Skyfall

Chapter 1

When I wake up in the morning I don't see the bright beautiful sunrise shining through my blinds. Instead, my eyes crack open to my cold dark bed, with dirt and sticky sweat covering my body. Some people may say the conditions I'm living in are barbaric, but nowadays its normal.

I'm called Emma. I live with my mother Florence and little brother Daniel. I love them both dearly with all of my heart. Sometimes, I wish I was like Daniel. He's lucky, young and innocent. Oh god, how I'm  jealous of him. He doesn't know anything of the things that are going on in the world around him. The bloodshed, the horror, tears, distress, Daniel knows nothing. He doesn't know about us starving, because we always make sure he is properly fed. He doesn't know about my Mother's disease. She hides the pills from him, because for a four year old, he's pretty crafty. He doesn't know about my breakdowns every night because I don't let him see let him see the river of tears. I don't let him see my deep scars, and I don't let him see my pain. We live this way in the hopes that someday there might be a better world for Daniel, where we wouldn't need to hide anything from him and he wouldn't have gone through a horrible terrifying childhood.

 Sometimes, I wish I was like my mother too. She only has to take care of herself. Not Daniel, not me. The only person she has cared for is herself. . She takes care of herself and I take care of Daniel and her. She doesn't understand that I'm only fourteen! I cant do everything by myself. Especially with the way we live now. I think she's just along for the ride.

In the old books I've read, when people thought of the future they usually thought of flying cars and food at the press of a button, not ruin, not death, and no tears. They didn't think that things might be worse, and that many tears would be shed. No! It's not all fun and games in the future. No delicious delights at our fingertips, no dreams of toys and games, a world where you can go to sleep without worrying how you might survive the next day. No fancy shoes or dresses. All we have is an overpowering government that thinks we are all brainless and mean nothing. I don't understand why. All we do is follow our schedules they make for us. For example, every one is to be in bed at 8:30 P.M every night. To make sure this happens Guards Of The Government (GTG) check every single day. They are quite rude and strict. One time, when I was Daniel's age, I was in the kitchen getting some water. It was literally only 8:35 and the GTG came barging into the house because I wasn't in bed. I ended up getting a severe beating. The worst part was not  the sting that the whip left after every lash and blow. The part that made it almost unbearable was that my mother wasn't  doing anything about it. She just stood there, arms crossed, looking me in the eyes. Those cold dark eyes. They where warning me not to whine and scream, but I couldn't help it. And every time I did cry the GTG just beat me harder.

I think I hate my mother. I get this horrible, gut wrenching feeling every time I look into her lifeless eyes. Even though she takes care of me and she's sick, I hate her. I'm not sure if she even loves me or Daniel. I'm sure she only takes care of us because if she doesn't, unless she's drugged out on her pills, she feels guilty.

I don't really care anymore. I'm just glad I could survive this long.