1973 School Magazine

relief to all. Very quickly the computers were now set to work inventing^a pruiti"ul method of making the people of earth deaf. iftt nttul result was a metal capsule con- taining molecules which were to stop the nervous systeri of the ear ever responding. In one ^second, a ,rnt. to advanced and so natural to man of previous generations would be destroyed by the consumption of iust one of these capsules' Noise was a torture so tempting and so hated that earth's race took the capiule without the sliglrtest caution or .wariness. -Now the people of Earth lived in silence - a silence so cherished when noise was the weapon to murder earth's people. But the noise still existed on the outside;only the people were on the inside unable to hear a sound. The extremity of the endless noise and vast silence had a strange effect on the people of earth. Silence became even more torturous than the noise had previously. A terrible fear enclosed the deaf human 6eings. They strained to hear the horrible noise of their former life. Silence was driving them to insanity. . ' . Cassie Balchin 4A * * *

E,AR.T[T 2173 Noise! Tedious, interminable noise!

Eafih 2173 was a hazy globe slowly dissolving into the atmosphere. It was a planet dominated by eternal noise; lormented by the endless thrashing, bangng, skidding, scraping, roaring thunderous sounds intermingled with the screams of those who were being driven to insanity by it. Would it ever cease? Woula there be just one fraction of a second lived by the inhabitants of earth without the eternal din? Earth no longer knew nature and every form of life including, the human beings', was artificial. From the moment of birth, a child had a stark looking mark attached to its face, connected to a small in' built tank which held a constant supply of the necessary gases essential to physical life. The older people on earth used a highly developed communi cation system in substitute for speaking. It was named the "commucate." Messages were transmitted from the person's brain to his small "commucate" and relayed to his partner's "commucate" dnd back to his brain. It involved minute antenna syst"ems and very deep concentration in order for the antenna to respond to the thought. Trees, flowers and trickling striams no longer existed. In their place were the monotonous rows and rows of metallic domes in which the population lived. Yes, nature was an ancient and foreign word in2l73 to the people of earth. More and more people were dying because of the unbearable noise. Long periods of agonising fits of insanity led up to a slow death as the human brain faced a piercing deterioration. Death haunted every- body's thoughts - a painfui death which would be inevitable if a solution was not devised quickly. The numbers of the world population dropped so swiftly that the torturous noise actually threatened the very survival ofthe people ofearth. lVhat was the answer the sane people were so desperately trying to readr? Every computer was used in the perplexing task but this problem did not require the useless facts, figures and formulas of a mas of mechanized machines. It needed the logic of a human brain. The noise could not possibly stop- This was certain. Too many machines alone were needed for processing the substitute food essential for the people to stay alive a day. Also there were the mechanical 'monsters' used for producing and placing the metallic domes further info the earttr's crust and further towards the sun's rays until expansion was impossible. Transpor- tation could not be stopped or else confusion would take over entirely. Countless other causes of the increased noise operated and countless could not be halted or else the world would have had even more problems. If the noise could not be stopped they must stop the people from hearing it. The oniy slight chance for survival was to make the people go deaf! Once this suggestion was formulate8 the inhabitants of the planet did not go into detail of negative and affirm' ative views. Silence was a word that would bring t{ f[]

THOUGHT A flitting world Of flowing fantasy That sinks into

Nice legs that one, Good ftgre - though a little skinnY., Nothingness

A dreamy fountain Of drooling mystery That swirls away from Funny day. Started cloudy and now the suns n glarey - Reality A shorply deftned Spilcy substance That pulls the Iwonder why Ifie tive in houses when caves tre so very practical. Thoughts

From their mazy dePths To the terrible coldness Of the world.

IVD

i

*

*

PARENTS no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, norno,no,no,no, NO,NO,NO NO!

Annette TYson 4A