Isolation

“But Mom,” Christina complained, “Why can’t I go outside!” Her mother looked her up and down, frustrated and shaken from the morning's events. “Sweetie,” her mother replied, “You know it’s still light out. We can’t have you getting sick again.” 

“Again?” Christina asked wonderingly, “What do you mean again?” Her mother sighed. They had been over this many times before and yet Christina never seemed to remember. 

“When you were a baby, only one year old, we took you out into the sun for the first time. You immediately broke out in hives and started sneezing all over me. My heart broke when I realized what this meant for you.” Christina snuggled closer to her mom in the big brown chair in the corner of the tiny room. The room almost seemed to get darker in anticipation of the end of the story. 

“From then on, you’ve had to stay in this room. The windows boarded up and only coming out on the cloudest of nights when the moon is covered. Either that or bundling up in clothes that cover every inch of your skin. I know that it’s hard, Chrissy. I wish I could take it away from you but I can’t.”

“Now it’s time for bed.” Christina slowly climbed out of her mother’s lap and carefully arranged the covers. Then she climbed into bed and lay down. “Goodnight mommy,” she whispered. Her mom slowly walked to the door and turned out the lights. “Goodnight,” she said and walked out of the room. 

Christina listened to the thump of her mother’s feet as they retreated down the stairs. As soon as she could hear them no longer, Christina jumped out of bed, walking as to not make a sound. She slowly tiptoed to the window and moved aside the dull white curtain. She flinched as if expecting the sun to flood the dusty gray room with blinding light. Of course, though nothing changed. 

The walls of her room were the color of mahogany but looked black in the darkness of the ever suppressing room. Any other 10-year-olds room would be covered with pictures, clothes, and other things that showed their identity, but not this room. This room was bare to the bone. 

Christina stared out the window with longing, wishing she could tear apart the wood slits that covered her window from the frosty moon she had only seen in pictures. Oh, how she wished to see the light, not just the clouds that blocked the sky. 

In looks, Christina was very average-looking. She had curly blond hair that reached her shoulders, pale white skin, and was normal weight. 

But she wasn’t the same as the other kids, she had lived in isolation her whole life, never seen another person but her mom. 

Her thoughts wandered to the earlier events of the day. Looking back Christina was shocked at what she had done. Had she really tried to escape?! She remembered as clear as day but didn’t want to admit it to herself. The memories came anyway. 

She saw herself telling her mom she was getting a drink and dashing out the door. For that one quick moment, she saw the sun. It was big and bright and warm. The pictures couldn’t even begin to describe what it was like. It was like a big giant ball of fire reaching out to hug her tight and keep her safe. 

That one moment didn’t last long though. Her mother came running after her and threw herself in front of Christina. The shadow of her outstretched body covered Christina completely. 

Christina remembered her mother’s condescending tone and her pitying look. Just thinking about it made her cry. The strange thing though, was that when she was out in the sun, she hadn’t felt anything different than what she felt now. She felt tired. “I should probably get to bed now,” she thought out loud.

When she woke up the next morning, Christina was surprised to see light streaming through the thin cracks in her window. As what was going on dawned on her she bolted up. She had fallen asleep next to the window!

Now she was hyperventilating. Her heart was going at least three times faster than normal. “What did mom always say,” Christina whispered, panting, “She said that you always have to stay away from the window in the morning because the light sometimes gets through.” Her voice became louder and more panicked, “No, no! I’m going to dieeee. What do I do, what do I DO!”

Christina’s mom ran as soon as she heard shouting. What awaited her was her worst nightmare. Christina was sprawled out on the floor sobbing while the curtains of the window were wide open and the sunlight was streaming in. 

“Sweetie,” she cried, “Oh, no what have you done!” She ran over to the window and closed the curtains. Then she turned toward her daughter. “What were you thinking! You could have died!” She was quiet, waiting for a response from her daughter. But it never came. 

Tears were streaming down Christina’s face. She wouldn’t even look at her mother. She couldn’t. She was embarrassed, scared, and apprehensive. She felt like anything she said would make the situation a lot worse. 

Her mother’s face softened. “Oh sweetie,” she said, “I shouldn’t have judged you so quickly. I understand that you’re curious. I would be if I were you.” She laughed nervously, “I love you. I just want to keep you safe from whatever is going to hurt you. And…” She hesitated. “It’s the sun. This never gets any easier you know.” 

