Mind Under Matter

This is a dystopian story set in the year 2140. This is the story of a girl with an eating disorder. Eating disorders cannot be cured with a simple, "just eat something."

 One-hundred years and they still do not have it together. They have had one-hundred years to perfect health control, but people still die. It was in 2038 when World War III broke out. It was just like World War II, only much, much worse. The US government decided that obesity was a problem. They thought the best way to handle it was by killing everyone who was overweight. Then Britain joined in. They did not think it was right that America and its allies could kill all overweight people, they said it was not fair. Britain decided everyone who was underweight must die as well.

Nowhere was safe. Soldiers invaded every country, every state, every city, and every town. Buildings burned, entire states were destroyed, it was like turning back time and progress. The war was so unorganized, the people fighting did not even know what they were destroying, they just destroyed everything in their paths. That included almost all health records, nutrition guides, and medical research. People did not know what to do. There was mass destruction for two years, only two. They do not say how it ended, people only know that it did end and that a new policy was put in place. A policy where everything is controlled by the Great Rulers.

The world's population was decreased so much in World War III, that everyone on Earth fits in the United States. People are not allowed to leave the country. They have tried, and they were executed. It has been said that contraptions called “cars” and “planes” and “boats” and “trains” used to transport people to and from their destinations. People now do not have those things. If they must go somewhere, they must walk.

For a certain height, everyone must weigh a certain amount. There is a twenty pound range for what is healthy, but there is a ten pound leniency range on each end. It took fifty years for the Great Rulers to put the leniency range in place. They realized that some people were not built to weigh within the range, so they are now allowed to weigh ten pounds over, or under the original range.

There are weigh-ins, and there are levels depending on one's reliability. Level Ones are weighed once per week. Level Twos are weighed once every other week. Level Threes are weighed once per month. Finally, Level Fours are weighed once every other month. It takes years of maintaining one's weight to become a level four. Everyone must remove her clothes when being weighed, so that nothing interferes with accuracy. All weigh-ins are in the morning as well. The real weigh-ins start at eighteen years. A child's weight fluctuates so much due to growing, that it is hard to accurately determine how much a child should or should not weigh. Doctors mainly focus on the child's blood pressure and organ health.

When people get underweight, or overweight, they are given one month to get back to the range. If they are not successful, they are executed. This is a large part of the reason why everyone still fits in the United States.

Everyone must go to school. When teenagers reach sixteen years, they take a test that chooses their job, they call it Fate's 

Test. Their jobs are determined by their skills, so most people are quite content with their occupations. That is good considering how much everyone must worry about getting outside the weight range. People can change jobs if they desire, but they have to prove that they are capable of doing the job well.

I did very well in school. My favorite subject was mathematics. It is not corrupt like the other subjects. I did well, but I did not like what the instructors taught. All other subjects are just there to make students believe what the Great Rulers want them to believe. When I took my test at sixteen years, the results said I should be a mathematics instructor. I quite liked that idea, I could teach the beautiful children, but I did not have to fill their minds with lies.

One day my mind betrayed me. I had weighed the same amount for four years. I was twenty-two and I weighed 124 pounds. That is perfect for a person with a height of five feet, six inches, such as myself. I was a level three, and I went to the doctor's office for my weigh-in. When I stepped on the scale and saw the number 124 come up, as it had for four years, something changed. Suddenly, I was not allowed to weigh that much, but I became an actress in that moment.

I smiled at the doctor as he said, “well, Saraphina, your weight is perfect, as always, are you ready to go to level four?” I gave him a nod, and we planned my next appointment date. His name was Dr. Paxon, but he said that I could just call him Darius. We weren't supposed to call our doctors by their first names, but Darius seemed to take an interest in me. He also moved me up in levels more quickly than he was supposed to. The truth is, I took an interest in him as well, but that is not allowed because he was my doctor. When he was writing the date for my appointment, he was called to the main hall for an emergency. It didn't take me long to realize he stopped writing right before putting in the year. That was in 2140, and the appointment was supposed to be the same year, but I filled it in for him with the year 2160.

I decided I was no longer needed there. I passed Darius on my way out and said, “since everything is taken care of, I hope you don't mind that I leave.” I waved, and he gave me a simple nod in response.

I did not know what had come over me. I was not a liar before that day.

