[ WP ] You , a religious believer , describe life under The Supreme Government , which has just banned all religion .

Yesterday I graduated from high school. My dad and my grandfather gave me my first fishing boat as a present and I was truly shocked. We have lived together for 9 years and they somehow made the boat in secret and kept it hidden from me. I will name the boat after my mother. Her memory is a long faded but very warm one for me. 
 
 The year ’ 22 was a watershed year for me. I was 8 years old and my mother died in the winter. I don ’ t remember the explosion very well but everything else is hard to forget. I only remember that it was winter because a lot of people died in the blast, it must have been a lot, there was so much blood in the snow. I remember the doctors a little and the nurses a lot. The nurses talked to me and the doctors looked at me while they talked but they were not talking to me so I peered around them to the TV in my hospital room that was constantly playing the Olympics. I liked the Olympics, especially the hockey. We got to the final that year but lost to the Canadians again. I remember being sad about that and even crying, I suppose I cried a lot then. 
 
 My dad was a very strong man. He wanted to kill the people who hurt me and mom. He talked a lot on TV about it and the other families just cried when they were on the TV. One time my dad was on the feed with the leader of the government, she was a strong woman too. She said “ It is time to wipe these fanatics into the sea. ” She really seemed mad and she really meant it. People were angry that year. 
 
 By the end of summer more explosions and more crying families made it impossible to go anywhere and have fun. Dad wasn ’ t working anymore because he said he was too tired to be angry or do anything. People were always in the news fighting about things. They made their own armies and tried to kill people in the government. The leader was stronger than ever then. She said she would send every one of the religious bastards to their god and that they could apply for a new citizenship in heaven. 
 
 When school was supposed start again I was feeling better and ready to go but dad said we needed to move to grandpas. He was a fisherman and lived by the water and I loved his house. I thought we were moving because my dad was too sad to love me anymore but now I know we were just running from the war. All over the world it seemed people were having wars in their own countries. Some countries invaded others and some just fought themselves like ours did. I know there are still people fighting in the cities and the south is always fighting but where we live it is pretty calm now. 
 
 My old friends were afraid to play outside and couldn ’ t come over to my house because they said my dad was sick. They were lying because my dad wasn ’ t sick he was just sad. At grandpas house I met lots of people and by winter break I had new friends. They thought my scars were cool and they said it meant I was tough. I liked living with grandpa too, everyone liked him. People always came to get his advice and he would tell them what he thought. Grandpa and dad took me fishing every weekend and that is where I learned about praying. We mostly prayed for good weather and good fishing. Sometimes we prayed to be strong so we could work hard. 
 
 Grandpa said that Allah ’ s people killed my mom and that they were crazy, he said a lot of people believe a lot of dumb things in this world. It may seem muddy and confusing but I knew that our religion was the right one and the others were wrong. Our ancestors had believed the same as us and travelled the world to share the stories. We didn ’ t have any books with the stories anymore because of the laws but my grandpa knew them all. He told them to me in his boat or after supper while he and I washed the dishes. My mom never like grandpas stories because she didn ’ t believe in them and I figured my dad didn ’ t either until he said he was proud that I was learning the family tradition and he prayed just as hard as grandpa and I did. 
 
 It was a watershed year because in ’ 22 I left behind my childhood. I lost my mother and my home. I was of the city and loved TV and video games. I lost my friends and my country lost its innocence. I know it wasn ’ t an innocent country before then but that war changed people. It changed our civilization. When people see our flag they don ’ t think of the tolerant nation of free people we once were. We once stood high and proud in the world but now we are as dirty and ashamed of what we did to each other. 
 
 Our government is still run by the same woman and she is very popular. She won the war against the religious and her party owns the TV feeds. Well most of them. Satellites send out whatever they want and lots of them disagree with her but they are run by people who have to hide and don ’ t look as polished as the real feeds. Her famous slogan is repeated world wide “ If it takes a populist to solve the problems of everyday people then I am proud to lead a populist party. ” 
 
 Now that I am done school I will go fishing for a while. My grandfather, my dad, and I will make a fine fleet for fishing this summer. This fall I think I might go to the technical school in the town nearby to study engineering. I ’ m not sure yet but I will pray on it and get the wisdom to make the decision by then. The all-father will know what is best for me, but I do know that I will not return to Oslo and the violence I left behind. Odin would never ask that of me. 

