Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

I charged into the kitchen and grabbed whatever I could. I don’t know why, but I’m extra hungry this morning. Along with a cup of orange juice, I made my way upstairs into my room.

I collapsed on to my snow-covered king size bed and devoured my so called “breakfast”. Suddenly, there came a knock on my door and Mom, along with Annie came in with saddening looks on their faces.

“Hey David, I just want to talk to you and Annie for a minute” Mom exclaimed.

“Sure” I responded nervously.

Annie came over to join me on my bed. I could see she was even more nervous about whatever Mom was about to say.

“I just want to apologize about earlier when I brought up your father,” she said shakily. “I didn’t mean to, I guess I just got a little flustered about David being late...And I know how sensitive we all are about your father and his death”

I could tell how upset Mom was really about this. She could barely get out the last sentence without bursting into tears.

“It’s okay, Mom.” was all I could manage. I was afraid I would start to tear up.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Annie nod in agreement. We both got up to embrace Mom, and I could tell she already started to feel better.

Mom left with a reassuring smile on her face and Annie at her heels.

The only people that I call my family consists of just us three. Myself, Mom and Annie. It hasn’t just been us though.

When I was six years old, my father died. We don’t really like to talk about it or bring it up, so that was why Mom was so upset about almost saying his name. He died because he didn’t follow the orders of the Leaders, and that was mainly why Mom was especially frustrated because I almost missed the Pledge. If I had missed it, serious consequences would of been taken in action.

The Leaders make the rules here and they believe that everyone will follow them. If not, and based off of previous scenarios, they had to establish consequences. Since my father didn’t follow the rules, he had his consequence. Death.

I mean, I love my family, don’t get me wrong. But my Dad was my role-model. We had an inseparable bond, and we acted the same way.

I barely stopped my thoughts of my Dad before they got the best of me. So, I did what I usually did, and pushed them to the side.

Since I was more tired today than ever, I decided a couple of hours of sleep could do me justice. With the swift move of the fluff of my pillow, I rested my head and flickered my eyes shut.

*            *           *               

I woke up screaming and drenched in sweat. I had the worst nightmare I’ve ever had in a while. I tried to calm myself down with deep breaths of air and slowly regain my stability.

I dreamt about a house. One of the prettiest houses I’ve ever seen. It had a dark pink outer layer with a connecting light blue. The flowers on the front lawn were perfectly spaced apart and complimented the house beautifully. The rest of the identical grey houses aligned on either side of this house were empty. The whole town was empty.

I don’t remember much from the dream, only bits and pieces of it. Although, I remember walking into the house and getting a bad feeling of it.

There was a light shining from the basement. It shone through the floor with it’s perplexing colors. A satisfying yellow mixed into a light-shaded orange. I tried to get to the light, closer to the basement. But whenever I got closer to it, I started to shake. My heartbeat doubled it’s pace and my stomach gutted with pain.

That’s when I woke up, and that’s all I remember.

I turned my gaze to stare out of my nearby bed-window. My eyes focused on the bustling people strolling around below, trying to fulfil their days activities.

My eyes then scanned all of the houses aligned in the community. All of the Tonchet houses were the same. The same plain white color all over the house. They were all extremely large and too big for the people occupying it. About 40 feet wide and 60 feet high, completely unnecessary.

But it doesn’t matter what I think. It’s all up to the Leaders and what they have to say. Whatever they say, goes.

Because of the war that we had, America was totally demolished. There were only a couple of thousands of people left. Us, the Tonchet’s. And them, the Swatly’s.

Us and the Swatly’s don’t talk to each other. We are forbidden to communicate with them whatsoever. If rules are not taken seriously, consequences will be made. In this instance, death.

Our Leaders put up the Wall which is made of unbreakable steel with the combination of logs that divided both of us apart. I’ve never seen the wall since its been forbidden to come in contact with it. And according to the Leader’s, if anybody tries to jump the Wall or escape their side of territory, there will be consequences. The Leader’s said the Tonchet’s and the Swatly’s both didn’t agree. It got to the point where living together, united, was not an option. Therefore, we now have the Wall.

At least, that’s what I’ve been told.