I had an uncanny ability to read people, to determine their motives by scrutinizing their body language, stance, and gestures. I often caught small, telling details that others missed, so I knew something was not right about our leader. I had to wonder what he was trying to hide.
“Be careful how you talk about our elected president,” Rachel said. “People who talk about him mysteriously disappear.”
“He wants to be in complete control, and I don’t trust him. I wonder how he’s treating the others who’ve made it to the surface.”
“Who knows? None of them have come back except the workers, and they don’t say anything.”
“And why not? Why aren’t they allowed to come back?” I asked.
“Uh…because he’s scared they’ll tell us how messed up everything is?” she said, more of a question than a statement.
“Right. So…are you ready to defy Dante Marcellus? Are you ready to call his bluff?”
“I think so.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“You’re giving me an out?” she said.
“Yep.”
She looked at me, then at the water. “Screw it! Let’s do this!”
My body tingled with anticipation, and before she could say another word, I grabbed her hand. “On the count of three!” She gasped, and I started the count down. “One…two…three!” I pulled her to the edge of the dock, and we both jumped in with a big splash. “It’s amazing!” I shouted, pushing the wet hair out of my eyes. “But maybe Mother Nature poured in a little too much salt.”
She laughed. “As long as my skin isn’t melting off and nothing’s eating my ankles, it’s fine with me. We’re alive,” she said, anxiously looking around.
“What are you looking for? Jaws? There are no sharks. I mean, they do exist, but the ocean isn’t just a pit of teeth, like they tried to tell us.”
“Why would they lie to us like that?”
“Let’s not worry about them right now. They suck the joy out of everything. Let’s just enjoy the water.”
And with that, I dived down about six feet and opened my eyes, taking in the beautiful bluish-green, glistening ripples around me. When I breached the surface again, we played around and splashed each other. We even did cannonballs for the very first time. When my fingers began to wrinkle like prunes, we laughed and got out. I sprawled out across the dock and let the sun dry me.
“What if they come up?” Rachel asked.
“At this point, I don’t care. The sun feels so good. Why can’t we do this all the time? What gives them the right to keep us from it? Last time I checked, the world doesn’t belong to them. It belongs to all of us, and it isn’t right for them to hog it for themselves.”
“When they leave, they’ll lock down everything, so we won’t be able to come back up.”
“No worries. I’ll find a way.”
“Look, this was fun, and we had a great time, but we really oughtta go. We shouldn’t press our luck. We’ve been up here a lot longer than the five minutes I agreed to, and Walter, Chad, and Melvin might come back at any minute. What will they do when they find us up here lounging around like we’re on some beach?”
“You’re right.”
She stood and reached down to give me a hand. “Really, this was great. Thanks for talking me into it.”
Just then, we heard the chutes dispatching.
Crap!
Rachel and I looked at each other in complete shock. If we hid, we’d be locked out for good; whenever they left for land, they locked the chutes. But if we got caught, we’d be punished severely. Dante Marcellus didn’t like me very much as it was, since he considered me to be somewhat of a rebel who enjoyed bucking his authority, and I didn’t want to give him more ammo to use against me.
“Hide!” I said.
“But how will we get back in?”
I didn’t even think about it. I just jumped into the water behind the dock, and Rachel reluctantly followed. I held on to the support beam as waves gently swished against me. A chill shot up my spine when the doors opened and they got out. I debated giving myself up, but my stubborn side wouldn’t let me. I wasn’t about to stand there and watch Dante wear a smug smile on his face while he punished me. All things considered, it was a whole lot better to be locked up than locked out.
“I love seeing them,” Chad said.
“Well, don’t get too attached,” Melvin said.
“I feel bad for them.”
“Just remember what Dante said. We’ve been divided, but it’s for good reason. We’re just lucky he picked us to be on the winning team.”
“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Do you have the tools?”
“Got ‘em right here.”
“Good,” Melvin said. “Then let’s get this thing fixed and head to lunch. I’m starvin’.”
The door closed with a hiss, and the men disappeared down the chute.
I let out a long breath, then climbed back on the dock. My shoulders shrugged in relief. “Man, that was close.”
“We’d better give ‘em a minute or two to get back to whatever they’re doing.”
I nodded, then turned to look at the gorgeous sky one last time. I was still utterly captivated by its breathtaking beauty, and I couldn’t believe it had been hidden from me for my entire sixteen years of life. The more I thought about it, the angrier I got.
After a few minutes, we climbed back into the capsules and returned to the city.
As the glass lid opened, I held my breath and clutched my heart, hoping we wouldn’t get busted. “All clear,” I said, looking around.
Rachel grabbed my hand, and we bolted all the way back to my room. We looked at each in stunned disbelief.
“This has been the best birthday ever!” I said.
“I know.”
“We just saw the sky, the ocean! Can you believe it? It’s up there. It’s all really up there,” I screamed in delight.
Her eyes widened in delight. “I know. I can’t believe it.”
Joy surged through me. “It’s gonna be so hard not to tell anybody.”
“We have to keep it a secret.”
“I know. I feel like screaming it from the rooftops, but don’t worry. My lips are sealed.”
