Manipulated

One

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I’ve heard the tales.

The stories. The legends.

Whispers that float around the Misery like undefined mists. Whispers of the world above ground. The world I will never see. They say there is a green carpet that blankets the Earth. Like everyone in the Misery, I have never seen green carpet, yellow sun, or white cotton balls that float in the sky.

This is because I am a Manipulator. I Manipulate. I can Manipulate all sorts of things. Water. Fire. Air. Earth. Light. Darkness.

People.

The Evils keep us locked up in a giant hellhole underground. We call it the Misery. The place where we live and die. Sometimes from sickness, sometimes from beatings.

All I want to know is why we are not allowed to see the green carpet. Why is it necessary to lock us up underground and beat us whenever we step out of line? Is the real world too dangerous for a Manipulator like me? Or are the Evils, the people who run the Misery, just plain cruel?

There is a woman, and her name is Gillian. She tells all the stories, because she is the only one to ever make it above ground in an escape attempt. She made it far enough to see the green carpet, but she was eventually caught by the Evils themselves.

She speaks about the sky. She mentions fluffy cotton balls surrounding the sun. She tells about the flying animals that sing. People call them “birds.” She has told countless tales of the green carpet. “It’s not soft or hard,” she says.

With all my heart, I want to feel the hot sun. Look at the white cotton balls. Hear the flying animals sing.

I want to see the green carpet.