It was a dark and cloudy day. That didn’t matter; we were inside the house as usual. It’s not like we were able to go outside and play just like Gramps did as he was growing up. I remember stories of when gramps played with his relatives at a place called “the park”. I went to ask Gramps about the park. What it’s like. How it is.
“In my youth,” he said, “the park was a magical place full of trees. There were swings, a playground, and kids running around having a good time throwing bark at each other. Nowadays, everything is electronically controlled.”
Gramps always compared our life with his life. He was never satisfied with the youth of today. He complained about how the children only spend their time indoors playing with their gaming consoles. I, on the other hand, wanted to do something more exciting such as play soccer or football or something. The next day at school Jorge walks up to me.
“Hey Juan,” he said in a low whisper, “do you want to go hover boarding with me and Fernando after school? We’re thinking of grabbing a bite at McDonalds then go to this underground soccer tournament.”
“Sure why not,” I said right back in a low whisper, “I’ve got nothing better to do,”
“Alright then, meet us behind the dumpster near the cafeteria and make sure you don’t get caught.”
“No problem.”
After school, I met Jorge and Fernando behind the dumpster where they said they would be.
“You guys ready?” said Jorge.
“Let’s go already. I’m starving!” said Fernando.
“Sure,” I said.
“Alright then, let’s go.”
Just then, school Principal Rob the robot shows up out of nowhere.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he said.
“We’re just going to McDonalds to get some grub,” said Jorge.
“Really? Anywhere else?”
“No just McDonald’s sir.”
“I’ve been watching you Jorge. You’ve been under my surveillance for some time now. I know your plan. If I were you I’d quit. It won’t work.”
“I have no Idea of what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you don’t. And if you know what’s good for you, don’t attend the tournament.”
Principal Rob turned and walked away.
“Well this is awkward,” said Fernando.
“What was he talking about?” I said to Jorge.
“It’s nothing. Come on lets go before we run into another problem,” said Jorge.
After we ate, we headed for the underground tournament. Fernando stayed behind to finish his fries. Although we wanted to wait for him, we couldn’t because the game was about to start. He said he will meet us at the entrance in the old subway station. When we got there, we noticed a whole bunch of police robots surrounding the entrance. There was a huge portion of the crowd in handcuffs.
“What’s happening?” I asked Jorge. “How did they find out about our underground tournament?”
“It looks like they were all caught,” said Jorge “Principal Rob must have snitched.”
“Speaking of Principal Rob, what did he mean about your plan?”
“I can’t tell you.”
“Why not? You don’t trust me?”
“I trust you; there are just too much robot patrols here. If you want to know, meet me at the old park on Fifth Street tomorrow at 5 o’clock, and don’t tell anyone.”
“What park? I’ve never seen a Park on that street; in fact, I go through that street every day to get to school.”
“It’s next to the apartments. It may not be noticeable due to the moss and vines covering the entrance. Go along the fence and you will see an entrance. I’ll see you there.”
Just as Jorge was leaving, Fernando showed up. He saw the patrols and turned around and headed back to McDonalds.
The following day at school, I felt like I was being watched. I noticed a red light flashing right next to the camera on my learning pad. I was being recorded. Next, Jorge wasn’t at school. Did something happened to him or did he decide to not show up? Finally, I noticed that there was more security around campus. The day felt long and tiring. As soon as the day was over I rushed home to eat. Around 4:45pm, I started my search for the entrance to the park.
It took me a couple of minutes to locate the entrance that Jorge had informed me about. Of course I could have used my IPad to make the search faster, but I thought that I better play it safe and try not to act suspicious; nevertheless, we’re already being watched by the NSA. The Park looked old. There were trees and garbage everywhere. Moss was growing on the trees and vines were wrapped around the trees. In the center there was this little playground where I noticed Jorge sitting next to the slide; undoubtedly, he has been waiting for a while.
“What took you so long?” said Jorge.
“I got lost. So do you always come here?” I told him.
“Actually, I live here. This is my home. Welcome! Mi casa es tu casa.”
I had no idea that he lived here. Come to think of it, he has never talked about anything personal other than his birthday.
“I bet you’re wondering many questions. One of those questions must be what my plan is,” he said to me.
“Um… yeah. What is this plan that I’ve been hearing about?”
“Well it is simple. There are so many children isolated in their home. All they do is play their fancy devices such as Ipads, laptops, smart phones, and all of the gaming system; thus, they have devoted their lives to a fantasy world that cannot be avoided. There are many games out there that cover anything that can be done in the real world. Call of Duty, FIFA, Need for Speed, The Sims; you name it and they made it. Our plan is to make them see the importance of life. Technology has been around for many years, and each year there are less and less children running outside and getting exercise. It is difficult to live in a world where children are free spirited since there are laws prohibiting children to enjoy any type of physical entertainment, and what we need is a revolution. Our plan is to show as many people as we can a physical type of entertainment. We want to help them.”
“This is crazy. You’ll not be able to get past the security patrols. And WE?”
“I’m not alone. There are others who are helping. In many different areas of the world, there are children, adults, and even some robots helping. You’ve seen many of our helpers yesterday when they were being arrested. I know this is a lot of work, but we’re working hard to end this madness. We need your help. Will you help us? The choice is yours.”
At the time, I had no idea what to do. My mind was going crazy just trying to process this. I know they need all the help that they can get, but what can I do?
“If you really need me then count me in,” I said hoping I didn’t make a mistake.
