The Sleeping Girl

Chapter Four

I glare at the paper in front of me, exasperated. Tis chock full of pointless maths, maths I never would have imagined learning five hundred years ago. Amanda tells me it is what all schoolchildren learn, and insists I must get a common education as well, but at the moment it is just plain frustrating. I have years to learn this nonsense, but only six days left to find the next Girl and I'm doing this? And furthermore, in the grand scheme of things, finding the Sleeping Girl is far more important than learning this. People have survived for hundreds of thousands of years without these pointless numbers, but not without a Sleeping Girl.

Frustrated, I stand up, unclenching my hands and letting my pencil, the writing tool I was given, fall out of my hand. Clattering noisily, it falls to the desk, making a small mark at the paper. Grabbing my new bag that I purchased yesterday, I walk out of my bedroom, slamming the door behind me. I can hear it resonate loudly in this large house. It seems to ring almost eerily around.

I hurry down the stairs and walk to the dining room. I feel the urge to get out of here. Get out of this stiffing house. I've been asleep on the Earth for five hundred years and I suppose all of this new civilization is hitting me forcibly, like a slap in the face. I've been awake for not yet a whole day, but I've already started to feel claustrophobic.

In the dining room, Amanda appears to be in a heated discussion with Ember, Charlotte, and Aaron. Charlotte and Aaron are standing at one side of the table and Amanda on the other, her hands folded across her chest. Ember is standing in the middle, and there almost appears to be smoke coming off of her. They don't see me come in. I stand off to the side of the room, curious.

"She's our only chance!" Charlotte is yelling, her face turning pink with what appears to be rage. "Let them go find her! Let her go find her. We don't have a choice, Amanda!"

"Six girls before this next one have all found society," Amanda says lowly. "The next one will come. She must. You heard of Keela's pain yesterday. The girl's mark will burn. She will be burning up and writhing in pain if she does not fulfill her duty. The Sleeping Girl has a destiny! She physically cannot ignore it!"

I slink back into the shadowy hallway, suddenly aware of the topic of the conversation. Namely, me. They're talking about finding the next Girl. About me finding the next Girl. Or rather, Charlotte is talking about me finding the next Girl. Amanda is talking about me not finding the next Girl. I press against the wall, curious.

"Exactly," growls Aaron darkly. "Keela's pain. Keela has to find the Girl. Unless you want us all to die? There is a reason her mark is hurting, Amanda. She has a destiny. She is not done being the Girl until the next one goes to sleep."

"She could be anywhere!" screams Amanda, her calm apparently gone. "The world is one heck of a lot bigger than it was five hundred years ago. Or a thousand years ago. Or three thousand years ago when there was the first girl. We are just in one tiny town! In millions. Keela is the strongest amongst us and we cannot afford to lose her on some mission to find the Girl! Who should have been drawn!"

"Should have, but wasn't," snaps Charlotte. "It's our only hope. This 'tiny town' is all we have. Do you have any better ideas? Or are you deliberately trying to kill us all?"

"I assure you, I am not trying to get us killed," seethes Amanda. "I am leader of society for a reason. It's because I am strong and equipped to fight the dark. That is true, but more importantly, I care about society. And not just society, but protecting the world in general. What are you suggesting, Charlotte, when you say I want to murder us all?"

"Everybody, calm down!" screams Ember. She appears to be in such a state that there is now not just smoke, but also sparks flying off of her. "Charlotte and Aaron, Amanda is correct in saying that all the Girls Keela and before have been drawn. We do still have almost a week. And the world is huge. But Amanda, Charlotte and Aaron are right in saying that Keela can lead us to the Girl and we have to let her try."