My story had to be 2-3 pages long and had to be sci-fi! That was literally all the criteria we had for our story. And me being the type of person who LIVES off of direction this was quite the challenge. But when I finally thought of something I liked, I went with it and I really like the finished product. Hope you enjoy and feel free to leave me a comment letting me know if you liked it or not! Discussion is awesome! :) Also, I'm not the greatest writer so.. caution. ;)
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Alone
The pain is overwhelming. I watch the blood flow from my arm through the needle into a glass tube. After getting your blood drawn every week of your life, you would think the pain would lessen. Not a chance. For the fifteen years that I’ve lived, this is the normalcy I have succumbed to. I’ve never once questioned why my care takers make me do this, I just do it.
My best friend, Xena, assures me that it’s for my own good, but I’m not so sure. You see, Xena doesn’t have to get her blood drawn. And I think it’s because we look different. We have the same facial structures but that’s where the similarities end. While I have light tan skin, Xena’s is silver and metallic. My movements are fluid; hers are short and choppy. Out of everyone around me, I’m the only one like this. The only person in the house hold who must get her blood drawn week after week.
And I wonder why. Of course, I would never let Xena know of my questioning. She discourages all curiosity, especially when it comes to the topic of my boundary. I don’t understand what’s so wrong with asking questions, and I don’t understand why I never get answers. It’s not like I’m doing anything wrong, right?
Onyx places a cotton ball and Band-Aid on my arm where I had gotten my blood drawn. Onyx always comes over on Thursdays to take my blood. He never speaks and shows little to know emotion. I’ve tried talking to him multiple times but after a while, I gave up. He also never breaks procedure. He enters the house, draws my blood, and leaves with the tube, repeating the process every week. I hate Thursdays.
Xena is waiting out in the hall for me.
“What good is my blood?” I ask, wincing.
“Curiosity killed the cat, Melody. Be happy with what you know.”
She’s always doing that, quoting sayings. How does she even remember all of them? I’ve always wondered how she has the perfect saying for every issue. Like she has file folders in her head that are organized to pull something out at just the right time.
“I don’t see why you always get worked up about getting your blood drawn. It’s just a little prick, is all,” she says annoyingly.
She’s clearly frustrated with me. I really don’t have the patience to argue. I’m not in the mood to be shot down again.
“I think I’m going to go on the trail and run,” I usually run on the treadmill in the gym, but today I need some fresh air to clear my head.
“Good, good. You know the saying; Early to bed early to rise makes a man healthy, wealthy, and wise.”
I squint in confusion, “Yeah, I guess?”
How does that saying fit in with exercise? That’s the fourth time this week Xena’s slipped up on what she’s been saying. The first few times she did I didn’t really pay attention, but now I’m wondering what’s going on with her.
I start with a slow pace on the track. We’re required to get in at least thirty minutes of exercise every day. Actually, there’s no “we,” it’s just me. Xena doesn’t need exercise. Neither do any of my care takers. There must be a reason I need exercise and they don’t. Xena tells me I’m supposed to have a healthy body so I’ll have healthy blood to give.
I quicken my pace when I hear someone shouting.
“Hey! You! Come quick!”
I turn around and see a boy. An actual boy! He seems to look my age. I’m scared, excited, and nervous all at the same time. How is it that in my whole life I’ve never seen someone like me and suddenly, there they are! Should I run? Should I come to him? What if Xena finds out? Would she be just as excited to see someone like me as I am? Maybe the boy can answer some of my questions.
I tentatively walked to him, “Who are you? What are you doing here?”
The boy looks around worriedly, tugging at his collar. “I’m Dareon. I escaped my boundary because I knew there had to be people like me out there. And I was right.”
“So you’re telling me you left your boundary? How is that even possible? Xena told me to never ever leave the boundary because of the danger behind it.”
“They lied. And it seems like they’ve lied about a whole lot more than just the boundaries.”
I stumble backwards, and gasp, “But Xena wouldn’t lie to me! She must not have known about it or she would have told me.”
“I’m sure she knew. I did some digging and realized there are more people out there like us. All of our caretakers have kept us in the dark. I used to think I was the only one, but there are thousands, maybe millions more like us.”
“Melody! Come back in! It’s been over thirty minutes!” Xena yells from the door.
Dareon looks around frantically, “Meet me here again tomorrow. I’ll tell you everything. Please trust me.”
He quickly turns around and bolts into the trees.
No matter what, I know I’ll go back to that spot. Dareon has the answers I’ve been searching for.
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I hope you liked it! :)
Also: I may not have a review next week either. Which is a BUMMER. Our show is next weekend and once again practice will be hectic. But after that I'll be done with theater for about two months which means regular reviewing. Sorry everyone!
