PROTESTING
It was most likely a Saturday afternoon, at the busiest time of the day, when the chanting started. I could hear it from my hut where I was hiding from the unusually large crowds. “Freedom! Freedom! Free them! Freedom! Freedom! Free them!” they chanted over and over again. The sound was thunderous and caused the beat of my heart to match up with the rhythmic pounding.
I crawled out of my only private space and peeked through some ferns to discover that the majority of the crowd was going crazy. Some held up clear virtual signs with red writing. The writing scrolled across the signs. Some of the protestors chanted, some threw red paint on the domes, and some ran away from the scene afraid. The protesting mob surged our dome, beating the glass with bats and fists.
My heart started to pound. I was excited and scared all at once. If people out there were unhappy with our captivity, the possibilities were endless. We could be freed or executed. Who knew what could happen, but I chose to believe that they could be a way out.
Janice burst through the plants panting. Her hair got tangled in a vine and she had to yank herself free. She fell to her knees from the force of her efforts and scrambled forward. “They’re trying to break us out of here. They’re going to shatter the glass! We have to get in our huts. Now!” she screamed.
I stumbled back into my hut as she pushed to squeeze in beside me. Her frantic state had started to make me concerned for my physical wellbeing. I mimicked Janice’s posture and curled myself into a ball, covering my head as I waited for the sky to fall. We were both silent as we listened to every sound outside. Janice hoped it would all stop, while I wanted them to get angrier and stronger. I wanted them to turn into super heroes and lift the dome off with their bare hands, like it was feather.
The chants, bangs, thumps, and all around rebellious sounds filled my ears, but it was my hope and determination to escape that kept me from panicking like Janice. She was crying and rocking back and forth. I wanted to shake her and say, “This is it! Our time to escape! Get a hold of yourself.” Instead, I said, “It’s going to be okay, Janice.”
It was so sudden when it happened. The resonance of glass shattering somewhere, drowned out the sound of the protestors. Unfortunately, it wasn’t from our enclosure. Then there was screaming—lots of screaming. Someone shouted, “Run!”
The sound of chaos is hard to explain, but that’s exactly what I heard. I wanted to see it, so I slowly uncurled myself and started to crawl out of the protection of my hut. “I’ll be right back. Calm down.” Janice grabbed at my leg and then my ankle as I left her there weeping. I crept through the trees and stopped behind some ferns, where the jungle gave way to the open land.
From my hidden spot, I saw that some of the protesters were running in zigzags, as men in white uniforms stomped after them, some stood their ground and chained themselves to the railings outside of the enclosures, and some were being drug away in handcuffs by authorities. I wanted to run out and thank them for their efforts and beg them to keep trying. I wanted to claw myself out of the dome and run off with them.
There were shards of glass littering the ground. I searched for where they originated. James! His enclosure had a huge gaping hole in it. I jumped up from my hiding spot and threw myself over the ferns, falling and stumbling through them. I scrambled to the front of our enclosure. When I reached the flat ground, I sprinted to the glass; my bare feet pounded the lush, green grass.
James’ horse was peaking out from one of the buildings’ windows, but James wasn’t visible. I waited a few moments, but he still didn’t appear. I started to scream his name, “James!” I cupped my hands around my mouth and yelled louder, “James!”
No answer. No James.
Then I thought of Auntie Josephine and rushed to her side of the dome. I climbed up the rock wall in a frenzy. I scraped my knees and shins in the rush of my ascent. Up I went, trying to reach the opening that our two enclosures shared. At first I didn’t see her. She wasn’t in her bedroom hiding under her bed or peeking out of her wardrobe. I knew she wasn’t in her bathroom because the door was wide open and the room was empty. But then I saw her. She was almost out in the open. Auntie Josephine waved to me from under her chaise lounge. I was so filled with relief that she was okay, I let out an audible sigh.
