As It Unfolds

Silence falls among the young as he surveys this tight line choosing his next victim. His boots thud against the hard ground and his belt knocks against his trouser button. Sweat drips from the head of one child, his palms become clammy as the nerves take over him. He moves to him, grinning, he asked if the child is scared. A faint whimper escapes his lips as he tremors in the presence of this overwhelming figure. He looks past this troubled child and nods his head. The whimpers grow stronger and louder, he is grabbed from behind by two men and dragged away. The line of boys do not seem fazed by this act, and continue to stare ahead obediently.

We, as observers, wish to know what holds them there. What pure form of fear keeps their feet rooted to this dusty ground? They are not afraid, he tells us, as if he can hear our inquisitive thoughts. He comments that they are merely obedient to the cause, his cause. Their purpose in life is to be chosen, supposedly, and he is the judge of these young mouldable creatures. How many more will buckle?

I tell you this as I see it. I am not corrupt with emotion. None of us are. We are very true objective spectators retelling what we have seen simply to tell is. The man to my left has a face as hard as stone, unchanging, unmovable. And the man to my right now stands opposite a boy who begins to look down at his bare, naked and dirty feet.

He is taken too by a nod.

The man to my right continues his work. I have seen him walk the line before. He never grows impatient, he will take as long as the situation needs to find a pure one. The purpose of this scene must not be divulged to those in the public. The purpose of this scene can only be known by few. They know, but only for a split second, by the time they have been dragged away they can no longer remember their plight of selection. The boy not chosen will continue on with his life, unaware of this ritual.

It was a surreal image for me the first time I saw it. I looked down the line at those seemingly fearless faces, knowing one will crack soon enough. They all seemed so willing to partake in a life they did not fully understand. It seemed like madness at first. But it was because of this questioning and wondering that I was chosen. My inquisitive nature, pure through lack of emotion, was just what they needed.

I have seen this scene thousands of times now. The ethical questions raised about what we do can indeed be asked worriedly. But we do this because we are aware of the consequences that no ethical problems can overcome. A life with us is a high life. You could barely fathom such a life with us. Sure they try and stop us, who wouldn't? But what they don't know is that we need to be tried if we are to succeed. It is our gateway and the obstacles raised in our way are what lead us to this mighty seat.

He moved into a little boy who smiles. He smiled. We leaned forward, every single one of us. What was he doing? He stood back carefully. He nodded for a third time, but they were unwilling to approach. He smiled at this child. He turned to us and walked back to my side. The moment had past. The right was back where he should be, and this boy had now been chosen. The others will go unneeded. Now I await when this ceremony is repeated after another century, when this little boy shall stand to my left, the man at my left will be at my right, and he at the right shall be right where I am now. The others will look upon me, I shall look upon the line, and the children will look upon their future.