The 100 Hour Day

Imagine living in a society in which turning eighteen meant you had to spend a day that lasts a hundred hours. A day full of trials and challenges to find out if you’re strong enough to help build society up.

My name’s Mia Long, and today is my eighteenth birthday, meaning that today I have to go through my hundred hours day.

My live in a colony, on Mars, and in order to prove we’re gonna help the growth of the Mars populace, 687 children are taken a year and are trained. The children are sent to the dead planet of Earth upon their eighteenth birthday to spend a hundred days within the Sim 8.0.

Since Earth days only last 24 hours, we spend four Earthen days and four hours. Which works out well since Mars is approximately the same day time.

I sit in my bed waiting for the clock to strike eleven, that’s when Den Mother comes in to get me. “It’s time Mia,” she whispers. Technically speaking it’s an hour before my birthday, but it takes about an hour to prepare the eighteens to go to Earth. When I arrive there four other people will be there. Depending on how their times been might depend on sheared or not I survive them.

I finally gather the confidence to get up and followed Den Mother to the tubes that will take me to Earth. Before I go, Den Mother and three other people get me prepared.

First I have to pick a bag, there’s three different colors, all primary. Red, blue, and yellow. I don’t know what each means but they clearly have some meaning. I grab the yellow one, the bright color draws me in.

Second the have me pick a large pack, all in secondary colors. Purple, orange, and green. I automatically pick the green one.

The fourth step is picking an outfit. There are five units of clothing. A shirt, which I picked a fitting white crop top. A bottom, thick black jeans. A pair of shoes, brown combat boots. A jacket, a camouflage bomber. Then finally a hat, I decide to take a black beanie.

The final step is for my to pick a weapon. I don’t even give it a thought I immediately pick up the bow and arrows.

Once I’m fully ready the three people bid at Den Mother and she starts to tell me whats gonna happen, “Mia, as of a few months ago the simulator was broken, instead we have used the planet Earth’s overclouded atmosphere to represent the day. At a ninety nine and a half hours, you will get a ring on you chip. You then have thirty minutes to make it to a clear area and get on your transport back. If you don’t make it you counted as dead, and the society will not need a broken leg.”

A chilling feeling climbed through my body, all I could do in response was nod. I was then locked in the tubes and sent down to Earth, the way I was actually sent was very hazy, but the tube isn’t what really took me.

When I finally woke up I was in a forrest, and I clearly couldn’t spend the next... I checked my wrist and the chip Den Mother told me about was seeable through my skin. It showed how many hours left, clearly this was going to be a lot harder than I thought, because my thing said ninety nine hours and fourth five minutes.

Ok, no time for stressing my hundred hour day is only fifteen minutes through, but looking around it was completely bright everywhere a tree wasn’t covering, meaning almost no where.

“Ok, let’s check my packs,” I tell myself with a low whisper.

In my yellow bag was a pack of ten rations, a yellow pointy fruit that had to of originate, a bundle of long curved fruits, a yellow pocket knife, a yellow bowl, a pack of matches, a journal, with a yellow pencil, and a metal water bottle in yellow. Clearly yellow was the color of creativity colony.

In my green pack was a green one person tent, a green sleeping bag, a green pillow, a green blanket, a nature book, a pack of fast growing seeds, a bundle of extra arrows, a grappling hook, and a set of throwing stars. Green is the color of wealth.

So when I got back I would be a wealthy artist, so a singer, actress, or fashion designer. A smirk crawled on my lips, I had to make it back.

I repack my stuff and start following the sound of water. It‘s surprisingly easier then it should be, but I guess that’s due to the lack of life in this area. All around I smell the slight smell of ash and decay, despite it being centuries since humans inhabited this planet.

I found a large river, and check the time stamp on chip, it’s only been two hours. Time clearly doesn’t want to help me pass.

I shake off that feeling, I need a raft to travel along the river to find the ocean. Unhelpfully none of the stuff in my survival kits help with rafts.

I keep sitting and standing and planning on how I can possibly get a raft. I take out the blanket and start cutting it into long strips. Then I take my grappling hook, but rather than using it to climb I use it for finding branches to bunch together to make a raft.

By the time my raft is secure enough to float on the water, it’s only been three and a half hours. Leaving about 94 hours and 15 minutes left in my day.

I repack the rest of my blanket, the knife, and the grappling hook, then I travel along the river hoping to find the ocean, and have the propel me to a different spot of land.

About three hours into drifting along the river, I eat one of my rations, still unsure about the yellow fruits. Four hours later I doze off.

When I wake up it’s been a solid eight hours and fifteen minutes. Leaving about 79 hours in my day.

When I finally gather my brain together I realize that I have successfully made it to the ocean, or hopefully I have. I dip my finger into the far too warm water and it’s salty and bitter.

I look around no land as far as the eye can see, but by the look of the clouds above me not good weather either. “Ok, the tents too weak for me to stand and build my tent, but it’s big enough to fit my tent.”

Getting drench doesn’t sound like the best plan, so I get on my knees and start building my tent. I go at a slow rate which pulls my tent making into a multi task. By the time I’m safely inside my tent which both my packs and my bow and arrows, I have 76 hours left in this never ending day.

Despite already sleeping for eight hours, the soft pitter patter of the water instantly makes me set up my sleeping bag and pillow and fall into yet another deep sleep.

Suddenly I’m awake my the tossing turning of my raft, “What do you do, Mia?“ I ask myself as fear wells in my chest. I can’t find the confide to check my chip again.

Suddenly the storm gets harsher, and the raft is over turned I grab my both my packs, and my bow luckily hook to my foot despite my knowledge. I use the knife that I had been keeping at my side to cut a hole into tent. I frantically swim to the surface of the uncomfortably warm water. I continually swim for hours on end. My bags and bow hold me down.

Tears trickled down my face I couldn’t hold up my body anymore. I needed foot, fresh water, and sleep. Suddenly the blue grey fin pops out of the water.

Hopelessness turns into fear, a shark, if there’s anything I learned about in school, it’s sharks.

I swim as frantically away from the fin as possible, but suddenly a group of them appear and these none scary animals show up. One appears under me I hold it’s fin as it starts to swim. It stays above the water. I remember dozing off. When I finally open my eyes again my body is lying half in water half on land. Low tide, it was probably high tide when the dolphin dropped me off. I check both my bags and my bow. I have no tent, no blanket, no pillow, and no sleeping bag, and I also lost my yellow knife and my ration packets. Leaving me with only my yellow fruits. I open my canteen of water and taste it, luckily it still managed to stay fresh.

I check my chip 58 hours left. Ok I’m clearly on a beach, lots of abandoned apartments and glass houses are near by. I pick up up my two semi dry bags. I haven’t run into any other eighteens but my now two new ones are here and if the others are lucky two made it off.

I start heading toward the buildings and as I’m walking off the beach I find a sign, “Malibu?” Den Mother never taught us about this place, probably means I’m either in America or Asia. Those are the two places we never learned about. For the rest of the time I sit on the beach in Malibu. Finally my transport arrives and I’m safely taken back to Mars. That was by far the longest day of my life. The hundred hour day.