After descending the rock wall, I went to check on Janice. Once she was calm, I returned to watch the aftermath. It took the white uniformed army almost an hour to clear the area of protestors. They had to bring out the old-fashioned bolt cutters—like from my time—because apparently, their technology couldn’t zap those chains away without causing injury to the troublemakers. The glass domes had a self-cleaning mechanism built-in. The paint on their surfaces was washed away with ease. There were also small, hovering machines that cleaned the walkways. They were unmanned and efficient.
I paced the length of the glass, searching for a glimpse of James all the while, but it never came. I did see him though. The tanned-skin man was standing on a bench, in the middle of the chaos. He calmly stared at me, like always. No one noticed him except me, and when he saw that I was looking back, he pointed at his wristwatch and tapped the glass surface three times.
Tap. Tap. Tap.
THE KEEPERS’ ROUTINE CHECK WAS A LITTLE DIFFERENT . . .
It was Sunday. The Keepers appeared to perform their weekly checks. I sat by the rock wall watching them flit about, as they scanned things around the enclosure. They only ever stopped long enough to type on their hovering pad. There was one man and one woman that day, unlike the two men that were there the week before. I could tell their gender by their movements and body structures. The only part of them that wasn’t covered by their white suits was a thin strip across their eyes. A clear shield protected them and left their vision uncompromised.
I briefly wondered what they were like outside of this place without the white suits. Did they dress like sailors from World War II, or perhaps they preferred wooden shoes from Holland. Maybe one of them dressed in Kimonos and the other one in lavish gowns like a long ago Queen of Spain.
I made up silly stories about them as I watched them work. The woman was secretly in love with the man, but he was really into robots or whatever nerdy thing guys liked in that time. She tried to catch his attention at the staff holiday party by wearing her lowest cut Queen of Spain gown. Unfortunately, she stepped on the skirt of his Kimono, and he fell face first in the fruit punch. He was furious and demanded to be reassigned so he didn’t have to work with her another day. The head Keeper denied him and stated that he needed to follow the Center’s motto; “Let’s learn from each other.”
I hoped they were as miserable as me. How do they do the job they were doing? The made-up story made me feel a little better.
I noticed that one of the Keepers had green eyes and the other had blue eyes. I knew this, because they eventually came to stand right in front of me for my scan. It was finished in seconds, but they didn’t leave right away like they usually did when they were done with me. So, I figured they weren’t done with me. I gave them my best annoyed-face and simply said, “What?”
The woman with the blue eyes said, “There will be two new additions to this enclosure tonight. We are providing you with mates. Procreation is mandatory.” Her voice was muffled from her suit. Maybe I didn’t hear her correctly.
“Excuse me?” I responded.
They didn’t answer me, of course. The rock wall engulfed them, and they were gone.
After feeling returned to my body and I was able to move again, I screamed, “Janice!” at the top of my lungs. I yelled again, “Janice!”
She came running out of the jungle from where our huts are hidden. Her face was pinched and concerned, because I was screaming like a banshee. “What? What’s wrong?” She looked me up and down, searching for some type of injury. “What happened?” Her panic was rising by the second.
“Did they talk to you?”
“No. What are you talking about? They never speak to us,
you know that,” she answered.
“Well, they did today. One of them said we are getting two new people tonight. He said they are supposed to be our mates and that procreation is mandatory. They can’t make us do that, can they?” I was baffled.
My enclosure companion responded after taking a minute to consider what I said. “I don’t know what they can make us do. I’m sure if we want to stay alive, we have to do whatever they say. I don’t know about you, but I believed them when they said they’d send us back.”
“But . . . ” my voice trailed off. I couldn’t wrap my head around being forced into something like that. “How can they make us? No, I won’t do it. There’s no way.”
Janice remained silent. I wanted her to join me. I wanted her to be angry or have some kind of reaction. It was as if she had accepted her life here, neither happy nor unhappy with it. I had not accepted it. I still wanted out. I was convinced I would eventually find a way when the right moment came. When the protests happened the day before, I thought it was time. It had been such a tease.