We were allowed to have scales in our homes to make sure we stayed on track. That made it easy for me to keep track of the weight I wanted to be at. I started losing weight rapidly. In a month, I lost fourteen pounds. My best friend, who was about my size, took notice by that time. I hid it very well at first, but I could only hide it for so long.

Brookelle and I had been close friends since we were children. We were not related, but we were born on the same day at the same hospital. I was born ten hours after she was. Our parents helped each other with names. She became Brookelle Faye Abernathy, and I became Saraphina Anala Zenith. She knew everything about me, and I knew everything about her.

When she saw that I looked sick and thin, she begged me to eat more. I promised I would. I ate in front of her but no more. A soon as I took a bite, the thoughts would begin. Weak, worthless, fat, unintelligent, hideous, that's all I was. The thoughts wouldn't stop. I started feeding on the feeling of hunger. Hunger was all I wanted because it made me feel successful. It made me feel thin. It has been said that there were others with that demon in their minds, but they were executed quickly. It did not matter if I died, as long as I died thin.

Brookelle got worried, really worried. She said that she would turn me in if it would save me. She knew, though, that it would not save me, turning me in would kill me. I told her that she should not worry, that it was only a phase. She was helpless. I heard her cry every night.

After about a month, I got a call; it was from Darius. He told me that he noticed an error in the date the appointment was originally set for, and that I was supposed to go in the next day. I had no choice. If someone does not show up to a weigh-in, she is removed from her home and taken to her doctor.

I dressed in many layers; I tried to make myself look bigger so no one would stop me on the way there. It had been two months since I started losing weight, and I knew very well that I was below the range. I had not lost as much weight as I could have because Brookelle was keeping an eye on me, but when I saw the look Darius had on his face as I undressed, I knew I looked thinner than I thought.

He lightly put his hand on my back, a signal to step on the scale in front of me. It read 102 pounds. Darius gasped and began pacing. I dressed myself and sat on the patient's table. “Alright,” he said after a long silence, “I am not going to report this, but I am going to watch you. You have two weeks to make an improvement in your weight. If that improvement is not made, I am going to have to step in.”

I understood, but it did not make sense. The Great Rulers would never see something like that coming. They assume that everyone follows the law perfectly. Doctors report what they need to, and with no remorse, eliminate those who do not fit in the range. They never would have guessed that a doctor would have feelings for a patient and try to protect her. This is why their “perfect system” is flawed. If they wanted to effectively keep track of people, there would be cameras in weigh rooms and the doctors would not be human. One-hundred years and they still do not have a system as terrible as this perfected.

Two weeks went by, and I continued restricting. I was not afraid of Darius, and I was no longer afraid of death. I went to my appointment as I had before. This time, when I stepped on the scale, the number read 94 pounds. I could not help but feel a sense of pride. The thoughts started again, this time reassuring me. “Good job, but you can do more. Do not let this doctor get in your way of success. Just a few more pounds.” That is what it said every time I stepped on the scale.

Darius was not pleased, in fact, I think I saw fear in his eyes when he looked back at me. He let out a sigh and left the room. It seemed like an eternity before he returned. “I just called Brookelle,” he said when he returned, “she is getting your belongings together; you are coming to stay with me.”

I was baffled. That was most definitely against the rules. If anyone found out, we would both be executed immediately. Doctors are not supposed to take this kind of liking to a patient. If a patient breaks the rules, the doctor’s job is to execute the patient, not protect her. He was protecting me, and he was breaking the law.

Darius had a plan. I was just staying so he could monitor my weight. He cared about me more than he should have, but he was a good man. He had been my doctor for four years. He was twenty and fresh out of school when I was eighteen. He was the youngest doctor in over one-hundred years. He took Fate's Test when he was fourteen and started medical school immediately. His knowledge was profound, so the Great Rulers wanted him to start his second schooling as soon as possible.

I met Darius in the park after he got off of work. He took me to his home, and that is where I stayed for a month. He and I became good friends. He was often frustrated with me because he cared, but I realized about a month after I started losing weight that I was not myself. I did try to get well, but the thoughts kept punishing me for it. As much as he tried, Darius was a doctor and had to work every day. That left me alone to not eat more than he had intended.

