The Theto Region

The TV blares in the other room, "Our new president Ella Lewis has now made her first decree as president. She has put forth the decision to divide everyone into the United States into their categories based on the personality test that has now been shipped to your house. Please open the box and return to the TV." I get up and walk over to the TV to see my parents with the box in front of them.

"Sweetie come here. We need to take the personality test." I walk over to my mom. She hands me a pill. I stare at her and she says, "You have to swallow it." I grab a glass of water and I can feel it as it goes down my throat. In my ear, I hear an almost mechanical voice saying something. I listen to in, "Theto Region - Population: 6 - you are in this region because you are 13, dark-haired, light-skinned, likes animals, artsy, and confident. We are looking forward to your arrival."

"Mom, what region are you in?" "Sweetie me and your father are in the Balstic region because we are so similar. We are going to be with 39 other people in our region! Which one did you get, sweetie?"

"I got the Theto Region!" I look up at my mom as I start to speak, "When are we going to our regions?" My mom looks down to answer, "We are getting picked up by our region leader in an hour. I need you to pack up everything that you want to bring with you. They said that we aren't coming back if we forget anything so make sure you take everything you need."

I run up the stair to my room as I begin packing. I grab my drawing and painting stuff, my sketchbook, my books, clothes, toothbrush and toothpaste, and some photos. I also grab some random things on my desk. I pack all my stuff in my backpack and suitcase and throw on some pants and my giant painting hoodie.

I go downstairs to see that my parents had already packed up their stuff and were sitting on the porch. They saw me and called me over to them. My mom looks down at me and kissed my forehead, "I love you. You are going to do so well in your region. We are so proud that you who you want to be. We might not see you after we all go our separate ways. So I wanted to tell you that you are the most incredible thing in my life. Well, along with your father." She stood back up with him and they kissed. I embraced them both.

Half an hour later a bus with 5 people in it pulled up in front of our house. Someone yells from the back of the bus, "Okay, Rose and Mathew Phelon?" My mother and father walk towards the truck. I run over and hug them, "I love you, bye Mom, bye Dad." "We love you too sweetie." I watch them get in the back of the truck and wave to me as the truck drives away.

I sit on the porch for another half hour when a pickup truck with a boy in the front and 4 other kids in the back. The boy in the front of the truck had short, jet black hair with a bright blue streak in the front. He was very skinny and tall and he had a bull piercing in his nose. He looked about 13 or 14. I stare up at him. He yells down from the front of the truck, "Your Mia Phelon right?" "Yes." "Get in the back of the truck!"

I hop in the back of the truck. A girl with dark brown hair that fades into purple and light skin helps me with my stuff. She has a willowy structure and smiles at me when I jump in with my backpack. I realize that she has a tiny sugar glider in her jacket pocket.

Everyone else in the truck has dark hair and light skin like me. The boy next to her is very muscular and big with a buzz cut. He leans in a relaxed pose up against the edge of the truck back. There is a skinny girl with wild black curls going everywhere. She is sketching franticly in a sketchbook. Next to her is a boy with a bun in his hair. He has his ear pierced and is holding his guitar in his lap.

I settle down and the truck begins driving again. The girl who helped me into the truck shakes my hand, "Hi my name is Violet nice to meet you. I think we should all introduce ourselves so I went ahead and went first. Who wants to go next?" The boy with the buzz cut raises his hand, "I'll go. My name is Max." The girl next to him doesn't look down from her drawing, "My name is Livi." Then the boy next to her, "Hi I'm Zeke." "Hi I'm Mia and it is nice to meet you."

I am jolted to the side as the truck bounces onto a dirt road. Livi's pencil drags across her paper and she grunts in disgust as it ruins her drawing. She crumples it up and throws it across the truck bed. I reach for it and uncrumple it in my lap. She had drawn me with my head turned facing a beautiful bird. My hair flowing in the wind. It looks amazing! I fold it up and stick it in my pocket and look at the trees that are almost flying by us.

The truck drives into a giant field with flowers, a giant barn, an outdoor art studio, a courtyard, and a few buildings. The truck stops and the kid driving jumps out. "I'm your region leader Noah. You are in the Theto region territory. Since there are only 6 of us in this category we get the territory that used to be a summer camp. Let's have a tour!" We all jump out of the truck, "You can leave your stuff in the truck. We will come back and get it later." 

He walks over to the outdoor studio. "This is our outdoor studio. We can paint and draw out here." He points to the courtyard. "That is the courtyard where we do concerts and such." We walk over to the barn. "This is the animal barn and the horse stable is in the back." I see Violet grin. We walk over to the buildings and he points to a group of cottages. "These are the houses that we live in." Noah points to another. "This is the cafeteria and Supplies buildings." He points to the last group, "And these are the ones we get to make our own. But first!" He turns around to face us. "We are here to do something special." 

We walk back to one of the buildings that were behind the supplies cabin. Noah ushers us inside. "We have been chosen to test out a new experiment. We are each going to be injected with a special ability." A zap of lightning appears in his hand. "This is mine." Noah points to all of us and gives us a syringe. "Violet, you attract animals and they all trust you immediately. Max, you can make things appear and disappear including yourself. Livi, you can selectively read minds and telepathy. Zeke, you can teleport any distance. Finally, Mia, you can fly and hover to any height without getting tired."

