The Origin

Chapter 1

Chapter 1

I close the old journal I hold in my hands. I can't bear the thought that this has been happening for so long. It's been 3 painful years since I discovered what is going on. No other kids but me and Riley know the truth. They won't believe us. They will either dismiss our warnings, or get us in trouble for 'spreading rumors'.

The good news is that Riley and I will both be 18 soon, which means when we escape, we'll be able to support ourselves in the real world and start over.

"They just brought in another kid today. A little girl." Riley told me, coming in and sitting on my bed next to me.

"How old is she?" I ask him, looking up into his vivid green eyes.

"She's 6." He says looking back at me. I can hear the pain in his voice as he keeps talking.

"She came from a tsunami off the coast of Japan. She barely speaks any English, her name is Eri." He said, describing her to me.

"I just can't believe it." I said. "Her whole family is gone, and soon, she will be too." I brought my knees up to my chest and buried my face in my hands.

"We have to do something." I said, my voice cracking as tears slipped from my closed eyes.

Riley put his arm around me in a hug. He always knows how to make me feel better.

"We will Autumn, we will." He said, comforting me.

"We just have to wait a little longer. There's only a month left until you turn 18, after that we can sneak out." He whispered to me.

"But what about all these kids? We can't just leave them here." I said, slightly pulling away to look at him again.

"I know." He said. "We'll have to find a way to get them out too. Maybe we can create a real safe place for them when we're old enough to be out on our own." He suggested.

"I would like that." I said, hugging him another time.

We just stayed like that for a little while as I started to feel better. When I took my head up from Riley's shoulder, I glanced at my little alarm clock on the table by my bed.

"Oh my goodness, Riley you have to go!" I said.

"What time is it?" He asked me, almost seeming not to care.

"It's 11:30." I say quickly.

"Oh shoot." He says jumping up and heading for the door. He turns back to look me straight in the eyes.

"You'll be okay." He says to reassure me. "See you at lunch."

As he walks out of my room, I can't help but think about the awful things that happen here. It's all I think about, all the time. I lean back in my bed so my head is resting on my pillow. I remind myself that I was once new here too.

I came after a tornado had ripped through my hometown, destroying everything. I somehow survived and ended up here. I remember being all alone, my 7 year old self, worrying about if I would make the cut or not. I was about to turn 8, but when I told this lady that I was 7 she told me not to worry, because that was the highest age they would take in.

Ms. Anne always took care of me. I loved to play hide and seek with her after classes when I was little. She helped me make new friends in District 1. I loved to play dolls with them and we would always braid each other's hair. My friend Molly was especially nice to me. She was the first person I met after Ms. Anne. I was really shy and quiet after what I had been through so I shut most people out, even at such a young age. She was the only other kid who still wanted to be my friend after I had ignored her in the beginning.

I still long to have a friendship like that again. Molly was always so bubbly and excited. Then we met Riley. He was the only other kid that would willingly join the group of misfits. Us three had so much fun together. We would draw portraits of each other in the sand, and laugh until we fell asleep.

And then Molly turned 10. She was sent to the mines with another girl who shared her birthday. Riley and I were devastated that we wouldn't see her again, but somewhere in our little 9 year old minds, we still had hope.

Until one day when I was 11.

Molly's was the first body I saw being taken out from District 2. That was when they had just moved my room to the one in the back. I don't think I was supposed to see this, but I did. That was the moment when I realized how awful this place really is. Riley and Ms. Anne were the only ones who were there to comfort me. Her words remain in my memories every time I think about Molly.

"What doesn't kill you makes you stronger, you will always be okay."

I sit back up and start to my door. I have to be in the cafeteria by noon for lunch. I put my shoes on and peek out into the hall. I close my door behind me, as well as I can. We're not allowed to have locks on our doors.

I enter the lunch room and slowly make my way to the back. This is where all the people who stay to work and live in District 1 sit. The kids from the other districts have their own commissaries to eat at. The only people in line ahead of me are little kids and other workers. I'm not technically a worker since I was never assigned a district, but sometimes I help out with the kids. I stand at the end of the line and wait to see what kind of game Riley has for me today.

"Hi!" A little girl in front of me says, waving.

"Hi!" I say back. "What's your name?"

"Eri." She says, barely being able to form the right words since she doesnt know English yet.

"I'm Autumn." I tell her. "This is The Origin."

She smiles at me approvingly and turns back around to get her lunch. One of the lunch ladies scoops some very obviously boxed mashed potatoes onto her plate. She pours gravy over top of the mountain she has created, and plops a big piece of turkey next to it. She shovels up a spoonful of corn and sprinkles it in the last open section on Eri's plate, purposely letting some pieces fall onto her other food. I can tell she is having fun today, messing with the new orphan, as always.

Eri walks away, content with her meal. When it's my turn, I slide my plate right past her. She doesn't question me, knowing I always let Riley serve me my food.

"What can I get you today, miss?" He asks me, pretending like he's a fast food worker.

"I would love to try your number 1, um, the... turkey dinner please." I say like a customer.

He chuckles and starts preparing my lunch. I giggle as he shapes the mashed potatoes and turkey to look like a smiley face. He puts the gravy around it like hair, and gives it little corn earrings.

He hands me my plate, smiling at his masterpiece.

"Thank you sir." I reply.

"That will be $8.17 please." He says, holding out his hand and trying hard not to laugh.

I roll my eyes at him and place my hand in his like I'm giving him money. We both start laughing as I head over to my seat. I get to my chair and sit down in it, looking at my smiley face of food. Riley came over after his shift on lunch duty.

"How are you enjoying your meal ma'am?" He asks, sitting down next to me.

"Oh stop it," I say playfully. "Just eat your lunch."

He slides his plate over next to mine and digs into his own mashed potato mountain.