This Life

Introduction

This life is so limited. I am confined to my town, to my people, to my home. Although, it does not feel very homely. People are watching. In this life, people always watch. Behind every corner, every nook and cranny, nowhere is safe. You can never be alone. This life is a life not worth living.

My mother and father do not love me. They lock me in my room whenever I wander, when someone finds me attempting to climb the wall that separates me from the world beyond. They fear me escaping and finding out this world's secrets. This life is stupid. This life is dumb. I hate this life.

I question everything. Why can't I explore? What is beyond, and why can't I go there? Everyone follows our system. Everyone but me.

Chapter 1

My auburn hair, tied neatly into a plait, sways behind me as I walk. In the distance I hear birds chirping softly. Oh, how I yearn to be a bird. To have the ability to fly away from this miserable life, to live amongst the trees, to be free. Alas, I am captive in this cage, and I always will be, unless I find a way to break free. I continue to stroll down a cobblestone path that leads to the middle of the town, basket in hand. I greet others as I walk. They smile and wave, but all I see is a joyful facade that masks their misery. Why do people pretend? Why do they settle for this horrid way of living?

I knock sharply on the strong oak door that stands before me. A tall, slim woman with sunken eyes and a calm expression greets me. My mother. The woman I despise yet love the most in this life.

"I brought ingredients for supper mother," I mutter, and hold out the basket in which I wield. She looks at me and smiles before leading me inside.

"Have you been good, my dear child? I trust you haven't been wandering over the border again," she exclaims. I clench my hands into a tight fists and shake my head.

"Very good, very good. Your father will be home soon, so go get washed up."

I mutter a goodbye and fall dramatically onto my bed. A sigh leaves my lips as I imagine a life of freedom. My daydreams are quickly interrupted by a knock at the door and a turning of a knob. I trudge down the stairs and greet my father before sitting in my chair.

Another dinner of cold vegetables and slightly mouldy bread. In this life, food is disgusting and almost inedible, but it suffices. The silence is filled with utensils scraping on plates and the occasional cough or grunt. This life is extremely quiet. Too quiet.

Chapter 2

Another day commences, which consequently means another attempt of escape. My backpack, which is filled with all the essentials such as food, water, and a first aid kit, is slung onto my back as I scramble to unlock the door. Leaving without my parents knowing is the first obstacle.

I am out the door and into the town. The cool autumn breeze blows in my face. I shiver at the impact. I break into a run and reach the border of the town. A tall, concrete wall stands in front of me. I breathe in, and out, attempting to calm my nerves. I hide, and wait for the guard to turn away. I break into a sprint, and clutch at a nearby vine that grows over the wall. Now begins the climb. My arms are on fire as I continue up, up upwards, but I persevere. The top of the wall was in sight, I just need to put my leg up and-

"Hey! You there!"

A booming voice resonates, echoing around me. I shiver. Am I really going to get caught, again? I continue to climb as the guard makes his way toward me. I hook one leg over the top of the wall and make the descent downwards. I squeal in excitement. I did it! I escaped from this life that I hate so much! I am finally free!

Chapter 3

I stare off into the distance. Unlike the overgrown, beautiful forest that I am accustomed to, this land in front of me seemed deserted. I tilt my head in confusion. What is this empty, arid land? I start to walk north, attempting to uncover something, anything.

Minutes turn to hours. I am lost. Deserted in this foreign land. It seems that the life I had before was better than this. All I had wanted was to escape, to be free in a world with people who felt true emotions, a place where I could be free. A place filled with wonder and excitement, filled with architecture and greenery and beautiful places to explore like in the stories. This land in front of me was empty. It was filled with nothing but wide, open desert stretching as far as the eye can see. Tears begin to trickle slowly down my cheeks. All I have ever wanted did not exist. This life is so confusing.

I walk. I walk and walk for hours, dehydrated, hungry, and alone. There must be something. Anything. The town is like a speck of dust, so far away that it is almost invisible. If I go back, back to the life I used to live, would they let me in with open arms? Would they deem me an outcast, unable to enter? What happened to those who have seen the outside, and why did they ever hide this empty land in the first place?

If there was a reason to keep us all away from here, there must be something. Anything. And so I keep walking, even though my limbs cannot take it, even though I am filled with so much pain and suffering that I want to scream at the top of my lungs for the guards to drag me back to that old life.

Chapter 4

Before

The newly-wedded couple stared lovingly into each others eyes as flames roared and spread, destroying everything in its path. The husband hastily clutched their backpacks, and guided his pregnant wife out of their beautiful home. They ran, and kept running, not looking back to witness their supposed 'forever home' being destroyed by the deadly fire. They ran through the scorched streets as planes flew overhead. As people sprinted from their homes, as soldiers shot all in sight. The wife cried, tears blinding her vision, as she clutched at her pregnant stomach.

