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The logical place to start was to pick a conspiracy theory. As I mused over the Bilderberg Group plotting a New World Order, and 9/11 being used by the US government to justify ever more draconian rules to protect their freedoms, a possible plot twist occurred to me, perhaps not a very original one, but then this has to be all done in a thousand words. I wonder how meta I can make this?

Problem is, that none of the possibilities really appeals to me, though I guess that isn't the point. Anyway, actual theory aside, this is how it goes. Author A. Anonymous (me), writes a short piece about a conspiracy theory being real for a story contest. I sit back having done this really clever meta thing, and await my plaudits. Instead I get a visit from some very sinister people who make it clear that my story must be removed, or suitably modified so as not to disclose the secret that I've accidentally stumbled upon.

Naturally, I can no longer tell you which conspiracy theory I finally chose, though you can be sure that it was neither of the two I mention above.

So that was how I decided to begin, but it wasn't really scary as such was it. I had to fight the urge to waste words on adding some humour, which would have further destroyed the horror aspect I was trying to introduce.

Logically I would have to start again, and make out that all that preamble was just a first attempt, and in no way am I writing this with a gun, metaphorically or actually to my head. No one really believes in men in black anyway. I haven't seen the film by the way, but I have the impression they're played for laughs. It's one of the ways these things work.

Smoke and mirrors all the time, layer after layer of deception. Ideally there is some part of the cover-up that is out there in the public domain, and so laughably absurd that any sane person will just laugh at it, and, this is the important bit, dismiss the whole conspiracy outright, baby with the bathwater you see?

That worked so well with David Icke, no one was going to swallow the nonsense that the Royal family is a bunch of shape shifting baby eating lizards, so he's a crackpot and we can all safely ignore EVERYTHING he says. You begin to see how this works?

Oh, okay, apparently I'm getting too close to the truth again, scrub that bit. This isn't going very well at all. Look. What I am trying to say here is this. None of these conspiracy theories is true, so trying to make out that one of them is more than a theory isn't going to wash. No one is going to believe me anyway.

Naturally there is a lot written about conspiracies right? So they have this software and it trawls the Internet, bit like the search software Google uses, if you get my drift? And it looks for stuff about conspiracies like this one. All of your stories will have been read too, that is assuming any of you are fool enough to post one. Gods, how sinister would it be if mine were the only entry...

Anyway, back to this software, it checked, sorry, it checks what I wrote, what anyone writes. The software looks for anyone who's getting a bit close to the truth. See that all seeing eye on your dollars? That's them, mocking you. So it sees who's onto them right, and then they send someone around to have a quiet word.

They don't kill you. That might be what you'd expect, but they rarely do that any more. See Orwell was onto them too, all that bit about loving Big Brother. They make you want to work for them. Use things against you, they know it all, even that thing you did when you were alone. They know. And they make you work for them, doing what you do best. Spreading the conspiracy theory. Only no one believes you see. Even when you put it out there in plain view. It's just a short story for a competition, no one thinks that it's true. Not for a moment. They make sure of that, you don't disobey them any more, your mind is theirs now. They make you write what they want, all of it lies. Except that it isn't lies, please believe me. They're making me sound mad, it's a standard way to discredit someone. If that doesn't work just accuse them of something socially abhorrent and turn the Twitterati on them.

I can't do this any more, I'm just typing and typing and it's all coming out wrong, please believe me, this isn't the truth, it's just a story. I'm making it all up, every word of it is true, I swear.


Word Count: 823.

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SCREAMS!!!  (GC) A Terrifying Contest Of Horror And Three Time Quill Award Winner! #2020439 by Lilith of House Martell

Contest using the prompt 'A CONSPIRACY THEORY THAT TURNS OUT TO BE MORE THAN THEORETICAL.'