Once, a long while ago, we, the now numbered and nameless, were considered individuals. We were known by more than a number. We were known by a group of letters that formed words; not meant for anything more than something for a specific human to be called.
Or so my grandmother says.
I am and always will be Number 28 Group 138. There are other Number 28s out there, in the other various groups. I am okay with this, my grandmother told me that even in the time of names, there were some that had the same title. That when she was little there were at least five Emily's. When I asked her what an emily was, she just started to chuckle.
You see I know my grandmother as Number 58 Group 18. And that is what I am supposed to call her. She is not supposed to be called my grandmother. She is matriarch 1 of my family unit, as I am child unit 2. My title will change though, as I grow.
My grandmother, as I am to call her in secret, told me that before the overthrow, she was known as Maria Louisa Lankford. When I first heard her say those words all I could think was how beautiful they sounded. I would ask her to say them over and over and over; watching the way her lips formed each syllable.
As time went on she would tell me stories of great people, with great names; such as: Anne Frank, Amelia Earhart, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr. The more stories she told me, the more I hungered for a name. To be an individual, to be different, and notable. I started to fantasize that I had a name. I would mix and match the names my grandmother told me. Naming myself such things as Gandhi Presley, or Katniss Potter.
Then my grandmother told me of Joan of Arc, and it was like I was awakened from my slumber. This was my purpose, to liberate my people from the numbers, from the nameless ones, to overthrow the over throwers. My task now set before me, my name chosen. I strive to become it, to become her; Joan of Arc, liberator.
