The Probe

by LinkM03

The story takes place in the universe of "It s such a Beautiful Day" by Isaac Asimov but all of the characters are new. In the story, Jacob has to deal with the conflict of Man vs Society because he is struggling to do the "normal" things in that time.

My family waited so long to get a Door, they saved a lot of money, but I don't like it. They had to save all that money because we live in the poor sections of the city, but my parent managed to save money to buy it. I started using it when they bought it, at first I thought that it was cool, but now, all I wanna do is walk.

I did not like that I am not able to feel the breeze or see birds when I go to school. So 2 years ago I decided to stop using it, most of my friends don't own Doors, so when I arrived at school walking they said that I was mocking them because I was not using my Door even though I had one.

One day I arrived to my home and my mother caught me, she said: "Jacob, why are you not using the door? We spent so much money on it!", I told her that it was boring using the Door, and that I would gain a lot of weight like my sister Jenna.

Jenna started gaining weight since we bought the Door, mainly because the only exercise that she did was walking to school and returning home, but now she is slowly gaining more and more weight.

When Jenna heard this she said that she was not fat and that I was weird because I did not use the Door. She then told my mom that she should take me to a psychiatrist, but my mom knew that I did not need that. She told Jenna that I had been walking for most of my life life, so it would take some time for me to get used to the Door. My sister agreed and she went to her room, which is the only walking that she did.

I knew that this was not the case, I would not get used to the Door, I liked walking and I was going to walk forever. But I did not tell this to my mom, she would punish me or she would listen to Jenna and take me to the psychiatrist. So I lied to my mom, I told her that she was right and that probably I would slowly get used to the Door, but for now I wanted to walk for a few more days.

And I did, but then she started obligating me to use the Door, for a couple of days I had to use it because she checked on me in the mornings, but then she stopped and I would just walk to school. But my dad caught me, I begged him to not let my mom know of this because she was going to take my to a physiatrist and they were going to probe me. He said that that he was not going to tell my mom and he said that he also did not really like using the Door.

I always thought that it was strange that me and him were the only ones of the family that were not gaining weight but now I understand, he told me that it would be our secret and that I could not tell Jenna or mom that he also prefered to walk than using the Door.

I kept my promise and I never told Jenna or my mom, and my dad also would not tell them when I walked. Until a week ago life was fine, but then Jenna's boyfriend saw me arriving to school, his name was Derek, I did not like him because he always bothered me and laughed at me, but my sister loved him for some reason. I think it was just because he is popular but who knows.

I begged him to not tell, but he did not listen, he first told everyone at school and then he told Jenna, when Jenna found out she instantly told my mom. She told her that I was crazy and that I lied that I had been using the Door for the past years, she also suggested that I should be taken to a physiatrist.

My mom agreed, yesterday we had a check up and the doctor said that I should be probed, and now I am waiting in a hospital room for the doctor to arrive while I am strapped to the chair, but I will not tell on my dad. How can they do this just for me doing a normal thing like walking?