vocab_drabbles | [Challenge #63: Probity] Original Fiction: 'Silenced'

Title: 'Silenced'
Fandom: Original Fiction
Author:

but_can_i_be_trusted
Rating: PG
Word Count: 758
Characters/Pairings: Original
Warnings: Brief mention of censorship
Summary: "They just announced it. Your latest book is on almost every list of banned books across the United States."

"Miss Selden! Miss Selden!"

The side door of my office bursts open. In comes Hilda, my assistant. Fear sparkles in her hazel eyes, as she grips her tablet.

I glance up from my phone. "What is it, kid? You look rattled."

"Rattled is right, Miss Selden." She turns her tablet toward me, setting it on my desk. "They just announced it. Your latest book is on almost every list of banned books across the United States."

There it is, alright. A headline plastered across the news website that her browser is open to.

Selden Sensation Skewered! Brave Book Banned!

"I know," I tell Hilda, waving my phone. My cell's browser is also open, multiple tabs accessing a number of news sites. "I just got an alert, myself."

Setting the phone down, and sliding Hilda's tablet back across my desk, I lean back in my chair. A slow smile glides across my face. Laughter trickles out. Quietly, before building to a waterfall of delight.

Chewing on her thumbnail, Hilda gauges me. Frowning, as she slowly takes her tablet back.

"Miss Selden," she whispers. "Are you okay?"

"Hilda, dear," I murmur, "I don't think I've felt better in my entire writing career..."

"Uh, okay, then." She glances toward the main door. "The press is waiting for a statement."

No need for her to tell me. I can hear the tumult, already. Thundering footsteps, halting just beyond the door. Voices, already asking questions.

"Well," I decide, rising. "It'd be a shame to disappoint them."

Hurrying to the door, Hilda opens it for me. I enter the corridor, immediately surrounded by reporters, flashing still cameras, moving cameras, at least half a dozen microphones.

The chorus begins. Chaotic. Every voice sounding at once, like machine gun fire. "Miss Selden!" "What is your response to the ban?" "When did you get the news?" "What's your next move?" "Will you keep writing?"

Et cetera.

I lift my hands. Waiting quietly. After a few minutes, the noise dies down.

"People of the press," I begin, voice clear enough for every mic. "I received the news a few minutes ago. It's my understanding that I am now among prestigious company. Bradbury. Angelou. Twain. And everyone else whose names, whose works, have graced the world's list of banned books at any point in the history of censorship in print."

The silence that follows is absolute. Not a single question pierces through. Those gathered seem to be hanging on my every word.

Good. Let them. There are more words coming. Plenty more. Just as many as I need.

"You've asked for my reaction to this ban on my latest book. No doubt, you expect me to respond with outrage. Indignation. That I will rail against the injustice that has been done."

Slowly, I shake my head. My gaze pans across the crowd. Looking directly into every single lens that is being aimed at me. Daring those who view this, be it on television or the Internet, to look back into my eyes without flinching.

"My friends," I murmur, "nothing--nothing--that I have encountered in my literary career could ever be more flattering."

Looks are exchanged. Confused mumblings begin to stir.

"We live in an era where probity is equated with peril," I continue. "Where power speaks at high volume, and expects trembling submission in response. I do not offer my submission. I offer defiance. Those who have seen fit to ban my book have sent a clear message: That they fear me. They quake with terror at the power that I possess, to shape the truth in such a manner that they cannot bear up beneath the strain. And the truth is the very thing that they wish to destroy. Such people would gladly strike to stifle truth, to bind and gag it, and to bury it away where it cannot shatter their twisted sensibilities."

I pause, to gather my breath. Letting the ripples of my momentum stir.

"To them, I say this: That I will not be silenced. My truth will not waste away in their merciless chokehold. I will continue to write, to speak, even with my dying breath. All that this ban has done is to prove to me that my path is set, and well-chosen. Someone will flinch first. You have my word that it will not be me."

I turn and reenter my office, closing the door with a gentle snap. Politely dismissive of any following inundation that the press might intend.

"I will never be silenced," I whisper.