A boy and a girl walked down the street with their mother. The girl whined, "But everyone in my class has a hoverboard. Why –"
"You know why. They're dangerous, you're too young, and I can think of several ways we could better use our money."
"But Mom…"
"Shut up, brat," her older brother hissed, shoving her a little.
"Don't call me a brat," she hissed back.
"Then don't act like one," he retorted. Suddenly he pointed to the house they were approaching and they both stopped talking. They always did. Inside the house, a young girl observed them for a few second before turning back to her history notes.
2010-2020: The Crisis Years
Health care debate
Weak economy
National debt
Environmental concerns
Energy costs
Extremist groups preying on people's fears
Election of 20- – winner was a write-in who ran a campaign on YouTube
Slogans – "Stop Whining and Do Something," "Waste Not, Want Not"
Eight years later – up – college enrollment, gardening, recycling, public transportation, volunteering
Down – energy usage, spending, poverty, unemployment
20- – Council for a Better World formed, radical cult with cutting edge technology, advocated "sameness," contained but not stopped
Kelly read her notes one last time, confident she would pass the test tomorrow, but her thoughts lingered on the last line. Contained but not stopped. She understood why, of course. The group had seemed fairly innocuous at first, even getting some good press from time to time, and by the time its true intentions were made clear, it was too late. Starting with only two hundred members, all of them young, well-educated, able-bodied individuals, the group's leaders quickly had them brainwashed. They repudiated everything that made them different and fully embraced communism. They gave their money, their possessions, and their lives to the Council. They left everything to go to a placed simply know as the Community, where the Council assigned them homes, jobs, and even spouses and children. They created strict rules to keep everyone in line. Their scientists created special pills that would numb their emotions and make them more cooperative. They even got rid of color, weather, and memories. Those on the outside grew alarmed as reports came out. If they could do all this, surely they must have weapons as well. It was decided that the best course of action was to wait and watch, and offer covert assistance if possible. As time went on, the original settlers died, and with them, certain secrets of the past died as well. They had fully convinced themselves that this was the only world they had ever known, and that is what they taught their children. Kelly shivered suddenly as memories came rushing back.
She was eleven when it started. She would be at school, or volunteering, or having dinner, or doing something perfectly normal when something very strange would happen. For a split second, she would be somewhere entirely different. She would see things she had never seen before. She would feel everything more acutely than she had felt anything before. Sometimes it made her feel good, while other times it made her feel slightly ill, but when it was over, she always felt dread. Understanding came to her, piece by piece. It told her that somehow, she was receiving insight from the world that used to be. She had lived in the Community all her life, as had her parents, and she knew from listening to people at the House of the Old that it had been the same when they were young. But still, the Community had not always been there. Something had come before it.
Another thing she had come to realize was that they lied. The Council, the teachers, her parents, they all lied. They said that in a terrible time of confusion and chaos, the Council had found the solution in the Community and Sameness. No more chaos or confusion, no more pain or inequality, a perfect world. They lied. Things weren't perfect, which led to Kelly's most startling realization. There was more. More than order and calm contentment. Suddenly everything and everyone in the Community seemed false. They didn't see what she saw or feel what she felt. Those who prided themselves on their articulation would not be able to find words to describe it. She could not articulate what she was feeling, so she remained silent.
One day, after her volunteer hours, she went for a walk by the river. She walked and walked, getting lost in her thoughts, when it happened again. But no, something was different. This wasn't just a momentary glimpse of what was. This time, it stayed. Everything took on a mysterious quality which she could not explain. Everything appeared different somehow. It was more than shades of light and dark. But things changed in a different way too. The land became rough and the trees grew wild. She tripped and felt pain, but she got up again and kept walking. This happened several times until she realized that her hands and knees were sore and bleeding slightly, so she washed them in the river.
She was enchanted by everything she saw and felt when she realized it was late, and she was tired and hungry. It was only then that she remembered her backpack. Like every day, she had taken it with her to school, and from school to volunteering, but today there was something different. First, the teacher had not assigned any homework, so she left her books at school. Second, the night before, she had played a game before going to bed. She called it an Adventure, and pretended she was going to explore all the strange places she had glimpsed. She packed a change of clothes and snuck some food that was left over from dinner while her parents and brother were distracted.
She put on the extra clothes now as it seemed slightly cooler, ate the food, and took a drink from the river. She knew it was late, but, like everything else, the night was different, and she was too excited to be very tired. It was still light outside, light enough for her to see her surroundings, and she searched for an explanation. She looked up and saw a bright, pale orb and tiny pricks of light shining in the darkness. Then she got up once again and ran. She ran as fast as she could until she was on the ground, gasping for breath. And all the time, something was telling her to keep going. Don't stop. Run far, far away and don't stop until you find what you're looking for.
Finally, she had to stop. The pale orb and the smaller lights disappeared, and she was ready to collapse when she heard something. A low humming in the distance… She saw lights… They were coming straight at her! Suddenly, she was afraid. She realized it was wrong, what she had been doing. It was against the rules to stay out so late and go so deep into the woods alone. People must be looking for her, and she knew an apology would not be enough to help her now. The lights came closer and closer and, being only a little girl who was very frightened and exhausted, she fainted. Suddenly there was a loud screech and a slam. Kelly opened her eyes and saw a woman jump out of a car and run toward her.