The Good Idea

That night, the three of us slept in the same place. In the morning, the alarm went off as usual, and we headed out into the field. 

No one knew what we had done the previous night, but the three of us carried the weight of our actions with quiet satisfaction.

We were walking with all the children as usual and at some point, as the rain poured down, we heard a loud noise overhead, as if a massive machine was moving above us.

For a while, it seemed as if the men had left us and gone elsewhere. The rain continued to fall on us. 

Realizing this was the right time, the three of us helped each other and slowly made our way toward a large wall. Judging by the distant sounds, we knew we weren't far from those men. 

We had to keep the things we had collected the night before safely hidden in our clothes. Even as we moved away, the rain kept pouring, and this time, it grew even heavier.

With loud thunder and flashing lightning, we realized that the storm was entirely natural, not mechanical.

By then, the whip people had finished their meeting and entered the grounds with some other powerful figures. We could tell where they were heading from the sound of their footsteps. Suddenly, a voice we had never heard before rang out.

"Look, children, despite all the work you've done, our contract is still not even halfway complete. No matter how hard you work, you fail to meet our daily target. If this continues, I will lose all the money I invested in you. After thinking about what to do, I discovered that many of you waste time talking. That is why, from today, you will no longer have words. The doctor will operate on you and remove your tongues. This is a surgical procedure, for which you have to co-operate. If anyone dares to turn back, they will go straight to hell."

"This is my island. Whether an ant bites you or a snake is born here, you must obey my orders or be thrown into the sea. Some more children will be joining you today. All you have to do is work," he said, giving instructions to the people beside him.

At that moment, a boy spoke up. "Daddy, these people who have no eyes and no mouths can't eat anything. So why don't we just remove their teeth and leave the tongues? That way, even the widows will eat them by sucking them."

Everyone burst into laughter at his words.

We realized that the man called "Boss" and his son had arrived. All the children started shouting in terror.

A boy, unable to bear the pain any longer, ran forward and cried out, "Sir! Sir! Don't remove our tongues! We just want to go home! Please let us go!"

From the boy's words, I realized the horrifying truth-every child here had been brought by force. Their parents had been bribed, threatened, or even killed to make way for this operation. The weight of it sank into me. This whole world was a mess, where expecting fairness was a luxury, and order was nothing but an illusion.

In the years to come, I would find countless excuses not to kill men like these-thugs who robbed humanity of its freedom, who played gods over the helpless, who thrived on fear. And each time, I would tell myself the world was better off without them.

As I spiraled deeper into these thoughts, the Boss's voice cut through the air, snapping me back to reality.

 I still couldn't see the wailing boy's face, but I didn't need to. His fate was sealed away. To the boss, we were nothing but insects - mosquitoes buzzing in his ears, to be swatted away.

"What's wrong with you? This is not your home. Unlike your mother and father, we feed you every day. You eat everything we give you and still cry? If you want to go home so badly, why didn't your mother or father stop you from being sold for a few pennies?" the boss's son uttered seriously 

Just then, a loud noise rang out, followed by a boy's agonized scream. A moment later, we heard the heavy thud of a body hitting the ground in the distance.

"Talking to such worthless scum is a waste of time, Johnny," the Boss sneered. "He dared to question us just to get a word in. That's why we shouldn't waste time on them. Go and help the doctor prepare the anesthetic syringes. Four of you, take all the children to the laboratory. The rest of you, handle the new arrivals."

We slowly moved forward, taking in our surroundings. If we could find the new children, it might be easier to get closer to the doctor through them.

As we were thinking about our next move, we heard a cruel voice.

"What are you doing? My father paid a lot of money for you! If you just sit there and cry, you'll be beaten like a child," the boss's son lashed a boy mercilessly.

Seeing this, one of the middle aged thug interfered and said, "Boy, you shouldn't beat the child so mercilessly. You can see that he is just your age,"

"You idiot! Are you trying to lecture me about right and wrong? I should beat you first!" the boy, who was around the age of twelve, grabbed the whip and struck the bigger man instead.

The crowd erupted into cheers and laughter, enjoying the unexpected scene. The sharp crack of the whip filled the air.

Seizing the opportunity, we slowly crept into the group of new arrivals, where the boy's voice had been heard earlier. My fingers reached for something hidden at the back of my shirt—an eight-inch knife. I hadn't realized until that moment how much I would need it in my life.

I placed my index finger on the blade's sharp tip. The cold steel sent a chill through me, doubling my courage and forcing me to act.

We slipped into the group, blending in with the other children. One by one, the boys around me were dragged away by the whipping men. I turned to my two friends and gave them a reassuring pat.Adam patted my shoulder in return, surprising me. The three of us stood there, waiting for our turn.

"If we can somehow capture the Boss's son, we might be able to get to the doctor through him," Adam whispered, his voice steady and determined.

"Oh my god, that's too dangerous," the third kid—other than me and Adam—whispered, his voice shaking.

"That's true, King," Adam muttered, glancing around. "Even though he's just a boy, he already crushed those guards like they were nothing. He seems even crueler than his father. I hate to say it, but we're outnumbered. Maybe this isn't such a good idea.

"The only bad idea is standing here wasting time with pointless talk," I turned to them sharply, my voice clawing into their doubts, gripping them in my control.

"We either find a way through these hurdles, or we die here. Listen to yourselves—every word you're speaking is drenched in fear. Snap out of it. I won't let fear be our master. We move forward, no matter what."

The air around us tightened. They hesitated, but I could see it in their eyes—my words had them in my grasp, leaving no room for retreat.