tried mimicking her. She felt really self-conscious. The strange girl smiled; it was always the same, but she knew it wouldn't take long. Chloe noticed there were also boys there, but she didn't notice at first. The reason why was because all the strange clothes blended together, and you really had to look at someone to tell who they were. She saw kids there from her school and she saw kids from other schools.

"What is this place?" Chloe finally got the nerve to ask.

"It's a place to go when you want to just be yourself." The strange girl answered.

"Don't you worry about being caught?" Chloe followed up.

"There are worse things than being caught." The strange girl replied.

Someone came up and handed Chloe a drink.

"What's this?" Chloe asked.

"Just something to help you loosen up." The strange girl answered.

"Is it alcohol?" Chloe followed up. Alcohol was not permitted to minors and she had been well indoctrinated to stay away from it.

"Not exactly." The strange girl continued, "Alcohol is how the masses escaped in the past. This is how we do it in the future."

Chloe took a sip. It had a sweet fruity taste to it that she had to admit was good. She started feeling good and after about 10 minutes she started loosening up and was able to finally feel the music. It was the most amazing feeling she had ever had.

This went on for another good hour when the festivities were interrupted by a blast coming from somewhere outside. Moments after the blast, several adults, wearing the uniform of the official security forces, flooded into the warehouse and started capturing the kids there. No one resisted, they all knew better. Chloe was taken to a detention center and remained there for what seemed like hours. Finally, a young woman that Chloe had never met before took her out of detention. Chloe was taken to a room where her mother was there waiting for her. The three of them sat down.

"Chloe," The young woman began, "Since this is your first offense, we are releasing you to your mother. We know how much you want to follow our glorious leader, but we also know that sometimes young people get confused by their feelings. To help you, we have paired you up with another student who can help you work through your concerns. This person will help you sort out your feelings and provide an example of how you are to behave. You may go now."

Chloe and her mother left the detention center. For a long time neither of them spoke. Finally, Chloe had to break the silence. "I'm sorry mother for putting you through this shame." Chloe finally said.

"I know." Her mother answered, "Our glorious leader has given you mercy and you must show your gratitude by trying to mimic the mentor they are providing for you."

"I will try my best." Chloe confirmed. Chloe knew that she should have been punished more severely for her discretion. She was grateful that their glorious leader understood that sometimes people make mistakes.

Chloe entered the school building the next morning. She stopped in front of the portrait of the glorious leader. His confident, strong appearance gave Chloe courage. She reported to the front office and waited for her mentor. A girl was introduced to her. She looked familiar but she couldn't quite remember where she had seen her. She was dressed in the same school uniform that Chloe was wearing.

"Chloe" the administrator started, "This is Stephanie. She will be your mentor from now on. If you follow her example, you will make us all proud of you."

"Hi Chloe," Stephanie started, "I don't want you to feel bad about yourself. I was once caught like you were. I felt horrible and someone showed me the way just like I'm going to show you. Don't worry, you're in good hands with me." Stephanie spoke sweetly and smiled.

Chloe didn't answer. She was trying to remember where she saw this girl before. As they were walking to Chloe's first class, it finally hit her. This was the strange girl from the old warehouse. Chloe didn't know what to think.

“Get away from the window Laura.” Luke locked the door and shooed me away. He and David peered out. I pushed my head back up enough to get my eyes above the window sill, and there I saw Mama and Papa, standing on the other side of the street. I wondered why they didn’t stay inside the bakery, but now that I think about it, they were probably just going to run home to make sure we were safe. At the same time Mama and Papa ventured from the bakery, a girl, maybe three or four, ran out into the street. Later I learned that her name was Annabelle. She was lost and frightened by the noise, so she ran to the only place she knew: the church.

A bullet crashed through the window on the other side of our door. Luke pushed us away from it and closed the curtain. I grabbed the rifle and unlocked the door when Luke and David weren’t looking. I cracked it open and peeked out. One of the men in the brawl I recognized. He disliked Papa, and now, burning with rage, he saw his chance. To me, it was all in slow motion, though it all happened in a few seconds.

Papa saw the child stumbling across the street, and he ran after her. He swooped her into his arms, Mama behind him. BANG! Papa’s eyes opened wide, and he stumbled forward. As he fell, he put the terrified child in Mama’s arms. Screaming, my brothers and I rushed out of the house. We gathered around him, lying face down, blood pouring from the hole in his back. There was nothing we could do.

It would’ve been easy for our family to fall apart that day. Our stunned grief followed us wherever we went. It was a feeling we couldn’t shake, a weight we had to carry every day. Every morning we rose to lift that weight, but over time we got stronger, and the weight that seemed so heavy at first got a little easier to bear.

Mama was the strongest of us all. She held tight to God and saw to it that we helped each other through our grief. It hurts to think about that day, and the days following, but it was one of the most important parts of my life.. This event and the actions of my parents shaped me into who I am today, and as I grew older and approached the age of independence, I thought of my family when I thought of who I wanted to be. Like my father, like my mother, I wanted to do something important with my life. I just wish I knew earlier that the important things in life aren’t the big things, but the small ones. It wasn’t my father’s death that changed me, but how he lived every day of his life until the last moment.