Her gaze narrowed. “Sky…”
“I have to tell Brett. We can’t possibly keep a secret like this from him.”
“I guess it’d be all right to tell him. I know he can keep his mouth shut, but nobody else.”
“I swear. Mum’s the word.”
“You’ve kept all my secrets, so I trust you.”
“I promise,” I said, nodding. “Hey, what do you think they were talking about? The one man said it was great to see old friends, which I can understand, but the other told him not to get too attached.”
“Yeah, I found that odd too—and a little scary.”
“The one even said he feels bad for them. What the heck do you think that means? And what was all that business about being divided and Dante picking them for the winning team?”
“Hmm. Maybe it just means they have to be up on the surface working all the time, and maybe he just felt bad because we’re all stuck down here.”
“But what’s the winning team?”
She laughed. “The chosen pioneers who first went out and colonized the land. We’ll join the team when we turn eighteen.”
“I’m not so sure about that. It sounds pretty scandalous to me. He actually said we’ve been divided.”
“There you go again.”
“What?”
“Analyzing something to death. You know you’re putting way too much thought into this, right? Look, the people they took up first have experience, are trained in a skill or profession. That’s why they chose the doctors, nurses, teachers, hunters, and so on. It’s how a society is built.”
“That’s not the point. I hate that they insist on controlling everything.”
“Yeah, that part sucks, but I guess they think it’s for everyb
ody’s good. Besides, what can we do about it? We’re just teenagers.”
“We revolt, that’s what!”
“Ha-ha. Very funny. What are you, Joan of Arc or something?”
“I’m not kidding. Maybe I was born to rebel.”
“Well, you’d better keep that in check,” she joked.
“I’ve got just enough rebel in me, and I’m one of the good guys. I want to fight for positive changes. I think we should get everyone together and have a big meeting, get everyone to sign a petition. I mean, we still have rights, don’t we?”
“Yeah, but…well, I think Dante’s just passionate about the new start up there. He’s planned everything so carefully, thought about every single aspect. He wants this place to work.”
I still didn’t trust Dante. He hadn’t even taken the time to explain everything. I didn’t want to accept his rules, even if everyone else conformed and followed him like sheep, never questioning anything he said or did. No one had informed us about the surface, and we weren’t prepared, yet no one seemed to be asking the questions I was. Why? Don’t they care? Are they too scared to ask, to demand some answers about our future? Why can’t we talk to those who have gone up before us? As the questions spun around my mind, I grew angrier and angrier. I was tired of being deceived by our leaders, tired of feeling like stupid livestock being herded to and fro on their whim. “So we just obey him and say nothing, ask nothing?” I asked. “Like good little sheep?”
“Shh! You know as well as I do that people who say things like that end up…missing. Please stop talking that way. I can’t bear to lose you in some mysterious disappearance.”
“Do you hear yourself? We shouldn’t have to keep our mouths shut. This is supposed to be a free society, and we should be able to voice our thoughts and opinions, to ask questions. If Dante insists on abducting everyone who dares to buck the system, what kind of leader is he? A tyrant, that’s what he is. We should start a revolution. Without followers, Dante wouldn’t achieve anything.”
“Please stop. He has way too many minions, and—”
Seeing how upset my friend was getting, I decided to tone it down a bit. “Don’t worry,” I interrupted. “I won’t say anything. I’ll keep my mouth shut, and I’ll only complain to you and Brett. At least Dante doesn’t have the place bugged like in all those spy movies we watch.”
“True.”
“Still, I can’t but help wonder what he’s up to.”
“We all know Dante is a control freak. Everything has to be done his way. I don’t think it’s as sinister as you think. It’s just…his personality.”
“When we do finally go up there, do you really want to live under his rule? It’s a big world, and he can’t control all of it. Some of us can just take off, get as far away as we possibly can. We’ll swim if we have to.”
“I-I don’t know. Wouldn’t it be better to stay with the group?”
“There’s nothing more I want to do than help build a new world, but I won’t live under a tyrant to do it. If that’s our only choice, I’d rather run away.”
“The rules might not be so bad,” she said. “It’s all part of being…civilized.”
“Civilized? Is it civilized to keep people locked in a bubble underwater until he feels like releasing us? If that’s being civilized, I want nothing to do with it,” I snapped. “I’m tired of being treated like a prisoner when I did nothing wrong.”
“But we’re not prisoners. When we’re eighteen, we’ll go up—legally. In the meantime, Dante’s workers are busy building a world for us up there.”
I sighed. “See? It’s all about power and control, and you’re under his thumb just like everyone else is. We should be allowed to go up to the surface whenever we want.”
“It’s only two more years.”
“After seeing the sun, sky, and ocean, do you really want to wait that long?” I asked.
“No, but what choice do we really have?”
“I’m a misfit down here,” I said. “I’m the only one who complains. We only live once, right?”
“Yeah, I get the whole YOLO thing, but—”
She was trying to be hip by using the word, YOLO. It was an acronym for "you only live once". It was kind of like carpe diem or memento mori. It implied that one should enjoy life, even if that meant taking risks. Made me think of the 2011 song "The Motto" by Canadian rapper Drake.