Anger began to swell in me, pushing its way through my core and out to my limbs. I needed to move. I couldn’t stand to look at Janice a second longer, because I couldn’t understand her indifferent attitude. I stormed off toward the front of the enclosure to perhaps catch a glimpse of James, but he still wasn’t there. His horse was milling around, looking for something to eat. The glass wall had been repaired. Everything looked as it had, except it was missing a person—a very handsome person.
I wondered if he was fortunate enough to have escaped during the protest. Or worse, was he injured? Dead? Or maybe the Keepers noticed us communicating and chose him as my mate. Yes. That had to be it. I was certain.
Hallelujah!
BUTTERFLIES
My anger subsided and was replaced with butterflies. They flapped around in my empty stomach. I snatched an apple from the full tree on my way to the waterfall. I had to make myself presentable for him—for James.
The water was cool and helped calm my nerves. I lingered under the spray and held my breath as I longed for my situation to improve. I told myself something good had to happen eventually. But then there was Auntie Josephine’s poor husband who had stuck it out for over two decades, until he’d had enough. Poor guy. However discouraging their situation was, I was certain I wasn’t going to go down that same path.
I took care when brushing out my hair with a fish bone. Totally gross, but it worked. I tied a vine that I cut from a tree around my waist, like Janice always did. I found a pink flower that smelled sweet and rubbed it on my neck and wrists. What I would have given for a mirror.
After I finished primping, I returned to the spot where the Keepers always appeared. I sat on the hard ground with my back up against the rock wall. It would be hours before the evening was upon us, but I wanted to be there the second James arrived. I wasn’t sure if anything would happen with James or that I wanted it to. I certainly didn’t want to mate for the Keepers, but I was excited to meet him. He was an attractive guy. He would help me pass the time.
I counted the freckles on my left arm. 243. Then, I counted them on my right arm. 276. Their numbers had doubled since arriving here and being exposed to so much sun. I wondered if I could request sunscreen for my fair complexion—probably not.
I stretched out on my back in the grass. My arms propped my head up as I watched the birds fly above me. There were no birds inside our enclosure, but there were plenty outside. I saw another bird I’d never seen before. It was purple with a red bill. It made me giggle. I felt pretty good. Excited. Happy.
It didn’t last long though . . .
THE
PRESENT
MATES
The time is finally here. Our new mates are set to arrive. I’m so excited to see James that I can’t keep still. I’m bouncing on my toes and absently fluffing my hair. Janice joins me by the rock wall and we wait together. I’m feeling a lot of anxiety over this first meeting, and I find myself wondering, without reason, if Janice will try to steal James away from me. I convince myself that that’s exactly what she’ll do, and I begin to fidget even more as Janice makes me doubt my appearance. She’s looking as radiant as ever. She’s like a tanner, bustier, hotter me. So it’s no wonder that I’m suddenly self-conscious about my average looks. It feels like high school all over again.
I hate this feeling.
As I stand here, staring at the space where I think they will appear, I notice a white fungus growing on one of the boulders. My vision fills up with the white growth, and it becomes blurry around the edges. I’m stuck in one of those weird dazes. I’m aware of what’s happening around me, but I can’t move my eyes away from this thing that has me transfixed—however unimportant it may be. I mean, someone could be getting murdered next to me and I couldn’t force myself to stop looking at this stupid fungus.
Finally, I’m able to blink the fuzziness away and refocus. When I open my eyes, they’re here. And they, does not include James.
My heart sinks as I look at the two guys that lie in his place. They are both dressed in white, long sleeved, button-up shirts. Their pants are made from the same material as our sack dresses. That sucks for them. One of them is Caucasian with brown hair that is in a clean-cut hairstyle. He is freshly shaven. His features are the All-American boy kind of look. The other guy has darker skin—tan skin. His jet-black hair is only a quarter of an inch long, much shorter than his long eyelashes. He’s lying on his stomach, and I can see the dark pattern of a large tattoo under his ultra-thin shirt. I wonder what it is and how extensive are the markings.
