day six of my creative writing journey. the prompt was “WRITE A STORY SET IN A WORLD WHERE EVERYONE WEARS MASKS”
Once upon a time, there was a mad prince, who hated the design of human faces.
So upon becoming the king, he asked his prime minister to make people cover their faces in his world and people failing to comply would be given a death sentence.
It was a difficult order for his prime minister. Seeing faces of each other is the primary need of human beings. We are a deeply suspicious bunch of creatures. We try to remain in control at all times. We read, we watch, and we keep our eyes and ears open. We have learned this over millions of years.
The prime minister knew that people would rebel against the king and that this would lead to a huge bloodbath.
So, the prime minister devised a scheme to create an alternate reality for the king.
He spread the rumor that there is an evil spirit around the king which steals human faces and destroys their fortunes. Fearing for their lives and fortunes, people began to wear masks whenever they were around the king.
The prime minister arranged a tour of the state for his king to make him believe that his order was being followed. And when the king himself saw that people were covering their faces, he believed it. So, people in ‘his world’ wore masks.
PS – This is the sixth day of my journey to write everyday for next one year.
the deleted story 