By Dariga Atayeva, Y10
He awoke on this gloomy day, not feeling quite like himself. A great deal of consideration and meditation temporarily put his mind to rest however, and in the afternoon he assisted his clients in his little living room, specially designed for these sort of meetings. There were approximately 20 guests, all huddled up together, eager to listen to his lesson. He was a famous philosopher, known for his wisdom and well retained relations with the king. In order to attend one of his meetings, people had to send him a letter at least 2 months in advance.
On this particular afternoon, something clicked. No one really knows what happened, but many agree with the theory that he was filled with so much knowledge that he simply went mad. That day, I was one of the guests. Attending the meeting with my notebook in hand, I noticed a fishy smell about the area. He told us to get comfortable and get out our papers.
Once everyone was settled, he began talking about the injustice of the kingdom and the church’s negative influence on us, following with detailed logic. Many of us were astonished. No one expected such a speech. Leaving the room, I felt out of touch with reality, almost numb. I later resolved to write an article about my odd visit to the Great Philosopher, knowing that this would get him in great trouble. The king read my article, and immediately ordered his military to execute the Great Philosopher. However, it was too late.
The Great Philosopher had already set out with an army of 2000 people by his side and one goal in mind: destroy the kingdom; install a democracy. What was a democracy? I had no idea at the time. The Great Philosopher settled in a small town called Yetiz, where he implemented an example of the “perfect government”. Kings around the planet felt threatened and afraid. Many of them received letters from the Great Philosopher’s followers, but none of them were successful in locating them.
Two weeks after the Great Philosopher’s disappearance, there was a sudden attack at the palace. The King and his guards were badly injured. For a moment, the whole country fell silent. I listened for any news, safely wrapped up in my bunker. My friend, who was close to the palace at the time of the attack, told me all that he saw. It was the Great Philosopher and his army, taking the country’s power. In those two weeks, people had already begun to distract themselves with other subjects, but no longer. The Great Philosopher now returned to fill our heads once and for all.
He declared himself as leader and I wondered, Is this a democracy? This system felt no different than the one we had before. For some strange reason, however, people seemed happier, more satisfied with this unchanged way of life. It wasn’t until later that I began to realize that it was merely an act. People lived in fear of getting executed if they contradicted the leaders expectations, or perhaps they all lived in blind belief. Which one was it? I could not tell.
