I wait. I wait until my time has come. Here I sit at the bottom of the stack. I see all my brothers and sisters ahead of me. I can see the death trap for what the humans call the shredder. One by one I see the papers I have known forever and their lives about to end. We all try to scream and tell each other goodbye. For some, that is easier than others, for some of us have been written on and given words to speak. Humans cannot hear us. We do not know why. Perhaps if they could, they would save us from the death trap. Perhaps they would not. We will never know. It is a slow and painful death for the ones who cannot speak. The ones who can are blessed and are encouraged to use their words. I am alone. I have no words to cry out. All I can do is watch. I can now see a large human walking towards us. He bends down to the death trap and presses something. The machine rumbles. The sound of crushing blades clash together. My brothers’ and sisters’ voices are now louder than ever. I can only scream in my thoughts, but that makes no difference. The human walks over to us. He picks up my sister, turns around and walks over to the shredder. He is now straightening her out so she does not jam the machine. He slowly slides her down into the machine. The cries of the blades only to get louder. One by one, the pile above me gets lighter and lighter. I can no longer watch. There are only two papers above me now. My last moments on Earth. My last moments in this spot. My last breath. I hear foot steps that tell me my time has come. A large muscular hand gently lifts me from my place.