Life-Changing Governmental Change
Ishelle POV:
As the new government continues to reign and make life-changing changes in terms of the perfect and imperfect people that exist, most people are happy with the current state of affairs. The new government is called Blue Rose and the leaders are a group of men and women that are imperfect activists that are aimed at protecting the imperfect people.
As I sit in the government's office and wait for the Blue Roses to meet me, my heart is calm, but it nervously flutters faster than usual because of the fear that something may be very wrong.
"Ishelle," a young woman says kindly, "you can come in now." I nod and make my way into the room to find all these people staring back at me, which increases the previously experienced fear, until a middle-aged woman gets up to shake my hand and then my heart calms a little.
"It's nice to meet you, Ishelle," she says kindly, "I am Blue Rose. The head of the government in charge. We heard you are the one who enlightened everyone as to the unfairness of the perfect people's gifts in comparison to ours. I am glad to, finally, meet you, but there is an urgent matter we need to discuss." I smile at her because, now, my heart has calmed completely since there seems to be nothing wrong and I will be rewarded in some way, "It's nice to meet you too. What is the matter?" "Well, first, we have come up with a way to find out who is perfect and who is not," she says politely, "this will help us solve a lot of problems, but it only works once the kids are old enough. Around four to ten years of age, which limits its effects but solves our problem. It was just hard to get the testing done until now. The other problem we have is that you are the face of the cause whether you like it or not, but before you were the face of the cause, the government of the time was trying to take you to the perfect facility." My eyes widen as she says those dreaded words that I didn't want her to utter, "I'm perfect?" She nods, but her expression is not kind anymore, "So, we are willing to let you go because of your connection with the cause. Either you can help us with figuring out why you are perfect or you can go free this one time, but I am warning you....you better run far away because we will catch you. You have 24 hours where we will not monitor you and you can escape to any part of the world you want. What will it be?"
I tense as I look at her with fear in my eyes and nervousness running through my body, "What will I have to do if I stay?" "You will stay in a facility until we can figure out what makes you perfect and how we can make others perfect," she says politely. "And what happens if you don't figure it out?" I ask her nervously as I wonder how long I will trapped. She sighs, "Then, I guess, we will all have to live with what we got." "How long will the testing take?" I ask her nervously as I fidget with my hands. She smiles smugly but shrugs and I get an uneasy feeling inside of me, "Since you gave us this period in our life, we will take blood from you and a few samples. Then, we will still allow you to escape. How about that?" I nod slowly, then I am ushered into a room where I am poked and prodded until I am left to go free.
I run like I have never run before as I leave behind those four walls covered with red carpets that the floors match. The outside is white with a blue rose on the top of it and I just want that memory to disappear from my mind. I pant as I rush further into the streets, through the crowds and into the forest as she moves further and further away from the town. My insides start to burn, but my fear keeps me moving.
I stop, eventually, because I cannot breathe, but I continue walking as I hold my heart and my stomach because they hurt like someone is trying to pull out my soul and crush it into a thousand pieces.
Once I feel like I am far enough, I notice the tall trees, the big cave, the muddy ground and my feet dragging on in it. The pain starts to dull, quickly, but the fear never leaves as my legs drag me forward.
I walk for hours on hours as the time ticks by and once 24 hours hits then I know that they are searching for me again, so I keep on moving forward despite the feeling in my legs disappearing. I carry a mini radio with me and I listen to the news channel as I assume I will get all the updates there, but time goes by and it remains quiet on the radio.
After a few hours the radio comes to life.
"Blue Rose has just announced their new campaign to find out what makes perfect people perfect," a man says like it is an advertisement, "the program has ensured that people are protected from the harmful effects of perfect people and their ideals. All perfect people are banned from living in civilization as imperfect people live unless they have been registered as perfect under the government, but, still, may not be awarded certain privileges."
I realize that the world will fall apart once again but in a very different way and, once again, it's my fault. As I walk and walk, I continue to think about how much damage I caused to the world that I once hated because of the pain and sadness, but everything I did didn't change the pain and suffering anyways because it is just being transferred to someone else. As I continue to think, I find a small house in the middle of nowhere and make my way over. As I look through the window, I notice that the house is very basic with just one window, door and one room that fits the kitchen, bedroom, living room and bathroom, but there is no one inside the house. I try to open the door and it swings open slightly, so I look for supplies, but there isn't any that are left behind as I assume that all the Perfect people came through here once and took what they could.
After I leave the house, the rain starts pouring, but I know I cannot stay in the house because they will know where to find me as this is the only shelter available for miles, so I walk. As I walk, I start to shiver and it just seems that the world wants to drown me, but I keep on walking until my eyes start closing automatically as I try to fight to keep them open just so that I can find cover. I think that if I don't find that cover then they will be able to easily find me in this huge open field that surrounds the house, so I continue walking until I make it into the coverage of the trees where everything goes dark.
After a few hours, I hear a group of people talking about me as I come in and out of consciousness.