Darius kept Brookelle updated on my progress. I was only able to lose another ten pounds while I was with him. I was a mere 84 pounds. My skin became pale, cracked, and it bled from being so dry. My face looked like that of a skeleton. Really, my whole body looked like that of a skeleton. My hands, arms, legs, and chest were nothing but bone. The lightest touch bruised me. My stomach was practically non-existent, but my ribs were quite prominent. I was weak, but I could not stop. I was not thin enough yet. I was sick, and I was dying.

I was the closest thing Brookelle had to family. Both of our families were executed. They went out of the weight range. Brookelle was scared and did not want to lose me, too. I guess that was her reason for turning us in.

When the Great Rulers found out about what I had done and what Darius had been hiding, they were furious. Brookelle was truly trying to save me, and I do not blame her for that. The Great Rulers told her not to worry, that they would take care of us. Sometimes, Brookelle's optimism makes her naïve.

Darius and I were questioned. I was put in a hospital so I could gain back some weight and Brookelle could come see me. Darius was allowed to see me as well, but other doctors were working on me. The other doctors told Brookelle that there was little hope for my survival and that she would have to say goodbye, just in case I did not make it. She had always been so strong. She had always held herself together so well until she saw me. I was nothing but bone. Looking back on it, I realize how sick I truly was, but I could not see that then.

That night while I was sleeping, the doctors took Darius into the hall just outside my room. They beat him. Then they gave him a syringe. He whispered, “I am sorry,” as he injected the poison into my veins. I felt an excruciating pain that woke me up before I died.

When I no longer had a pulse, nurses took my body away. The doctors took Darius into a special room where they beat him. They beat him until he did not have a pulse either.

This is the Great Rulers' way of proving a point. I broke the law, and I had to pay the price. To me, the only thing that was proven was the fact that once that demon enters a person's mind, it is not possible to simply stop.

Author's Note

I apologize for formatting errors. Please, please let me know what you think of this. I am an aspiring author and I will take any input I can get! I will never ignore constructive criticism. Please read, rate, share, and get my story out there! Thank you for your support!

Reviews

[Patrick Henry]

At first I was put into this frame of mind that I had in my teens when trying to memorize "The Turner Diaries". Once the fat people in this story were talked about, I thought it was going to go in the direction of using their fat for rocket fuel or something, like Doc did on "Back to the Future" with that garbage/fuel maker thing!! lol This was probably the most interesting story I've read so far. : ) Every time I heard something in the story that would have a crazy impact, it was short and straight to the point with nothing backing up the emotions of that moment or feeling how the character was reacting to certain things happening. Maybe it was a details thing, I craved. You could write this story in half, and build these moments and characters up like crazy, and I think it would broaden your base as far as more people finding a connection to this story that is easier to relate to and have it build up to an ending that was unseen by the very first paragraph. I like it.... in case you couldn't tell!! lol -Mark

[PassionED]

Thank you so much for your review! I would love to build more on this story. This was originally a short story assignment for my advanced English 2 class, so with a deadline, I was not trying to make it really elaborate. Although, I have fallen in love with the story and would love to draw it out more if I have time. Thank you so much! Each review gives me a little more confidence, and your review has given me new inspiration. :)

[nissim]

You obviously know how to tell a story, so well done! My only advice to you is this: Read. The two things I would change about your story are word choice and the exact way it's written (small things, like flow. Very easy to fix over time.). The great thing about those being your problems is that you don't need to change them! All you have to do is read, and get a better sense of what great writing is like. It's the kind of thing that just comes over time; Maybe you want to continue writing one way, maybe your style changes entirely. You really know how to tell a story, so all you need to do now is hone your writing. You have your whole life ahead of you to do that, so good luck!

[PassionED]

Thank you so much for your input! This is the first short story I've written, it was an English assignment that I really enjoyed. Thank you again so much for your review!

[Rob Santana]

WOW! WOW!! WOW!!! This a materpiece!!! thsi reads like a movie script. This would be a original movie. Have you ever thought of putting this out or sending it to somebody in the movie industry? This is incredible,I love this!! Are you familiar with the band RUSH? If not look up the album RUSH 2112. Read the lyrics to the first side of the album which is a story 2112.Your story reminds me of that. I would really like your feedback after you read the 2112 lyrics. I will be adding this story to my library. Incredible write.

[Rob Santana]

oh one more thing,after you read the lyrics listen to the music. It really comes to life.

[PassionED]

Thank you so much for reviewing my story! I'll be sure to check out that music. I just wanted to say a quick thank you. It means a lot!