It hit me like a bullet; a bullet that was shot straight into my ear drum, forcing its way in so that the sounds couldn’t echo. I actually had to reach for my ears to see if they were still there.
At least I knew I wasn’t blind. Though the explosions emitted strong forces of light, and our glass walls didn’t do anything but help the blinding flashes, I could still see outside. Well that’s a lie. I couldn’t see outside, since a thick cloud of smoke seemed to surround our miniature earth, blocking me from even viewing the sun.
I touched the glass wall that separated my bedroom and all of earth. I wondered if I would ever be able to go out there again. I had been trapped in this cage for seven months, and it was already too much. The experiment was supposed to be over in a year. But would it ever end over now? Would the radiation disable us from escaping our prison?
Suddenly I found myself not staring out the glass but staring at my reflection in it. I had done this many times before. When you’re in a science experiment, they don’t feel as if you need to look at yourself. So over the course of the months, I had forgotten what I’d looked like. It wasn’t a bad thing, not having to care about your looks, but it was a bad thing that you had to do whatever you could to not forget what you looked like. I had to pretend I was studying the outside world while instead I was studying myself. I had to hide every day things from the scientists.
When a nock echoed on the door, I found myself startled. I had completely forgotten about all the blood that must have been spilling in the outside world.
I quickly turned, hoping whoever was at my door would help derive my attention from the chaos. I had my curtains up, the white sheets of cloth that enabled my only privacy. The curtains that were only allowed to be closed during dressing, showering, and sleeping time. Whoever wanted to come in couldn’t see me, so I made sure to check through the curtain that it was someone I wanted to see.
I slightly cracked the curtain open, and Matty was standing there, his hands casually in his pockets, tapping his foot and clicking his teeth together as if he was chewing – something he always did when he was nervous.
I checked to his left and right, making sure none of the scientists were stumbling around the white halls. When I knew it was clear, I opened the door and pulled Matty inside with great force.
He giggled at my seriousness. “Kisa what’s wrong with you this time?”
It’s true; I had often closed my curtains for no reason and only emitted Matty – by force. But this time it was different,
could he not see that?
“Are you kidding me Matty?”
But he wasn’t focused on me anymore. Instead his eyes were hovering over my shoulder, shifting back and forth, up and down, not knowing where to go.
“What-” He strode over to the walls, stiff and slow. “Where are all of the trees?” He tilted his head upwards. “Where’s the sky?” Then he looked straight on and touched the glass. “Where’s home?”
He was talking about land. We were in a glass shelter about ten miles off shore, on our own man-made island. We were trapped in a glass cage. No one came in, no one came out. The only thing keeping all two-hundred and fifty of us sane was the fact that we could see it. We could see civilization on the other side of the ocean. We could see our family’s houses, our old town, and most of all, our future.
I walked forward, my arms crossed over the standard gray jumpsuit issued upon entering the new world. I gently placed a hand on his shoulder and massaged it a bit.
“It’s lost in all the dust, Matt.” I only ever called him Matt when things were serious.
“But…” He looked into my eyes. My heart sank as those deep grays of his softened. “How could it be lost?”
I sighed. “Did you not hear the bombs?”
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