Send them away and kidnap new ones!

“You cannot be suggesting what I think you’re suggesting,” she asked while facing her counterpart sitting across the table from her. She was not a small woman but neither was he a small man. Both of them had more hills than valleys adorning their frames.

The other elders sat quietly at the naked circular oak table, staring at their well-worked and dirty hands. The barn, which served as their daily convening location, offered little warmth and this discussion had continued deep into the night hours. None of the members dared ask for a recess to gather additional animal hides. Instead, they sat quietly to conserve body heat.

“Think about it rationally, Margret. The kids are getting older, their bodies are developing, their minds are going to tell them to do things that we have warned them against. They will not continue to listen to us for long.” He put both hands on the table, ready to stand up, when necessary, to further accentuate his point. 

Margret met his stance, “You are asking me, and everyone sitting around this table, to approve a plan that would send away a chunk of our population. Not just any chunk, but our young people. You want them to leave, on their own, without any parental figure or family member. Do you really think if they are having dirty thoughts here, they won’t have dirty thoughts out there?” She slammed her hand on the table and watched for a rebuttal.

“I don’t care what they do out there.” He muttered under his breath while leaning back in his simply-made wooden chair. 

She stood up slowly, annunciating every word, “What did you just say?” She ensured that her tall, round frame towered over her fellow elders. The original members of the colony. An even break up of males and females, all well in their older years.

Daniel stood and bent over the table to meet Margret eye to eye, “I said, I do not care what they do out there. And neither should you.” He threw his arms to his sides as he shot up and gestured to the other members, only now realizing they were also present, “and neither should any of you. Our responsibility. Our duty is to our people.” He sat back down and crossed his arms, a common gesture that indicated a decision had been made. 

Margret, not one to typically continue a discussion once a decision had been reached, was unable to let this pass. There were many things she had not agreed with in the past, but none that drew her to such an act of rebellion. “How are they not our people?”

Margret quietly sat down. Each member now watching for Daniel’s reaction. As the newly elected head of the colony, he was able to consult the other elders on any topic or decision. But ultimately, it was always his decision to make. 

Without uncrossing his arms, Daniel announced, “As always, I thank everyone for their input and guidance. I will be making my final decision tomorrow evening. Please ensure that you are here promptly after the sun sets. Thank you and goodnight.” He put his hands on his knees dramatically, hoisted himself into a standing position and walked out of the barn. 

Margret watched each person slowly follow suit. Anthony, the leader before Daniel, came to stand behind Margret once everyone else exited. “I know it’s hard to make sense of it,” Anthony started. 

Margret turned to face him, “If this came up last year, would you have made the same choice?” 

Anthony put one hand on the back on Margret’s chair, “It’s a difficult call to make. Last year we discussed it more times than I ever wanted. Unfortunately, this seems to be our best option.”

Margret dropped her head, “I know this has come up before. I was in those discussions. But how have we not come up with a better solution than tossing our youth out and kidnapping new ones?” Her eyes started watering as she thought about her daughters and grandchildren. She couldn’t imagine having to give any of them up. If Daniel’s decision stood, she would likely lose more than one grandchild. 

Anthony moved the chair next to Margret and sat down, “Can you think of a better one?” 

Margret put her head in her hands and started to sob out of frustration. She then starting giggling, “Castration?” 

Anthony put a hand on her back as she continued to cry and laugh. “We need to ensure that our population survives and evolves. We cannot do that through inbreeding. Every year we get one chain closer. A child with major deformities will be unable to survive these conditions. They will be unable to work the land. They will become a burden on our entire system. We need to bring in new blood.”

Margret ran her nose across her sleeve, “But why do we have to let the young ones go?”

“Margret, you are one of the wisest elders we have. I don’t have to explain resource constraints to you.” 

“It just doesn’t make sense to me. If we are trying to grow as a society, what good would it do to have people leave? We could continue to expand into the wilderness, grow more crows, raise more animals.” 

Anthony looked up at the ceiling as he stroked his long, wiry, white beard. “I think we might be able to add an amendment.”

Margret ran her other sleeve over her eyes and waited for more information. 

Still running his hand over his beard Anthony continued, “What if we include an exception. Something that allows the youth to return if they find a suitable parter outside the colony. They are able to return with the partner and a new farm animal. That way we can continue to crossbred the animals and ensure that fresh genes get put into our society.” 

Margret wanted to laugh again, but the seriousness in Anthony’s eyes told her she should honestly consider this as an option. She hated the thought of losing any of the kids, but knowing they could return was a positive spin. “I worry they won’t survive the world out there. There is a reason we left it.” 

“They are young and tough. They will fall into trouble, I am sure. But they will fend and learn. They will be happy to find a companion and return home as quickly as possible.” 

Margret was still not convinced but Anthony helped ease her qualms slightly. 

He finally added, “We didn’t hate everything about the outside world, that’s why we mimicked parts of it. We just made it much simpler. Our government, although ruled by one, is ruled by an elected official who is switched out every year to ensure no one has too much power for too long.” Putting his hand on Margret’s shoulder, he continued, “They will be perfect citizens out there. And once they see that it does them no good, they will find a suitable partner and return.” 

Margret smiled and added, “We might not even need to kidnap new members to replace our youth. Maybe it will become a rite of passage? At the age of 16, you re-enter into the society we long ago left to find and return with an adequate mate.”

“And farm animal,” added Anthony.

“Let’s go find Daniel.” Margret stated while standing up and motioning Anthony to follow her out of the barn.