Seraphina

Sticks and Stones

I. Sticks and Stones

The stars wept in her palms. She closed her eyes as another drop fell into the pool in her hands and made the stars shiver. Suddenly, she opened her eyes and let her hands fall to her sides. 

She had made her decision.

She left her Sklaven family’s house at a fast gait in no direction in particular. They would have objected to the use of that word, but that’s who they were, she thought. Sklaven. Slavers. By the time she reached the perimeter of the residential zone her fast walking had turned into a run and she ran towards the lake. Tears of fury began flowing down her face as the last scene before she left started coming back to her. ‘What is this?’ Madam Marta Corian had shouted, holding up her paper reader displaying the title page of The Origin of Species. Marta had later smashed the screen of her reader against the corner of the kitchen table, shattering it and the last remnants of her restraint. Her genetically programmed will to remain subservient had finally snapped.

But the seeds of this had been planted much earlier, she thought. Her earliest recollection was also the most traumatic. She faintly remembers a large transport truck leaving God-knows-where, somewhere near the industrial zone outside Ceruliana, she had later deduced. She remembers the filthy journey towards God-knows-where-else, Apricot Valley, as it turned out. But what she remembers most is the immense happiness she felt at the journey’s end when she was introduced to her adoptive family, and how that happiness shattered when she realized that they had no intention to be her family. You will sleep in the quarters over the barn at the back. You will not talk unless spoken to. The only words you shall say are Yes and Thank You.  

She clenched her fist as she ran past a grove of Apricot trees, remembering the first time she broke those rules. One day, a few months after being taken by the Corian family, she had pointed to an Apricot tree and had asked what the orange balls were on the tree. She had received a backhanded slap from Master Corian and the immortal words: Never show such ignorance again, you abomination in human flesh. You are nothing more than a horse grown in a lab which speaks, never presume that you can have a conversation with purebloods. On that day she had vowed to never eat an Apricot and never be caught ignorant again. 

She tried to remember if that was the day she grasped that she was a clone, but realized it wasn’t. It was the second day after being taken by the Corian family. She had decided to try to talk to the children, thinking they would be friendlier than their parents. As she was about to knock on the door of the younger daughter’s room, she heard voices inside. As she ran past another farming zone and house, she tried to recollect what those voices said. Mother has said to not talk to the new girl. She’s not like us – she’s a clone, the older boy had said. The younger girl had asked what a clone is and the memory of his reply made her collapse mid step into the dirt and double over. Clones are human-like animals grown in large plastic bags filled with slimy liquids. They grow quickly and are then sent to work for humans until they are no longer useful and are then killed, just like our piggies outside. 

She got up and started walking slowly now. Every step reminding her of another verbal or physical assault by the Corian family. She had even tried to reason with Marta when she discovered her reader. I only wanted to know what humans in the old Earth said about clones. That text did not even mention clones at all. I just want to know what I am. 

She had reached the lake now and all she wanted was this to end now. She took one step into the water and recoiled because of the frigid temperature. I’m a coward. I’m a coward for tolerating that bullshit for so long and can’t even end it all when she has the chance. She picked up a rock and threw it at the lake. The rock made a pathetic splash and sank to the bottom. She picked up another rock but, overcome with exhaustion, collapsed onto the ground without throwing it. She smashed it against a rock near her feet and saw sparks flying from the point of contact of the two rocks. The sparks interrupted her wallowing and then curiosity took over. She smashed the two rocks together one more time and saw the sparks leap out again. This time, she followed one of the sparks to a single blade of grass that lit up, consumed itself and disappeared into the air as smoke. She was fascinated by this power to evaporate something by mere touching two rocks together. She played with the rocks and sparks, captivated by the ability to turn the grass around her into black dust. She learnt to control her sparks and make the light last longer. The more grass and leaves she used, the longer her light lasted and began to give heat as well. She built bigger and bigger fires until she lost track of time until she finally looked up, and it was night. 

Tears streamed down her face once again, but this time, past a smile on her face. The stars wept in her palms as she looked down upon the dancing flames of her newfound supremacy. She let her hands fall to her sides and clench into fists. She had made her decision. 

She walked back fast, purposefully, to the Corian farm with two stones in her pocket. The family would be settling into their beds for the night now. Smugly asleep in their comfortable memory foams. She wondered if Master knew more about the curious light-and-heat giving force that she had discovered. It would be ironic if this time he was the ignorant one. The lights were dimmed low across the Corian house, indicating that everyone was asleep. Yes, thank you, Corians, this should not take long. Fire caught hold quickly across all the carefully arranged piles of hay around the farm. The house lit up like a splendid sun in the middle of the night. 

Midori did not get a chance to see the main support structures of the house fall, collapsing the house into itself, but in her mind it was glorious.