Christina watched as her mother left. What did she mean when she said it never gets any easier. Did she mean her? 

Christina decided to find out. She followed her mother down the stairs. Her mother turned the corner and left Christina’s field of vision. She turned the corner too only to find that there was no one there. She shook her head back and forth to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. Still nothing. 

“Mom.” she called, “Mom! MOM! MOM!!” No matter where she looked in their tiny house, her mom wasn’t there. 

After 10 minutes of searching, she finally gave up. She leaned against the wall, and suddenly she was falling backward! Christina screamed as she fell. Suddenly she stopped. She was suspended in the air a few feet above the ground. She was in some sort of tunnel. It was metallic silver and gleamed in the soft lights built into it. She looked up but could not see how high it went. 

“Scanning fingerprint,” a mechanical voice said from right in front of her. She felt a sharp prick on her finger and started screaming again. She was interrupted though by the voice. “Christina Govez. Welcome to GovezCorps.” 

Now Christina was really confused. Her family didn’t own a company. But then, what was this? She was slowly lowered to the floor by the invisible force and the wall in front of her was beginning to come up. What she saw took her breath away. 

It was a big dome, gleaming with every color of the rainbow. There were rows and rows of plants of all shapes and sizes, each one labeled with a name that she did not recognize. 

But the most beautiful thing of all was the people. There were actually real-life people! Christina could not believe it! 

Unable to keep her excitement to herself she started singing and dancing! But then, she remembered she was allergic to the sun. She ran as fast as she could to a table and dove underneath it, looking for a way back to the entrance. There! There was the way! The door was opening and out walked. . . . .her mother? 

Her mother was walking with purpose, she obviously knew her way around here. Had she been here before? Despite the fact that the sun was still shining, Christina ran out. “Mom!,” she called, “Mom!” Her mom turned around and when she saw Christina, she turned as white as a ghost. Christina threw herself into her mother’s arms and hugged her tight. “Mom I don’t understand. What’s happening?” Then she became louder and more confident. 

“Why is this huge place in our house? Do you work here? Did you lie to me? Why have you never shown me these people? Why mom, why!” She asked her last question so quietly that her mom barely heard her, “Am I really allergic to the sun?” 

To her surprise, Christina’s mother started to cry. “I’m so sorry sweetie. I . . I should have told you sooner. I was just so worried that you wouldn’t be safe, that you . . you might hate me.” She noticed Christina was about to ask a question started talking even faster and with more confidence. 

“I wanted you to be safe. I thought that if I kept you in the house and told you you had a sun allergy you would stay with me and you would be mine. I thought I could keep you safe on my own. I did everything I did for you, sweetie. No . . . you don’t have a sun allergy. All this time I thought I was helping you but I was actually making things so much worse. You were all alone! You couldn’t go outside! You couldn’t meet real people! All because of me. I’m . . . so sorry!” 

Christina had no idea what to say to that but she knew she had to say something, “What were you trying to keep me safe from,” she asked in the gentlest tone she could muster. 

Her mother took a while to respond but when she did she said, “I wanted to keep you safe from them.” Christina was getting impatient, “WHO’S THEM!” But she didn’t need to ask. At that moment two masked figures rushed into the room carrying knives. One of them slashed at Christina’s mom but she ducked, grabbed the knife, and knocked the man out with the flat of the blade. 

Three more masked men ran in and quickly subdued her with a flurry of kicks and punches. They hadn’t yet spotted Christina. She was safe, for now. She tried to run out to save her mom but it was hopeless. The men just brushed her aside like she was nothing. By then, her mom was being carried out of the room, barely conscious. 

As she was carried out she whispered, “Go back to your room Christina. Don’t let them know who you are. I’ll be back soon. I love you!”

Christina stood there for a few seconds in shock. Then she ran as quickly as she could to the entrance, two men trailing behind her. She made it to the tube and shouted at the robot monitor, “Take me to my house.” “Yes Christina Govez,” the voice replied. Christina was suddenly lifted up and shot up through the tube. 

When she opened her eyes again. She was on the floor of her bedroom. Everything that had happened in the last twenty-four hours felt like a dream to her. What would she do? She decided to take her mother's advice and stay home. As she lay down in bed that night, the world became dark as the sun went down upon the little house full of secrets.