Tower of Silence and Isolation in the City

Life inside the concrete city was the most terrifying and mind torturing experience I’ve ever had. Keeno; a city unknown to most, where staying off the grid is top priority. Its location isolated, deep inside a desert surrounded by natural dull mountains of sand. The stranded city is of giant circle shape, enclosed by colossal walls. Everything inside these walls is dull and depressing. Every building, every road, every wall, all grey. The city’s structure is most divergent. With all the homes and buildings all along the borders of the city. But what was most ominous was the centre of the city. The centre is a giant tower, the Tower of Keeno, or what I later discovered, the Tower of Silence.

Despite its isolation, everyone some way or another makes the dangerous life changing, and unfortunate trip to Keeno. I can’t remember how I got to Keeno, who sent me or why, but when I found myself here, I knew I had to stay. There was something about this new home that just captivated me. When I first got to Keeno, I noticed something odd straight away. The citizens, the people of the city don’t speak. The eerie sound of silence throughout the busy streets. The voiceless faces seem scared to say a word.

When walking throughout the silent streets without warning, sirens blared out throughout the city. The sinister siren sounded like crying. The packed streets quickly emptied like water spilt from a glass. The blood red sirens soon came to a stop. On the screen of the giant tower in the centre showed the words FBE, Failed Boundary Escape. Someone had tried escaping.The sirens soon came to a stop and the people of the city eventually came back out of their homes and continued on with their day like nothing happened. I wondered to myself why someone had tried escaping, and why the whole city went on lockdown when they did.

The longer i stayed in Keeno the more I found out how secure it felt. Detached from the outside, what only matters is what's on the inside. The protective isolation made me feel sheltered, made me feel safe. Keeno`s rulers, the bishops, control how we think, control what we see, and control how we behave. They give us a sense of knowing our place that keeps us in order. However the way they do it is controversial. They give us our deep thoughts and our lowest points. The seven bishops create our deepest insecurities. They keep us down and that's how they control.

Over the years i've grown fond of these cold colourless walls. I had always found a strange sense of feeling home. It’s not until this year that the illusion of the city’s horizon occurred to me. I looked on out of my window of my room that i’ve lived in for years now, but this time with a new recognition of the obstruction that my old ignorance had made me look past. Was it there the whole time? It was this thought that made me question why i’ve stayed for so long. What have i missed on the outside? Caged in and life controlled by others. This prison of a city with a sinister control on the citizens. This new view from my window i see the exit.

A cold light blankets the city each night. How could something be so bright yet feel so dark? It’s this faint faded glow that causes us to remember our hopeless reality that we've been punished to. But what I call a punishment, others call normality. Am I the only one that feels this way? Am i the only one that feels the betrayal? For the bishops have stolen our trust and demolished our dreams that once before inspired our way of life. Before we arrived here we used to shut our eyes and be able to dream of a better life, but now this coffin city is filled with only tired eyes. The only light is in the form of the newcomers. Yet, a devastating and heartbreaking sight seeing the bright eyes of hope tortured and drained out by the hands of the brutal bloodthirsty bishops. As their light fades, so dims their remembrance of ambition and desire for something more, for something better. It was this moment that i realised that Keeno was never my home, it was my prison cell.

With this new mindset i packed my things and set out to look if there were any others who think like me. As i left my now empty room, I could now truly see how horrifying life in here is. How dull and depressing the atmosphere is. How the people live in constant anxiety of its owners. Addicted to their stress-filled obedient tasks.

Many people have tried escaping Keeno, but all have been failed boundary escapes. They may sneak out or scale the walls but no matter how fast they run or how far they go, the bishops will always catch them and bring them back. Sometimes these people have no choice but to go to the tower. They believe the only true way out of Keeno is the tower of silence. The only true way out is death. Everyday, members of this shattered community disappear without trace. Without a cry for help. These colossal walls ensnare our freedom.

I’ve found the woke. I’ve found the last bright eyes. Only around thirty of us in this giant population. But this may be enough to pull it off. We mask the colour yellow, the colour the seven fear, the colour they can't see.The colour of hope. We’ve masterminded a plan to break out of this prison. The only problem is the watchers. The watchers patrol the city. They see everything. Like vultures of the desert. They control the borders of the city. Soulless security guards that show no mercy on those who want to be free. On those who want to be saved. We may need to make a distraction.