“Alright then. First, you cannot talk about this to anyone. There may be people who are against us so we cannot tell everyone about the plan. Second, what we talked about cannot be said past those trees over there. What happens in the park stays in the Park, and finally, you will not be told every detail in our plan. The less you know the better it will be if we get caught. Any questions?”
“Um yea, when you said that there are robots helping us, how did you get them on our side?”
“That’s simple. Those robots were captured and we changed their objectives to help us if we ever need help. We control them.”
“Okay, how about me? How will I be helpful in your plan?”
“What I need you to do is to help me get into the robot’s headquarters. We think that it is underground the school.”
“So we need to get under the school. That could be difficult. We’re already being watched more than usual.”
“Yea, but there is a way in from the inside. The only problem is that the entrance is in the principal’s office. If you can help me get in, then we might be able to get in the elevator to complete the plan.”
“Sounds simple. All I need is water balloons and some rope. I got the water balloons, but if you can get me some rope, then I might be able to stall long enough for you to get in.”
“I’ll bring the rope to school tomorrow. In the meantime, you should go plan your strategy. Meet me here tomorrow and I’ll have the rope ready for you.”
“Alright then, ciao.”
It feels like we were talking for hours, but in reality, only an hour passed by. It was hard for me to understand what I’ve agreed to. I’m not completely sure if I wanted to go through with this. Well there’s no going back now… well there is, but I don’t want to. I could finally gain my freedom that I longed for so long; also, I could make Gramps happy by reconstructing the parks to their previous state. The possibilities are endless. Now I know that I’m making the right choice. As soon as I got home, I began my part of the plan; I filled some of the water balloons full of tomato sauce, paint and oil.
The next day I went to meet Jorge at the park entrance. He handed me the rope that he had promised. It seemed that he took it from the swing that was attached to the playground. I should have played on the playground for a while, but oh well. We continued onward to the school, we didn’t talk about the plan. All I told him was to wait for me in the bathroom near the office during lunch. I’m not even sure if it would work, but it is better to change the future for the better than live in the present with fear. We had split up when we reached the school so we won’t draw any attention.
While walking to class, I tried to locate all of the cameras near the office. During lunch, I had set up a trip wire using the rope near the cafeteria and headed to the bathroom. Jorge was waiting there as planned, but he seems to have something big in his backpack. Anyways, I continued with my plan.
“You ready?” I said.
“Yea,” he replied in a confident way.
“Wait for Principal Rob to come out of his office, and then run in when he goes around the corner. Simple?”
“Alright then, but I’ll need a few minutes to find the elevator or stairs to get underground.”
“No problem, I’ll try to give you as much time as I can. Here, take these balloons in case you need them.”
I handed him a pouch full of paint balloons, put on a mask, and got into my position.
“I’ll be waiting for you,” I said.
First, I located all of the cameras and threw the paint balloons at them, that way the cameras won’t see Jorge sneak in. Next, I knocked on Principal Rob’s office. As he opened the door, I threw the tomato sauce balloon at him and ran. I turned to see if he was chasing me which he was.
“Get back here so I can expel,” he said furiously.
“Can’t expel someone you can’t catch,” I said running into the cafeteria.
I passed the tripwire and threw the oil balloons behind the tripwire. I heard a loud crash, turned my head and saw that it had worked.
“You’ll never catch me!” I exclaimed.
Just then, I turned the corner and someone trip me which caused me to slide on the floor and hit my head with a pole which caused me to lose conscious.
I awoke in a dark room. Either that or I was blindfolded; nonetheless, it was dark and I could not see. I was handcuffed to the chair too; moreover, my mouth was taped shut. Just then, I heard the door slide open and saw Principal Rob enter with Fernando.
“Did you have a nice trip? Maybe I’ll see you next fall,” said Principal Rob.
“How long did it take you to think of that?” I said.
“So you think you can get away this. Honestly, I expected you to be Jorge. I was surprised to find you under the mask, but as they say, expect the unexpected. That’s why I had this young man with Jorge at all times.”
Speaking of Jorge, I wonder what had happened to him. Had he completed his part or did he get caught?
“So it was you who told him about the tournament,” I said as I turned to Fernando,” but why?”
“I did it for food,” said Fernando, “the good free food in the lounge. I can’t eat those frozen sandwiches that everybody eats; in addition, the milk is frozen. I need some hot steamy chicken noodle soup with strawberry lemonade and three ice cubes. Not two, or five, but three. That’s why I had to catch Jorge, but instead it was only you.”
“Wait, so it was you who tripped me? You’re crazy. No, you’re a monster. How could you give up your best friend for food?”
“Easy answer, I was hungry. Speaking of food, I better go. I hear that there is spaghetti today.”
“So what are you going to do with me? Let me go?” I said in a hopeful way.
“No, I’m going to lock you in here until we no longer need you. You will power our generator manually,” said Principal Rob, “for a life time-”.
Just then, Principal Rob had shut down, as if his battery was drained. Then, Gramps came in to get me out.
“Gramps!?” I said in shock, “What are you doing here?” 
“I’m here to help you. Jorge told me what had happened. As soon as I heard of your plan with him, I knew that you might need help.”
“How did you get past security?”
“I went to help Jorge shut the power. Right now he’s planting explosives to blow up this HQ. We should leave… unless you want to be part of the fireworks.”
“No, we should leave.”
We evacuated the school. It took several minutes, but in the end, everything went ‘boom’.
“We may have one today,” said Gramps, “but this is not the end. Once the word gets out, there will be more forces coming back to take control. Juan, it is time you know that I’m the leader of the resistance. I’m glad that you came to your senses and limit technology from your life, but in order to keep it that way, we need more people. We need weapons. We need help.”