Revelation is the second part of Ed De Winton’s winning entry to the MPW Competition in the Creative Arts 2020, inspired by the title: A Door into Summer. The first part of Ed’s submission is titled ‘Imprisonment’ and is featured in the first issue of the Empower alumni magazine.

‘‘A people that elect corrupt politicians, imposters, thieves and traitors are not victims… but accomplices.’’

George Orwell

Twenty years I have spent in Whisperwind Prison. Twenty years of entrapment, isolation and routine. No music was allowed to cheer the gloomy and mournful atmosphere. I didn’t know if I would be able to survive on the outside. Would I be able to keep up with the new-fangled practices and advancements that the future has to offer? For all I knew the world could have been taken over by aliens in the space of twenty years.

The relief I felt on the day of my acquittal (4th July 2043) was indescribable. I was finally free. Free from cold, hard silence of prison life. Free from tedious, backbreaking labour. Free from entrapment and solitude. My release was like a door into summer and I welcomed this prospect. My first steps as a free man was just as indescribable as the relief of my acquittal. The scene appeared to be similar to when I first left it: The sunbathed the surroundings with its apricot light, no cloud cluttered the sky and humming bees darted through the air. A broth of smells wafted into my nostrils ranging from subtle rose petals to the lemony sweet fragrance of honeysuckle. It was a beautiful scene and just how I imagined it to be. I was filled with desire to recreate classical pieces until I had the opportunity to listen to them for real. I pranced humming Beethoven’s ‘Fur Elise’ with not a care in the world. I continued to hum whilst walking energetically into town.

On the face of it, the town hadn’t changed significantly in the last twenty years. A few shops had come and gone and there was an uneasy silence throughout but nothing was significantly different as I expected it would be. As I entered the centre of the town square still striding and humming, I felt every pair of eyes surveying me. I even felt the shop windows glare at me as if I had mercilessly beat an old woman. A police officer barked at me, ‘‘You. Stop that immediately. All music and form of music is illegal worldwide.’’ His words were echoing in my head but I still didn’t understand what he was saying. Was this some sick joke that the whole town had cooked up after my acquittal? I had to verify this claim. An abandoned newspaper was fluttering and spinning in the summer breeze. I hastened towards it and snatched it up. The headline read: ‘‘The Ograntivs and their Quest to Conquer Climate Change.’’ The article read:

The world has now been music free for exactly seven years and we are asking ourselves how have we coped in cold, hard silence for this prolonged period of time? This global hush was the result of the extremist climate change prevention group named: ‘‘The Ograntivs,’’ and their actions in 2037. Some commentators have described them to be neo-terrorists by making the whole world conform to their stringent policies on climate change and its prevention. This worldwide music ban was the result of ‘‘The Ograntivs’’ bribing politicians on a global scale with financial benefit and assurance of rigging elections so that politicians could maintain their power. In exchange for financial and political bribery, these corrupt politicians outlawed any form of music, as ‘‘The Ograntivs’’ viewed music as a distraction from the global climate change crisis and preventing mankind from tackling global warming. It is important to note that ‘‘The Ograntivs’’ have several EXTREMELY WEALTHY benefactors AND THESE BENEFACTORS HAVE A SUBSTANTIAL AMOUNT OF COERCIVE POWER AND INFLUENCE, THUS HELPING ‘‘THE Ograntivs’’ to achieve their objectives. On the fourth of July (2037) whose date used to evoke ideas of American freedom, liberty and independence, the world as we know it became more authoritarian overnight and now, in contrast, this date is known to be a date associated with oppression, restriction and tyranny as opposed to freedom as it once was.