The 2023 J.U.C. Media, Research & Writing Awards | Submitted Category: WRITING/General
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The 2023 J.U.C. Media, Research & Writing Awards 
Submitted Category: WRITING/General
Submission Code: W4/G
Student Grade 11 | Word count: 1305

Theme: Ancient Civilizations

Dedicated To All Those Striving For Freedom

[The 2023 J.U.C. Awards, LMGlobal.Org]
Xavier was born in the 4th Millenia, in Ksenopolis on the site of the once mighty city of Carthage. An ancient naval and merchant Empire which dominated the Mediterranean Sea until it faced its dismay by the Romans during the Punic Wars. Now, after more than 4 thousand years, their land is just a province of a global empire under an oppressive fascist regime ruled by pale tanned and blue eyed “Elites” Under the totalitarian government, historic and religious monuments were destroyed for their evocative nature as well as the effort to an eradication of unique cultural traits to end diversity, which, in Xavier’s time, was unsuccessful.

Xavier was 16, almost 17 by the next month, being the only son of a relatively powerful civil servant in the city. His inheritance was rather hefty with more than a hundred ‘free labor workers’; that being the modern and softer equivalent of the term ‘slave’, as well as his father’s corporation. He would have a load to carry after his father passed away. Xavier did not know much about his people’s far past, so much so his culture, understandably however, due to the regime erasing history to prevent the awakening of the national spirits of certain peoples. He was the curious kind though, always wondering about the unknown, the past, what had happened and how things turned out the way they did. His curiosity especially peaked when the workers of a big corporation in a neighboring province had gone on a ‘strike’, a term unfamiliar to Xavier and much of the world at that point, which is why it was a big deal when it happened. However, what made things more interesting was when the strike had slowly turned into a ‘protest’. Many peoples of various skin colors were present at the ‘protest’ not just asking for better working conditions. Xavier felt awful for the people who had not been able to have what he had due to his birth to a powerful official. His stomach ached as he wondered why and what caused all of this, resulting in the workers and eventually regular civilians protesting. One day, however, his worries did not need to carry on because the very next day of the protest, streets and fields, filled with people who had sweat and bled off for their work, were all empty. When he had asked his father for what had happened during dinner, his father responded with “a change” and nothing else. Xavier could not stop thinking what had happened to those people as he laid on his bed that night, what had happened to what they were upset about, what had been it all for? He was restless and began to not think straight. He just needed some sleep, he thought to himself lastly before he fell asleep.

It was pure white and there stood a man in black clothing, right in front of Xavier. He was dumbfounded and wordless. Unbeknownst to Xavier, he was summoned here because he had been wondering about the ‘past’. About him and the rest of the world. “Call me Time. You are here for the truth Xavier.” Xavier was confused but he felt like he understood what he had meant. Before Xavier could say anything, Time turned around and lifted his right hand. As his hand was directed to the left, the environment began to change from pure white to an ongoing battlefield. It was the Battle of Opis between the ancient Persian Achaemenid Empire and the Babylonians. “Babylonians suffer the ultimate defeat in this battle resulting in the collapse of their Empire. They had been abusing their subjects, taxing them heavily and denying their rights to humankind. They moved the Israelites, one of their subjects from their homeland because of their unwavering bond to their God the creator and religion. They wouldn’t bow to the Babylonians”. Time moved his hand left and the environment changed, now it was Jerusalem, home of the Israelites 50 years prior. It was in flames. Jerusalem was under siege by the Babylonians. “Israelites were oppressed by their Babylonian masters, so they rebelled. However, their efforts were futile and the Babylonians, enraged, sacked the city and burnt it to the ground including their sacred temples and scrolls, their ancestors’ priceless belongings.” A great distress clouded Xavier’s mind. “To think we were kept these hidden from us means there must be a key among the scrolls of history” he thought to himself. Time once again moved his hand, this time to the right, and once again the environment changed. It was still Jerusalem, but it wasn’t covered in fires. It was thriving, people living here were happy and their grand temple was not ruined. This was the future. “After the Persians had conquered the oppressive Empire, they allowed safe passage for the Judeans to return to their homeland. They even helped rebuild their sacred temple. King of the Persians, Cyrus was a good and a tolerant ruler; he not only allowed the Israelites to live peacefully but he allowed all other peoples and ethnicities to practice their faiths and customs. Unsurprisingly, the reason why their empire stayed prosperous for two centuries”. After he was done, Time lifted his hand high. He swiped his hand down and the environment constantly changed without stopping. The changing images focused on a man in binds. With every image, the man had more blood on his body and eventually the last image showed him dead lying on the ground with a smile on his face. “Spartacus was a slave, just like the ones you own. However, unlike your ‘servants’, he was constantly tortured and was forced to fight in fatal battles for entertainment. His life’s purpose was to be a figure of fun. However, he had enough. He thought he could rise up against his masters and free not just himself but all the other hopeless slaves. He, along with an army of slaves fought their way across Italy against the cruel government of the Roman Republic. His fight was futile but his spirit inspired millions of slaves across history and he died not as a slave but a free man.” Xavier looked down on the ground. He was starting to put the pieces together. The world government had been hiding the truth because they knew it would cause people to compare the past with the present. They were afraid that people would find out that they were deprived of their rights and their freedom because when they did, they would ask for it. Be it in a peaceful way or a violent one, it would mean the end of the total control of the government and the start of the forthcoming wars and endless bloodshed. Xavier looked back up, but again, before he could say anything, he woke up.

It had been a decade since that enlightenment. His father had died years prior and Xavier inherited all his property, including his slaves. However, he had already freed the slaves, finally seeing that they are not property but living beings just like him. He had abandoned his father’s path but before he could, he had taken many books and evidences that included the history and the people’s struggle for freedom. He had shown the suffering masses the “truth” and consequently, the protests in the neighboring province weren’t exclusive to that province anymore. People were starting to realize that they had been living under a dystopia for generations and the time was right to stand up against the world government, which, by then, was losing their grip on several major provinces. Ksenopolis was a free city now, under Xavier’s guidance, it was a beam of hope to peoples around the world. Future seemed bright to Xavier. He had hoped to see freedom prevail.

Tags: #2023JUCAwards, #HighSchools #Writing #Story, #JUCAwards2023, #JUCMRWA, #Peace, #global #youth, #student, #freedom,