"Sweetheart, we're almost there! Don't give up now!" She cried, she wailed, she was in so much unimaginable pain. The couple persevered, making it out of their destroyed town. Once out of the sight of soldiers, with no threat near them, they wept in each others arms. The land before them was deserted, destroyed streets. Charred buildings lurched and creaked as the couple resumed their travels. They walked along, horrified at the destruction that the war had created. The husband retrieved a radiotelephone from his backpack, and called the line he had been receiving calls from for days.

"Hello? This is Anthony, yes. We're in the middle of some destroyed streets currently, how far away is your base? Copy."

"We're about ten kilometres north. Do you think you and your wife can walk here? Copy."

"Yes, We'll be fine. Over and out."

The husband clutched his wife's hands. "It's only two more hours, we can do this okay?" She nodded.

Chapter 5

Before

An hour passed, and the couple continued on their journey to the base. Safety was in sight; a structure could be seen in the horizon. The pair were getting weaker, but they knew they had to do this. For safety. For life. For their daughter.

"Who knew this life could turn into such tragedy?" The wife's lip quivered as she spoke. Sorrow and grief were all the emotions left within them. The war destroyed everything. Lives, homes, families. The hope of a safe life was in that base, where they could live the rest of their days free of worry.

"Darling, look! the base is right there!"

A tall structure of thick, concrete wall surrounded beautiful forest and greenery. Birds sung joyful tunes, and the sweet sound of children's laughter echoed all around. A guard stood at the entrance, waiting on the couple's arrival.

"Ah, you must be the Parkinson family. Welcome to our base." He spoke in a firm but kind voice, and lead the pair into the base.

"There are just a few rules we have in place, so please make sure to follow them," the guard continued.

"For the sake of our future generations, including your daughter, please refrain from talking about the events of the war, and try to suppress your grief. Always smile. Never frown.

"Secondly, you will never be allowed out of this base. Anyone who escapes and wishes to come back will be executed off site.

"Finally, you will be living in this house. It's newly built, so I am sure your family will love to spend your life here."

The couple shared a glance. This would be their new life. They would spent the rest of their days here, with their daughter, together as a family, with no worry in the world.

"Maybe this life won't be as bad as I thought," the wife said.

Chapter 6

"Hello? Is anyone out there?" I shout, yell, scream. My voice is hoarse, my feet are sore. Dry, deserted land has been all I have witnessed, and I am starting to lose hope. What would happen if I return? Is it truly too late to go back?

As much as I despise them for keeping so many secrets, I love my parents. Even though they fake a smile, hide their true feelings, and lock me up like a caged bird, I still love them. And I can't see them, ever again. I can't go back to that beautiful prison I once called home.

I curl into a ball. Dust covers my cheeks, sticking to the tears. I sob profusely. My supplies will eventually run out, and I will starve until I die a miserable death all alone.

A single car drives across the deserted land.

It's headed right towards me. Panic fills my body, and I immediately break out into a sprint. I have to get away. These people could be dangerous.

I run, body aching, gasping in breaths. My brown eyes, filled with tears. I cannot see. I cannot feel. I can only run.

"I hate this life! I hate it I hate it I hate it!" I scream and wail. I feel that this life, this horrible, petrifying, strange life is coming to an end. This life, with all of its sorrow and grief and beauty and joy, all of it ends here.

Bullets rain down, shots ring in my ears, yet I keep running. Why did I have to let curiosity get the best of me? Why couldn't I live my life, in the safety of that sanctuary, in my home. Curiosity leads to deadly consequences, I suppose.

Tears continue to fall, a violent river on my face. My mother. My father. Would they even miss me, would they notice my absence? I should have listened. I should have stayed. My parents, who had only locked me inside my room feared of me breaking free, into the real world. This world of bleak nothingness.

BANG.

I scream as I fall. Sprawled across the ground, blood pooling around my weak figure. A bullet wound in my back, one final blow from these people and this life will end.

My vision blurs. A tall figure stands above me, shadowing the harsh beams of the sun.

"Please, I don't want to go. I can live this life better, I promise, I'm sorry-"

BANG.

Everything goes black.

Chapter 7

Present

The couple sit in their living room. An eerie silence clouds the house. Their daughter had climbed the wall, ventured into the great unknown.

"We should have done more," the wife shakily whispers. "We should have done more to protect her, to warn her about what's out there. But it's too late." The husband clasps his wife's frail hands in his. Their family is broken once more. It is just the two of them, wife, husband, no daughter. Their daughter is dead.

The couple try to smile. They try to mask their pain. They try to follow the rules that are in place to protect everyone, yet their daughter was not protected.

This life took everything away from them.

They cried in each other's arms for the first time in years.