Character(s) Involved: Anthony Terris
Genre(s): Meme Response / Third-Person
Summary: If the whole world were listening to you right now, what would you say?
Tone had been sitting in his bed, the room only occupying himself as he started at the wall in front of him. He had seen an e-mail from his brother, the one brother who seemed to even bother to keep in contact with him. It wasn’t something he wanted to read, especially since it was about one of his other brothers having another child. This child would not have Tone as an uncle, all because of something he couldn’t help. The brother, Andrew, that he talked to still, had told him he would tell his little niece or nephew about him so his memory would be alive still.
Why would it even matter, really? He wasn’t dead, but he might as well be after knowing how easily their lives were going on without him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he tossed his phone to the end of the bed, turning so he could lie down on his side. At least he still had his books and his dreams. With that thought, of course, he let his eyes flutter shut while he drifted into a sleep he hoped he wouldn’t wake up from. Well, at least not for awhile.
Tone was standing in front of a podium as he looked over the crowd, a book he apparently written being the best seller in the world at the moment. Looking over to the cover that was being displayed around the stage, he smiled brightly and instantly forgot about his worries that he had when he fell asleep. Or was he awake and this was his reality? Either way, Tone was going to enjoy it.
His finely manicured hands rested on a speech, his eyes glistening with tears as he spoke to the world. This was being broadcasted, and he was excited! Though, as he read the speech, it didn’t seem as if it were something he should say at all. Closing the folder and handing it over to someone who seemed to be taking it anyway, he sighed heavily while looking over the cameras and those at his book premiere.
“I had a speech prepared, one to help describe the book and why I wrote it. The thing is, I always write since literature has been my life’s passion. Why not do what I want to do in this world when all I want is to actually enjoy the career I have built for myself. This book…” He picked up a copy of it, reading the sleeve of it and realizing it was a fictional book about his struggle. So, this is why he was making such a big deal of it. He could go along with this…
“I wrote this so the world can know why things should change, why we live in this type of society, and why people should be more accepting of each other. I lived my entire life in fear of my family, of what others thought of me, what I thought of myself. But, when I wrote this book, I put a lot of myself into this and I wanted everyone to see what oppression and ‘traditional values’ can do to someone who is just trying to just be themselves. I am not what the world wants to see as an author. I’m just… a young submissive who wanted to make something of himself without the approval of my family, without being held down by someone who believed my place was in the kitchen and bedroom on my knees. This book, right here, is a world where I had lived and finally broke free from by being able to make my own decisions.” Swallowing hard, he felt his throat tighten as he held back a sob. “This book, right here, is dedicated to those who have oppressed me, and to tell them 'fuck you, I made it without any of you’.” Placing the book down after holding it up, he raised his hands as high as he could while saying, “Be who you are because that’s all you can be in a world like ours. See how high my hands are? I reached the ceiling and broke through. You can, too.”
Soon enough, though, instead of clapping, he heard his phone’s ringtone and this snapped him out of his dream. Scrambling sleepily from his nap, he picked up his phone and saw it was Andrew again. Sighing heavily, he ignored the call and grabbed the book he was currently reading. If he wanted to make his own life better, he had to learn to distance himself completely from all of the negative while becoming the man he knew he could be and should be. Fuck all of them, that was the only thing he had to focus on right now besides, obviously finding a claim. Now, he just hoped that nothing would stop that train of thought and put him back towards the sauce.