Inside the Shadows

I live in a society where I shouldn’t exist, I’m illegal, and if I’m found I would be killed and my parents would be executed or fined for 100 million dollars, a thousand times less than mom and dad would make in a year. Literally. I live in a small town in a little house with my parents and older sister. Just 17 years ago the government passed a law that made second children illegal. Mother was pregnant with me when the law got passed, so I was forbidden. The government told her to abort me but Ma wouldn’t. She gave birth to me in secret and I have been in the house ever since. I have never been outside and haven’t seen anyone other than my family. My own grandmother doesn’t even know I exist. When I was younger I would ask my mother why I needed to be hidden and she replied, “The government says that if second children were allowed all the food in the world would run out, they also say that there is no point of having second children.” I widened my eyes. “Is that true mommy?” “Of course not honey.” She looked at me with her tired eyes and I knew then and there, I shouldn’t ask any questions. Every day, all day I have to hide in the basement while my parents go to work and my sister goes to school. There's nothing but a washing machine and a closet with a secret door I sleep in. I’ve always wanted to go to school but my mother home schooled me, back when she didn’t work. She works now, so she doesn’t have time to teach me. I only know how to read and write. “Bye Mabel.” my mother said. “Remember-” “Don’t make a noise and don’t turn on any lights. I know.” I finished. “Dat’s ma gurl,” Dad said, winking. Ma, Daddy, and Mia headed out. I’m sitting on the basement stairs as they leave. I’m not allowed to go past the stairs because people outside could see me. Ma says that if we had the curtains covering the windows that it would be suspicious, especially since the town we live in is always steaming, so I always just stay in the basement. I never have anything to do so I just look out the air vent. There’s a family who lives next door, the Dalton’s, and the girl is around Mia’s age and she’s always playing with her. I stay next to the air vent and lookout. Suddenly, I see a hand wrapped around the Dalton's back door. It surprises me so much I fall over and land on the cold, wood floor with a huge bang. I don’t even bother to see if anyone heard. I looked back but didn’t see anything. Throughout the whole day, I just stayed in the basement looking out the air vent, hoping I could see another human other than the Dalton’s, but I didn’t. I was silent during dinner as I sat barely eating. “What wrong, hunny?” Daddy asked. “Nothing,” I whispered. I was supposed to whisper. Suddenly, Ma burst in, I could tell something was wrong. “One of those nosy Calliope’s heard a big thump when none of us were here!” she yelled at daddy. Then she turned her attention towards me. “That means you made the noise! What happened?!” she narrowed her eyes at me. “Whoa, Ma. Calm down. Don’t be hollerin’ like that to Mabel. The government’s always lisenin’,” he turned his attention towards me. “Now, what happened, Mabel?” “We-well, I fell. Accidentally.” I said quickly, still whispering. “No falling!” Ma shrieked again. “What!” I whispered yelled. “I have so many rules placed on me, and now I can’t even fall? I mean, it’s natural!” I told them. “At least you’re still livin’,” said Daddy. “But if ya fall, ya won’t be anymore, sweetie pie.” He wasn’t mad anymore, but Ma still was. “Well, I’m sorry I exist!” I said, a little more loudly than I should have, but after catching Ma’s glare I whispered again. “I honestly wished I were never born.” I quietly walked downstairs, cursing for not being able to stomp out my anger down the stairs. Mia made a side remark and Ma went to her room. Daddy just went outside and smoked his pipe. Two days later I saw a light turn on upstairs of the Daltons home and a month later I saw a glow from a TV screen downstairs after all the members of the family had gone, so I knew there was another person. One day when daddy and Ma were in town and Mia was in school, there was a knock at the front door. Instantly I went into the non-existent mode. I put away my mattress, pillow, and blanket to make them look like extras, and hid in the secret door which is only to be used for emergencies. I did this all in five seconds and hid as quietly as I could. I stayed in the back behind the coats and jackets. I could hear the door open and close quickly. "Hello?" It's a boy. "Hello?" He whispered. Something about this was wrong. "I know you're home. I saw you. It's okay. I'm a second child, too." My gasp gave away my hiding spot. He tiptoed downstairs. 'I didn't know that there were other children like me.' I thought. 'I thought I was the only one.' He opened the door and looked down at me. "Hi," he smiled and held out his hand. "I'm Julian Dalton. 17. Your name?" He helped me get up and I said: "I'm Mabel and I'm 16. Why are you in my house?" "Well, I saw you and I wanted to meet you. By the way, I love your name." He blushed and quickly looked down. I didn't know how to act either. "I've never seen anyone other than my own family so I'm a little nervous." I said. "Me, too." His eyes danced. From that day on, he snuck to my house and we hung out. "If my parents knew that I was here they would kill me." Julian said. "Me too." My parents had put some snacks so I wouldn't get hungry during the day, so Julian and I shared them. They were mostly Oreos, PopTarts, Sour Patch Kids, and Nut Thins. Somedays my parents would come early and Julian would have to hide in the back closet until everyone went to sleep. One day Julian came in with a laptop in his hands. "Mabel, guess what! I found out on my sister's computer that there are other second children! There is a secret website with a secret password where second children meet!" At first, I was reluctant because this might be a way that the Government might catch us, but when Julian messaged a second child named Scarlett and she answered I relaxed. 