They start to stir, which prompts Janice to kneel next to the All-American guy. He groans and looks up at Janice with frightened, blue eyes. I suppose this means she’s chosen her mate, which leaves the other guy for me. He’s good-looking, but he’s not James.
I don’t help him up or walk him over to my hut like Janice is doing with the other guy, but I do stay and watch him to make sure he’s okay. I’m not so cruel as to abandon him in his first moments here.
“You okay?” I ask him when he finally gets into a sitting position.
He cradles his head in his strong hands and groans. I remember the feeling of waking up here and how awful my head hurt. He answers me with another groan, “Yeah.”
“Oh good. You speak English. What’s your name?”
“Kale,” he barely answers.
I point around the enclosure as I tell him, “Well Kale, waterfall’s that way if you want a drink or shower, toilets are that way, and food’s over there. There’s a vegetable garden, fruit tree, and a fishpond. You’re on your own for sleeping arrangements because they didn’t bring anymore huts when they dropped you two off.” I’m so consumed with my disappointment that he’s not James that I give him a horrible welcome.
He stared at me the whole time I was explaining where everything was with this look on his face like I was some kind of angel or ethereal being. And he’s still doing it. “Thank you,” he says as he tries to smile at me. “Thank you for waiting here with me.” I look away, feeling ashamed for the harsh welcome I just gave him.
“You’re welcome.” I am about to smile, but realize that he could be being nice because he knows what’s at stake if we don’t mate. Nope. I am not falling into that trap. He may be cute and charming, but I can’t do what they want. “Well, good night.” I throw a wave over my shoulder as I scoot off to hide in my hut.
I crawl into my private space, which suddenly isn’t so private anymore as I listen to Janice and the All-American guy talk in her hut. He says his name is Greg Smith. “Figures,” I snort. He’s 17 years old and was born in 1938. Greg grew up in the Chicago suburbs and had a mother, father, sister, and a dog named—you guessed it—Spot.
Janice is going to get bored with this guy so quickly. She’s much too lively for him. They are complete opposites. Eventually, Janice and Greg quiet down, probably having fallen asleep.
I’m still so angry and di
sappointed that I almost forget to consider what’s actually happened to James. If he isn’t here, then where is he? Maybe he did escape. I hope that’s the answer and not that he got injured or punished. I fall asleep thinking about his friendly smile and the way it lights up his handsome face. Good thoughts before another long day of misfortune.
BAD DAY
Janice’s girlie giggles wake me up. She’s flirting with her intended mate, Greg. It makes me want to vomit. How can she so easily obey the Keeper’s demands? How long will she wait to give them what they want? A BABY! The thought makes me shudder. I won’t give in to them.
Outside, Janice is cutting up fruit with a sharp rock and grilling fish over the fire pit for our new zoo-mates. Kale sits off to the side, not speaking to anyone. His dark eyelashes hide his even darker eyes as he sulks.
“Oh, Emma! You’re awake. Good. Do you want to join us?” Janice plasters on the biggest grin I’ve ever seen her wear. Her happiness frustrates me.
I skulk off without even bothering to answer her. I can hear her making excuses for my behavior, as I get further away. “Oh, she’s just upset about the protest that happened before you got here. She thought she’d get to escape. She’s really a nice girl. You’ll see.”
But I’m not a nice girl—not lately anyway. This isn’t like me, and it adds another thing to the list-of-reasons to hate this place. My parents would be so disappointed in the way I’ve been treating people. I judged Janice when she was divulging all the horrors of her past, and then I assumed that she would try to steal James away if given the opportunity. I was completely rude to Kale, although if I’m being honest, I know I will probably continue to question his motives.
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