When Night Falls: Chapter 1-Part 2

Sarah stopped pouting and her eyes shone with joy, she had once more gotten her way.

I started reading:

“Jennifer Rayon, 1989-2001. Died at age 11 due to car crash. You may no longer be here dear, but our hearts will always lie with you. I chose you, now I’m not going to let you go.”

The first part was easy; a young girl had died because of a car crash. We had studied cars in “Literacy of old technology.” They were so different from the quantum levitation vehicles we use nowadays and much riskier. We had read of frequent incidents, much like what probably happened to this little girl.

The second part of what was written was strange, the words made no sense to me. What does it mean for a heart to lie with a person? And what does it mean to choose someone?

Babies are born as a result of genetic matching. When at age 21 you are assigned your partner, you are expected to give birth within the first three years. If the system decides you are fit for multiple children, you must have the second child by twenty five. Then, society stops your periods and you can no longer conceive. All babies are born in labs, and though there are rumors of love babies and “physical” relationships, everyone I know has been conceived the modern way, with embryo implants.

You do not choose partners, or babies. The engraving was senseless.

Sarah was thinking the same, I could tell by her dubious expression. Both of us, though curious, had been born in this society, and we never questioned its ways. Love was a strange concept; we had heard of it but never understood it. Instructors had of course warned us, like everybody else, about lending part of our soul to someone else. We had heard stories of people killing themselves, or starving themselves to death, out of love pain; but those were the old days, before the society and its system took control of relationships. We had been taught it was better this way, no risk. No more feelings meant that there would be no more pain and we trusted it was true.

I once more glanced at Sarah but this time there was a strange glint in her eyes, there was something strange about the way she was looking at the engraving, I could tell she was thinking of something.

“What’s on your mind?” I asked.

She shrugged.

“Oh, nothing, don’t worry.”

 Another sideways glance at the writing. The silence was strange, me and Sarah were always talking. Another shrug.

“Do you think it’s possible to love someone you choose, even after the pain of losing them?”

Sarah caught me off guard. Though I had been harboring the same thought, she had been the first one to word it. I didn’t know the answer, but believed in the society. I had too.

“No, I don’t think so. Maybe it means something else. Love is dangerous, remember?”

She sighed.

“Yeah, I guess. It was a silly thought.”

This time I shrugged at her.

“It’s getting late. Curfew is soon, we should go.”

I didn’t really want to go home yet but patrollers would soon start the evening watch and getting caught was too risky.

She nodded and we made our way out of the cemetery. It was walking out that I saw it, caught between the earth and one of the outer tombstones. A piece of paper, with some words scribbled on it. Without thinking much, I grabbed and pocketed it before Sarah could notice.

Even though I hadn’t read it yet, I told no one about the paper. Society had warned us about hoarding, what was found belonged to the society, not the finder. It was mine though, I felt it and I wanted to keep it. That was the very first time I had a secret.