My jaw drops as I stare at him. "What!" "Just insert the needle." I stick the needle in my arm and I immediately begin to float. "Ah!" Max disappears and Zeke teleported all around the room. 3 squirrels and a rabbit all rushed inside to Violets' side. Livi crouched down with her hands over her ears and then stood up fine. I hear her voice in my ears, "Hello?" "Hi, Livi! This is so cool!" "Yeah." "HEY EVERYONE STOP!" We hear Nah yell and then all of the animals run out of the room. Max flickers back into sight. Zeke stopped moving and I drop to the floor with a thud. "Ow..."

"Everyone get your stuff and go to your cabins. You may use your powers in there." I walk back to the truck. After I get my stuff I walk towards the cabins. There was a label on the first one that said: ZEKE. The third one back said: MIA. 

I walked in. My cabin had my drum set in the corner and a small kitchen on the other side. There were a table and chairs in front of the kitchen and next to the drum set was a TV, couch, and some stairs up to the second floor. I set my stuff down next to the couch and go upstairs. The top floor has a bathroom and a giant bedroom. I walk into the bedroom and there was a bed, a desk with a drawing tablet, and a balcony facing the front yard. In the front yard, there was so much green grass. In the backyard, there is a small garden and a pool.

I hear a knock on the door and I decided to try out my new power. I lifted myself about a foot off of the floor and began down the stairs. It went smoothly until I got to the bottom floor when I got distracted by something in the window and I flew up racing towards the ceiling. I hit my head and then flopped to the ground. "Ow..." 

The knocking continues at the door so I get up and walk over. It's Violet! "Hi, Violet. What's up?" "Hi, Mia! We were all wondering if you wanted to come down to the lake for a little while?" "We have a lake?" "Yeah, it's behind the cafeteria." "Oh cool, sure!" "Come on!"

I put on my bathing suit and run down to the lake. Livi, Violet, Zeke, and Max were all already down there. "Hey!" I wave hello and run down. Max and Zeke are playing a game of tetherball near the grass. Livi is backed up against a tree and is drawing wildly. I remember the picture she drew of me and the bird in my hoodie pocket. Violet is wading in the lake while a school of fish swims around her hips.

I put my towel and lunch that I packed down on the grass and put my feet in the water. Violet calls to me, "Hey, Mia come over here." I slowly wade deeper into the water and walk over to her. The fish part for me and when I stop moving they dance in the water around me. "Hi." "Hi! This is fun! The water is so warm." "Yeah! Thanks for inviting me."

Violet and I swim around in the lake for another 2 hours and then we get out to watch the sunset over the lake. She walks me home and we say bye. Today was awesome! I had so much fun with Violet today. I float upstairs and try to land but I trip on the landing and fall. "Ow...again!" I trudge up to my bed and flop down on my pillow. I smiled up to my ears. Then I flipped on my back and drift of to sleep.

I wake up and go on my balcony. Out of the corner of my eye, I see someone in the trees on the edge of the Theto territory. As soon as I look at it disappears. I blink twice to see if I was seeing things but it wasn't there. I shrug it off and get ready to go to the cafe. 

It's early. Around 6:00 am I always get up really early. I go down to the cafe and start making breakfast for anyone who wants it. I didn't see any food in my apartment. Earlier I picked up a card that hard appeared on my bedside table and brought it with me. When I get to the kitchen there is a sign. It says: Please swipe card to make food and earn points. What are points?

I make some pancakes and eggs along with a bowl of fruit salad. I sit down and start eating when Noah comes in. "I see you made some breakfast. How many points did you get for this banquet." "What are credits?" "Oh... did I forget to tell you? Okay, so anytime you see one of these signs it means that you get points if you swipe. Points are what you get for doing things for our community like making meals or doing community service you can get a certain amount of points. You use points to buy things from the Point Tracker app instead of a job. Check your phone."

I pull out my phone. There is a notification from an app called Point Tracker. It says: You Made 1 Meal - 15 Points - Total: 15 Points. "Um... 15 points." "Cool. Can I have some?" "Sure I made extra." We start eating and Violet comes in. "What are you guys doing?" "I made breakfast. Want some?" "Sure." Later Livi, and Zeke come in as well and start eating. 

At about Noon Max walks in. "Why is everyone up so early." "Ha!" "What are you talking about!" We all start laughing. I see something in the window next to the door. After a few seconds, it's gone. Violet stares at me, "What are you looking at?" "I'm not sure." 

We decide to go outside to watch the boy do a rematch on their tetherball game. I stare into the woods and see what seems to be a little girl. I start towards her but she turns into a bird. I whip out the picture of the bird Livi drew. They look identical. I run at it but it just disappears. "Mia where are you going?" Violet walks over with concern. "I thought I saw something. Never mind."

After the tetherball game, we decide to take a small hike. As we are on the hike I was in the front with Violet. I saw the bird up above us but it hadn't spotted us. I held out my arms and stopped everyone. I put my finger up to my mouth to signal quiet. I slowly fly 4 feet up right behind the bird and grab it. The bird shrieks. "What are you doing!" Violet yells at me. "Hold on you'll see!" I shoot towards the ground and hold it down. 

I see it start shifting into the girl. She has dark brown long hair and looks to be either 9 or 10. I am thrown back by a just of wind and land hard on my back. I get back up to my feet. She stares at us and a ball of lightning appears in her hand. She stares at us. "Stay back."