Welcome to Utopia Theater

Utopia Theater is a blatant misnomer and whoever named it was well aware of that. The audience is comprised of felons, thieves, kidnappers, war criminals and every type of unsavory character one could think of. It's the abode of sinners.

The stage is devoid of red curtains and a musical pit. There are no stage lights to illuminate it. Ghastly fluorescent tubes continuously cast a flickering glow upon white tiles and barren walls. With each passing moment, the stagnant silence somehow echoes in intensity.

Two thunderclaps ensue and everyone's gaze is immediately affixed to the translucent stage. The sound could put a Gorgon to shame. It never fails to petrify the theater's audience. Rheumy eyes water in anguish and stiff muscles cry out in protest. Despite that, nobody dares to move a muscle whenever the stage is in session.

"Good evening ladies, gentlemen and all distinguished guests of the Utopia Theater." A child's voice booms. It's shrill, tacky and squeaky. Yet, nobody laughs.

"Please welcome our newest guardian angel. Come on now, don't be shy!"

A silhouette enshrouded by mist strides up to the stage. There's a shorter figure trailing behind it but it's barely discernible from the fog surrounding the silhouette.

Startled eyes begin to morph and slowly soften. For a fleeting instant, fear is replaced by another emotion: empathy.

The rest of the audience knows what being a guardian angel entails and the new recruit is blissfully unaware.

Utopia theater is not heaven. It's a purgatory of sorts and all of its inhabitants are guardian angels. They don't carry beaming golden lyres or don pristine white robes. Halos don't adorn their head and prayers don't reach their ears.

Instead, they gouge their eyes out and are given a new set of glass eyes. There's only one reason for their existence: Repentance.

Each evening, the theater whisks them away to the home of their reincarnation. They're tasked with overseeing their reincarnation and steering them away from the path of sin. Whenever their reincarnation does sin, indescribable pain seizes the guardian angel. It doesn't matter how severe the sin is. Even petty shoplifting forms cordons of searing hot pain around the guardian angels.

The new recruit lets out an ear piercing shriek which signified that they had finally gotten their glass eyes. A moment later, I felt my own eyes begin to whir to life. The white around me warped into a spiral of color and my gut fell.

My reincarnation had finally awoken and it was time for me to embark on another day as a guardian angel.

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Title: Utopia Theater

Genre: Fantasy

Age range: Young Adult

Word count: This excerpt is 429 words long

Author name: Kaye Eisen (pseudonym)

The hook: Utopia theater explores a variation of purgatory. Instead of the undergoing the trials presented in works such as Dante's Divine Comedy, the Utopia Theater forces its audience to change the fate of their future counterpart.

Synopsis:

Target audience: Young Adult

Platform: Prose is my primary platform. I once used Quotev but didn't publish anything noteworthy.

Education: Currently in high school. Took a few college classes at a local community college.

Experience: I've taken AP Literature and two semesters of college English Composition. My experience with writing is very minimal. It's only a hobby at the moment but I did win a small writing competition offered in my town. I placed first in the junior grade level division for the Laura Jackson Writing Foundation Poetry Contest in 2021.

Bio + Personality / writing style: I'm quite reserved but I do enjoy talking to others. I've met a variety of people in my life and I'm grateful for meeting every one of them even if I don't get along with them. The people I meet give me a broader perspective on what the world is like.

No matter where I go, I want to be involved in my community and perform altruistic deeds. A kind gesture goes a long way. Hopefully the career I pursue will allow me to constantly help others in the community while affording me financial stability.

I don't know how to describe my writing style other than random. At times, it's lucid and flowery. Some times it's cut and dry and gets straight to the point. I just hope that my words carry out the message I intend for them to.

Likes/hobbies: I'm very involved in music. I've played piano for 10 years and picked up flute and violin along the way. It's been six years since I've started middle school band and orchestra and now I'm involved in a variety of local ensembles in my town for flute and violin. I study piano privately and sometimes help my younger sister who recently started. I also really like art and writing. I invest most of my spare time in my AP Drawing projects and I express myself through descriptive blurbs on Prose.

Reading and writing have always been a large part of my life. It's how I learn, express myself and slowly understand the world and the people in it better. I'm especially fond of poetry and philosophy. Although my understanding of mythology and history is very limited, I enjoy trying to find references to myths and history in the media I consume.

Age (optional): 17

Why My Project is a Good Fit: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I just wanted to enter this challenge since I was having writer's block