Gray, gray was the color of everything if you had a tone to bright or a tone to dark you would be charged with a fine. Scientists had found a connection between colors and happiness so we could no longer wear anything that could make you or other people happy. No one any more had smile wrinkles if you did you would probably be sent to jail. It was all because of the people, people didn’t like it w...

Genevieve tugged on the scraps of cloth encasing her waist. Dingy brown in color but still, they slimmed her already thin waist. Shaping her into more of an hourglass figure, she carefully smooths the ripples that had formed in her skirt. She clears her throat as she surveys herself in the mirror before her.

Dark chocolate eyes fall over the image before her. Long twisted strands of hair in the ...

Our light has dimmed

No outward laughter

Or joking around

For it affects your role in society

You become distracted

Or preoccupied

You can’t have a hobby

For there’s always work to be done

So you must stay on task

And not do anything to draw attention

For we must study, and work

Not gallivant around and give ideas to the children...

Like every day for the past five years I woke up to look into the eyes of my least favorite person. A slow groan escaped me, as it did every day.

Putting on an awful flower dress, it chafed in places dresses shouldn't be able to chafe, I ate the rest of last week's bread. In a few days I would be able to start on this week's bread.

The government had outlawed happiness, and for good reason, and ...

“What did you just do?”

Ace ducked their head as Liadain’s face paled, trying to hold their own smirk back. Ever since their father had started manipulating the world of Draenymis, granting himself power over the entire city, Manchester was grey and dull. Nobody laughed anymore, there was nothing to laugh at.

Nobody could imagine anymore. Nobody except the vilimora, all those Ace’s age and older...

Her walk was at a pace, neither too fast nor too slow. Her eyes were often sore from the implants to keep her world only black and white and the cool grays between. Slowly, the cone cells responsible for color had died out. The art she once expressed in multiple hues and brush strokes of every width and kind was now only used to draw straight and angled lines on blueprints for the building of a be...

Despite the sun that shone above the people’s heads, not a single smile was to be found; not even that crinkle of joy that form around the eyes. They all exuded a dull and lifeless aura, had that not be the legally approved emotional state, people would have complained. The memory of a time before happiness had been outlawed was scarce, just as the law itself was oppressive. The government claimed...

“How come nobody is ever happy?”

“Happy? I rarely speak of such a thing,” said Harold, his icy voice matching his fierce green eyes. He adjusted the collar of his cloak and cleared his throat.

“But — whatever do you mean?” Ellie replied, looking rather astonished. “Is this what the world has come to? Happiness is forbidden?”

Once again, Harold’s mild expression of bewilderment was not shown acros...

“Why are you never happy anymore?” A sad girl at my side whined dolefully. I looked up at her sharply and clapped my hand over her small mouth. Then I glanced over my surroundings, assuring myself that no one was near. “Happy?” I questioned as if I had never even heard of the word. “Yes, you used to smile and laugh and tell us children stories. You are different now.” The child bowed her head sadl...

It used to be said that a smile could earn you points. Fast forward to today and now a smile will loose you points. In fact, it could get you a hefty fine or worse. You don’t want to know about “worse”.

Smiling was outlawed the year I turned 10 years old. It was a confusing time. I didn’t understand why you could be happy but couldn’t show it on your face.

Every day at school we had to rec...