one of them.

The norms of my civilization.
The norms I follow and conform.
The norms that define my every action.
My every decision.
My every verdict.
The norms that define me.
Yes, I am one of those.
One of those billions.
No different.
I do everything they do.
I don’t wish to be different.
I don’t even know definition of different.
Different is just a fad.
I am no different.
I play along.
I abide the rules.
Sometimes I hear a scream.
Tugging at my heart strings.
But their voices drown it out.
Those voices decide right and wrong.
That scream dies out.
Returning sometime, weaker every time.
Chocked…suppressed….Dead…

Everyday I get up and do what they expect of me. I look into the mirror and I see what they want to see. The clothes I wear, my haircut, the way I look. I worry; I have a few extra pounds. They won’t like that. They defined good and bad. I accepted it. Without a doubt.

They taught me the rules. It wasn’t their fault. Someone had taught them. They engraved them in me. Brainwashed me. It isn’t their fault. They were brainwashed too. They decided what I eat, how I eat, what toys I play with, what I study, they even decided how much I should fare. They decided everything. They decided my life, pre-planned it. They taught me how to behave, what my ambitions should be, they taught me what should make me smile and what should hurt.

He says I am different. He says I’ll break free. His spirit is amusing, alluring even.
His thoughts are delusional. They defined it as imprudent and naïve. I agree. I am meant to. He doesn’t know. Different has been defined. Defined by them. There is no escape.

We are them. They are us. I am who I am. One of them. You are who they are. Imagine an anthill with billions of ants. Indistinguishable. I am one of them. They are the rest. No different.