The Day of Silence was first institutionalized at my school when I was a freshman. It was put on first led by the Gay Straight Alliance in order to fight against alleged oppression and discrimination of all populations at our campus. I can remember beforehand that there were many banners and posters declaring it a day to fight against everyone who bound us in metaphorical shackles. In fact, that seemed like the whole deal of the Day, was to make it sound like everyone had common issues, and was almost identically similar. They told us to wear black to show our support, and to take a vow of silence for the whole day to show our displeasure of the system.

Despite my questioning of the ideals of the GSA, the Day of Silence went forward on April 17th, and to most of the school’s shock, people actually participated. About an eighth of the school adorned themselves with black garments and automatically lost their voice. The group of classmates sat in the middle of the field, and glared at those who thought it best to not join in the revolution. The day went on, and even though most of the school ignored them, the group stood fast in their positions, and while the tension was above normal, things remained peaceful.

The next day, however, brought many surprises to the populace. When everyone returned from the break given to rest from academic learning, the mass was back. The mass of black remained in their same spot as they did the day before. The biggest difference was, though, that it seemed that it the glob of black had gotten bigger, gaining more members overnight. People became slightly more edgy as the silence grew, and you could almost hear the nervousness in their forced laughter.

The Day of Silence eventually grew into the Week of Silence, and shortly after that the Month of Silence. The members of its organization had become the majority of the school, and even so, most of the people who weren’t a part of it were too scared to force themselves to speak. The school year was closing when this happened, and most were relieved to leave the growing death-like quietness.

I personally spent my summer in New York, and thus wasn’t around when they struck, but I did see its effects returning home. Looking back on it now, I’m almost glad I never saw it, for I’m sure my heart would have broken. Sure enough, the silent mass was there, and to my horror, there numbers had grown exponentially; there was virtually no one left who choose to speak, or for that matter wear something besides the dark void they made them wear. I myself decided it was best to wear black to avoid conflict, and since I was always a tad quiet myself, take up the silence vow.

Everyone found it hard to tell who was in charge anymore. It was rumored that the administrators still existed somewhere, but they just didn’t care enough to step in; I never quite believed that. Others said they got up and left, leaving the school to be run by the kids themselves; that also seemingly lacked any truth. The teachers never stepped outside of their classrooms as far as we all could tell, and their lessons were now composed of mundane lectures, without any sort of work involved; they gave up long ago trying to make us budge.

There were a few rebels during the Black Revolution (as it now came to be known). The Drama classes fought to keep their speech in plays, and the Spring musical during my sophomore year had singing involved. The main character was dolled up like Marilyn Monroe, white dress and blonde hair, and her voice was loud and strong. I myself, still being in the Journalism class, gained a free ticket to the play, sat backstage, and looked at the audience in awe. Most of them, besides the parents, showed their true color, and halfway into the play, a scream shattered the middle of a song named, “Shout it out!” Looking back on it now, it was a very cruel thing to do. I had no power though, and I couldn’t stop the muscles of the population as they openly ridiculed sound. All I could do was see the pure white dress and white blonde hair become tainted with cola and alcohol.

The school had become noticeably different. The classrooms became dim under the rule of the Silence. Our campus now lacked any janitors, but it interestingly enough remained immaculately clean, as no one ever really ate at school anymore, and if there were, it was only some new age vegan products, lacking any real nutrients in it. The plant life died during the rule due to no care from any gardeners, and the fungi flourished, and one could easily spot a mushroom on the bottom of a sneaker every day.

The biggest difference though had to be the level of satisfaction everyone possessed. It seemed like they never satisfied, yet they had no desire to feel happy; what only mattered was if the masses were happy. There was no reason why one should have to work any harder except for the Silence. Nobody fought back, for the life had been sucked out of our souls as soon as we discovered it.

And so Death went on.