Tax Day Narrative

One rainy April day, 12 year old Mia Cole walks to school along the side of a muddy road in Kent, Washington. Soon after, her mother, Aubrey, leaves their small house to go to her job as a construction worker in Orting, Washington. It is a regular day in the Socialist State of America. Outside, there is no one else around, as many no longer feel the need for an education, when they could more easily get welfare and live an easy life where they do not have to work. Most houses that Mia pass contain people sitting, watching television, doing nothing. It is rare to see a house empty, its residents out working or going to school.

Mia talks to herself as she walks. She has many conversations with herself, as she is often alone in school or at home

“Mia, as you know, tomorrow is tax day,” Aubrey begins, “but this year’s tax day is not going to be like the rest of them.” Mia stares at her mother, confused. Tax day is the day when everyone who makes an income pays their annual taxes. What makes one of these days so special? “I do not intend to pay my income taxes this year, Mia. Do you remember the building that I am working on?” “Yes...why?” Mia answers nervously. “That building is a residential building, but it is a building for rebels. I am a part of a group that is trying to change the government to how it was when the country was still called the United States of America. The whole construction company is involved. The first thing we are going to do is not pay our taxes. Because it is illegal and we do not want to go to jail, we will hide in the building I have been working on. We can not change the country behind bars. Tomorrow I will go to work like normal, then I will come back and get you tomorrow night. We will be very secretive about

“The sunniness is good luck,” Mia thinks. Once home, Mia prepares her suitcases, and makes sure that her mother’s suitcases are also ready. Aubrey is supposed to be home at 6pm. It is 5:45. Mia double, triple, quadruple checks to make sure that everything is exactly how her mother said. The sun begins to set, but Mia still feels the luck of the bright day. It is 5:50. Mia begins a conversation with herself, talking about the future, and what it holds. It is 5:55. She checks everything over, just one more time. It is 6 o’clock. Aubrey is not home yet, but Mia is not worried, as sometimes walking takes longer than expected. She paces through the kitchen, waiting for her mother to come. Fifteen minutes pass. Aubrey still is not home. “This is pretty odd, Mother is not usually this late,” Mia says to herself. She begins to think of the night when her father did not come home from work, and shivers. “This is NOT the same thing. Sometimes Mother is late, this is no big deal.” Now, it is almost 7 pm, and Aubrey is still nowhere to be seen. At 8:30, there is a knock on the front door. Mia opens it, only to see her mother’s boss, Mr. Reynolds. He