“So why would you wanna spend the rest of your teenage years down here in this waterlogged, boring glass aquarium?” I asked.
“You know what they say. ‘Great leaders boldly drive forward, clearing a path for those who follow.’”
“Great leaders, huh? So you think Dante is actually clearing a path for us?”
“Yes. Just think how fantastic it’ll be when we get up there.”
“You’re such a dreamer,” I said. “You always believe the best about everyone.” I’d always thought my friend was too trusting, and it infuriated me that she just accepted whatever she was told, without question. We had a lot in common, and we were best friends, but in that way, we were very, very different.
She threw a pillow at me. “Enough with all this serious talk. I’m starvin’. Let’s go get lunch.”
I laughed.
Rachel looked at me oddly.
“What?” I asked.
“Your face is pink.”
When I looked at hers, I noticed she had the same problem. “You do too.”
“Did we catch some terrible rash up there?”
“Maybe the air’s not safe after all,” I joked.
“That’s not funny!” she snapped. “How can you stay so calm? Who knows what germs we brought back down here.”
I smirked, trying not to break into laughter. “It’s a sunburn.”
“What?”
“Our skin is pale. We got a sun burn from the sun, that’s all.”
“My first sun burn?”
“Yeah. I know the perfect trick. Make up, lots of it!”
We went back and put on lots of cover up to conceal our sunburn. It worked like a charm. We didn’t have tons of make up so we used it very sparingly on special occasions, or for emergencies like this one.
On the way to the cafeteria, I ran into my twelve year old cousin.
“These are for you,” she said handing me a pot with a Christmas cactus. The red and pink drooping flowers were gorgeous. “Happy Birthday!”
“I love it!” I said, my face lighting up. “When did you plant this for me?”
“They’re not from me, silly. They were sitting in the lounge with your name on them.”
I cocked a brow. “Who are they from?”
“I don’t know. The card just has your name. Who keeps leaving you all these flowers? We don’t have any more room for them. Because there’s more that came.”
“More?”
“Yep. I don’t think Brett’s going to like that much.”
I bit my lip. “Yeah, I’m gonna have to agree with you on that one.”
***
After lunch, Walter called me over. He delivered supplies from the surface and did lots of repair jobs for our city. He lived on the surface already and only submerged about once a month, and whenever he did, he made it a point to chitchat with me. Walter was a nice, sweet guy, and both Rachel and I could clearly see that he had a crush on me. His cheeks always turned red when he talked to me, and he stuttered and wrung his hands. I thought of him as nothing more than a friend, but it was cute and a bit flattering that he liked me that way. He was big and buff, like a wrestler, and he had black, curly hair and dark eyes. “Hi, Sky,” he said.
“Hello, Walter,” I answered. “You’re still here, huh?”
“Yeah. Took all day to fix that stupid thing.” He handed me a wrapped present in blue, floral wrapping paper. “Here. This is for you.”
I smiled at the sweet gesture, but I felt awkward accepting a gift from him; I didn’t want to lead him on.
“Happy birthday,” he said. “I
hope you like it.”
I smiled and slowly unwrapped the present. My jaw dropped at the pair of small diamond stud earrings. “Wow, Walter,” I said, glancing up at him. “This is very sweet of you, but—”
“I was hoping to make…a glittering statement,” he said. “Do you like it?”
“It’s very beautiful, but I…” I trailed off and looked down at the jewelry. It was too much. I hardly knew the guy, and Brett would have a fit if he found out that another man was giving me presents like that. Walter knew I was dating Brett, but he didn’t seem to take that too seriously. Awkward. Just a little while ago, I’d given Rachel a firm warning about not accepting apples from Melvin, and now Walter was giving me diamonds. I didn’t want him to have any expectations when I arrived on the surface; even if I would be a legal adult by then, I didn’t want to date him and certainly had no intention of marrying him. He had previously mentioned finding his special woman and settling down, and I sure hoped he wasn’t talking about me.
I smiled and tried to be polite. “Thank you, Walter. Really. It’s just lovely, but I’m afraid…well, I can’t accept it.”
He frowned. “It’s just a token of my friendship. Nothing more. I won them in a raffle held by Dante. What am I going to do with them? They don’t look good on me.”
I chuckled.
“It sure is pretty, Walter, but like I said, I just can’t accept it.”
“Shoot. I knew it was too much. I shoulda stuck with something simpler.”
“Save these diamond studs for that special somebody.”
“I know the perfect girl. She smiles at me a lot. I’ll be sure to save it for her,” he said, trying not to sound too embarrassed, but his cheeks had turned even darker red, and his eyes looked sad—like a punished puppy’s.
“She won’t be disappointed.”
“But now I don’t have anything to give you for your birthday.”
“I know the perfect present.”
“Yeah? What?”
“Info,” I said, smiling slyly. I figured if Walter liked me enough to buy me an expensive and rare gift like that (it wasn’t like there were still jewelry stores on every corner in the new upper world), maybe he’d be willing to flap his lips, even if he wasn’t supposed to.
Suspending Reality (Five Fantasy Stories) Page 4