"Should we take her with us?" one of the girls asks. The young boy shrugs, "Iris said we cannot just bring people. We don't know what she is." "Who cares?" one of the girls exclaims. "Maybe she does," the young boy exclaims nervously, "she could be perfect or imperfect." The girls exclaim, "Dude." The older boy sighs, "Take her with us. We will drop her off wherever she needs to go." I guess they agree because I feel them pick me up and start walking through the forest and, then everything goes much darker until I go unconscious again.
I start, after who knows how long, to stir as I come to realise that I am on a make-shift bed in a room that is lit up by a small light attached to a rock-like structure above my head. Again I hear some of the people talking to each other just outside of the small room that I am in.
"We found her in the forest," the girl says nervously. "How many times have I told you not to bring random strangers into this place?" the man scolds, "if she decides she hates perfect people then she will run so far away and remember this place so she can tell other people." "We're sorry Iris," the girls say in a sing-song voice.
I feel fear as I see them walking into the room so I start breathing heavily and I stare at the people that are around me, "Where am I?" "You don't need to know," the strict man, who I realise must be Iris, says seriously, "and you don't need to know our names either. What's your name? Why were you in the forest?" I try to get my thoughts together as my brain feels fuzzy, "Ishelle, and I...was trying to get away from some people." "Why?" Iris asks seriously, but I freeze as I wonder why they need to know, who they are and if they are after me as well, so I try to get away from them as I start getting up to leave. "Thanks for your help," I say kindly as I attempt to sit up and get off the bed, "I will just leave you in peace." "You're in no state to leave," Iris says seriously, "are you imperfect or perfect?" I tense when he asks this dreaded question, but I know I have to answer whether I want to or not, "Uhm.....perfect." Iris visibly relaxes, which surprises me, "Is that why you were running away?" I nod nervously, "Are you perfect?" He nods, "We all are. I am Iris. These are your rescuers." "Hi," one of the girls says kindly, "I am Lily." Another girl waves shyly, "Sam." The older boy, "James." The younger boy, "Daniel." "Nice to meet you," I say kindly as I look around the room inquisitively, "when did you guys run away?" "Some of us ran away just after the chaos," Iris says kindly, which makes me feel guily as I remember Rian, Petunia and Lilac, "others, ran away from the Blue Rose. Have you ever met them?" I nod slowly, "They told me what they plan on doing and everything, then they let me choose to stay or run." "They gave you a choice?" Lily asks seriously. "And you chose to run?" Daniel scoffs after he says his words. Iris shakes his head and rolls his eyes, "What did they say?" I shrug, as I try to remember, "Just that they would start testing young kids and start separating people. It was even on the radio that Perfect people won't be treated the same and all that." Iris nods, "I will have Lily show you around the place after the doctor clears you."
After I am cleared, which isn't long, since I heal quickly, I am taken by Lily to see the place. Soon, I realise that this is a cave connected to a mountain that holds a civilization of Perfect people living peacefully despite the chaos that is coming their way from outside, but I am glad that I can live here without harm coming to me either. After we walk around and she shows me the kitchen, farm and more, then we stop in the middle of the cave.
"And that's everything," Lily says kindly, "it will be easier to find your way around now." I nod and smile at her, "Thanks for showing me everything. I used to think Perfect people couldn't feel or be human." Lily laughs, "We can still cry, but in a perfect world there would be no reason to do that. Here, there is a lot of reasons." "Let's....," Lily says, but gets interrupted by a loud sound and flashing red lights, "lockdown."
"Everyone needs to run," Iris says seriously, "this is not a drill people. They found us, so run like you mean it."
Rian POV:
"Rian," Lilac exclaims as she runs into their make-shift home in an area designated for Perfect people, "they are saying there will be no schools for us anymore and if we try to go then they will punish us." I sigh deeply, "Sorry about that Lilac. They are changing a lot of rules now. We have to just comply with them and do the work they give or assign." "Who will take care of Petunia while you are at work?" Lilac asks me seriously. Rian sighs, "Everyone has to work." Lilac gasps, "Me too?" "Did I stutter?" I ask her and she sighs deeply. "When will they assign us work?" she asks me sadly. "Tomorrow everyone will have jobs," I say kindly, "even Petunia will have to do some type of work."
When the next day comes, I receive the letter that gives our jobs.
"Lilac," I shout for her and she comes running from outside, "you are going to be a nanny. Here is the location. Get to walking and keep this letter with you cause you cannot leave here without it." She nods, "I leave tomorrow?" I nod, "You come back home when you are done. Petunia, come here sweety." She runs over with her little doll in her hands, "Yes, Rian." "I explained that you will have to do some type of work, yes?" I ask her and she nods sweetly, "and that you must do as you are told?" "Yes," she says sweetly with her little smile. "I will drop you off at the farm in the morning," I say kindly and she nods, then runs off, "It seems I will be working at the same farm as Petunia, but I will be working with the animals. Horses to be specific." "Sounds like fun," Lilac says kindly, "I have to deal with children all day, but I am glad we are friends still. I hope Ishelle is doing okay."
The next day, we head to work and realise how life has changed for us in just a few months.