Prologue

No one ever knows if they'll be one of the chosen. No one knows if they'll go to sleep and wake up in a new life, or even if they'll wake up at all. That's the worst part really; the not knowing. The wondering. The saying goodbye. The wishing.

For some, being chosen is a beautiful thing. You can live an entire life in a new place. You can fall in love, experience new places, foods and people. For others, being chosen is a death sentence. No one knows why only some chosen return. No one knows anything really. All anyone does know is that the night before you turn 19, you could go to sleep and wake up somewhere completely different, in a completely new life. You never know how long you'll be there for; you only know once you receive your 24-hour notice. You could be there for as little as a few minutes, or as long as an entire lifetime, then you wake up and it's like it never happened. Then, you're just 19-year-old you again.

Not everyone is chosen though, some go to sleep and wake up the next day and nothing has changed. For those around you, it's like no time had passed at all. You can have an entire life and it's gone in the blink of an eye. Some people come back broken. They lose their soulmate, their children, their lives. Some- well some don't even come back at all. No one knows why, all anyone knows is that they just don't wake up the next morning.

Today is the day before Emersyn Carter's 19th birthday. The once dark room is beginning to take shape around her as the first signs of morning starts to seep in through the blinds. She didn't sleep last night; really though, how could she knowing that she could be one of the chosen? For all she knows, this could be the last day she sees her family and friends for years, or forever actually. All she's done since she said goodnight to her family last night was stare at her ceiling and think about what it would be like to be chosen. Her Mom was a Chosen. She tells her it was a beautiful thing, that she would be lucky to be chosen.

She tells me she woke up in a beautiful world, covered in trees and hills and sunshine. It never rained, the wind sung songs through the forest trees and the rivers sparkled like they were made from diamonds. She was a Princess, living in a beautiful golden castle on a tall hill. The villagers were kind, hardworking and always smiling. The village is also where she met her husband, his name was Louis and he worked in the village. They fell in love, got married and got pregnant. The day the baby was born was her 24-hour notice. She came back after the birth of their daughter, Emersyn.

Those are the stories that make you want to be chosen, especially if it means escaping this world. Wayfall is cold. There is no laughter, except in secret. Everyone must dress the same, eat the same, talk the same and think the same. That's the way it's been since The All Electorate took over 150 years ago. They said before, the world was falling into chaos. Individuality had caused the world to become selfish, they were falling apart little by little. So, The All Electorate took over. They burned all books that were not non-fiction, removed TVs, computers and phones and began to rebuild.

Now the only stories anyone hears are from the Chosen. They get to live a life greater than this. They get happiness, laughter, love, hope. Sometimes though, she wonders if being chosen is the cruelest of torture? To be shown a life much greater than the one you've been given, then have it ripped from you and have to return to this. Her Mother's story did nothing to quell Emersyn's fears of being chosen though. 4 months ago, her best friend, Vera, was chosen and she did not return. She remembers seeing her on her last day, wishing her well, hoping that she would return to see me tomorrow.

She never did.

She never returned.

Emersyn waited until an hour before curfew to go to her house. They lived relatively close, only about a 10-minute walk. When her Mother answered the door she knew something had gone wrong just by the look on her face. She said that Vera hadn't woken up this morning, that The All Electorate had come to pick Vera up and dispose of the body.

She walked home in silence after that, though Wayfall was always silent. This was different. Filled with grief and hatred and sadness.

Now here she lays; still staring at her ceiling. The room is brighter now, so it must be rising time. She can't help but wonder if she'll succumb to the same fate as Vera, to go to sleep and never wake up. Maybe, she thinks, I'll be like my Mother. Thrust into a beautiful world and wonderful life, only to have to have it ripped from me and forced to return to this nightmare we call home.

If I'm she's lucky, she'll be neither. She'll stay as the same person she's always been. Emersyn Louise Carter. 19. Maybe tomorrow she'll wake up and everything will be the same. She'll still be living at House 593, Section 29 in Providence 3. She'll still have a Mother, who lived a life no one else will ever know. A Father, who never smiles. A brother, who now works for the same government he once despised years ago. And a best friend, who never returned.

She'll never know though. Not until she go to sleep. So, until then.

Until then, it's time to get up.

Hi All!

I decided to go and change this book into third person narrative because I think it will work better! Let me know what you think :) and remember, if you leave a review you'll get a shoutout in the next chapter!

xx
Jayne