julian'n'mabel< hello. how ru?

scarlettmatters< yo. im good. ive been messaging a lot of 2nd kids n we've been sayin that we shuld do somthin cuz im tired of living in the cupboard. 

julian'n'mabel<u live in a cupboard!? like harry potter? and yea im tired of living in my basement.

scarlettmatters< so far i have gathered 8000+ people and some of them are even 3rd or 4th children. there is one super-rich family and they have 9 kids! r yall siblings?

julian'n'mabel<wow! 9 kids? no, we aren't siblings, we're just friends who live next door. 

scarlettmatters<here is what we r going 2 do. someone has a dad who works for the president and he knows all his dirty secrets so what we r gonna do is blackmail the president and while he is doing that others hack into websites and leak private info on the president while the rest protest in front of the town square.

julian'n'mabel< ok. i can hack and either way it's 8 hours away in the town square so we won't b able 2 come.

scarlettmatters< cool thx i need 2 go ttyl. btw it starts 2day at 5.

"You can hack?" I asked impressed. "Uh, yeah." He scratched the back of his head. "Cool." I quickly looked down. He changed the subject. "Five is in half an hour. I better get to work." He started typing and it became silent. I watched him hack and leak a mild secret of the president. We gaped after Scarlett gave us the secret. His daughter was actually his 4th daughter! The rest of the story wasn't there. "WHAT! He is such a hypocrite!" I yelled, then clamped my mouth shut and checked if anybody heard. Nobody had. Julian leaked it and we turned the radio up to see if there was any news. There was! "Welcome to the Insider News." said a man. "The president is being pressured by the second child project non-supporters. He is being blackmailed and is almost caving in. There was a march supporting second children and they are winning. Just wait, folks for more news on this." There was a pause then he continued. "There has been shooting into the protesters and five children are killed, two are injured." A few seconds later. "I'm back for the Insider News and......" I tensed. "SECOND CHILDREN ARE FREE!!!" He yelled. That took a while to register in my brain. After that, we could barely hear what the newscaster said. "The president did not want his darkest secret to being leaked to the public so he caved! What could his secret possibly be!?" Julian and I stood up and jumped around and made a mess with the snacks. "We're free! Oh we're free! Whooohooooo!" We were still cheering two hours later when my parents came home. Ma looked like she was about to faint. "WHAT IS THAT BOY DOING HERE!? WHY ARE YOU SHOUTING!? DO YOU WANT TO GET KILLED!?" she shrieked. "MOM! WE ARE FREE!" This time she actually fainted. "Dad we are going out!" I yelled still so happy. Julain and I rushed out without shoes. We stepped out into the sun and interlocked hands. "What should we do?" Julian asked, smiling.