Displaced

Chapter 1

In merely a week from now, I'll be sixteen, and stuck in this dreary world, that sheltered everyone. The only one way for me to be able to thrive here is to get observed. Observation was an exam given to males and females, prior to their sixteenth birthdays, it usually tells if you are allowed to stay here with restrictions, or get displaced. Displacement, well that was a scary thing to think of. No one really knew the true meaning to it because tons of rumors circulated around us.

"My name is Avery Symphony Caldwell. I'm 16 years old," I said to my observers in a hush tone that sounded like the rustling of leaves on a tree blowing softly.

The men in yellow uniforms eyed my body and I felt invaded. They bobbed their heads with nods, whispered something in secrecy, and wrote it down on a hand held computer.

"Tell me some facts about yourself," said the smallest man out of the group.

My eyes wandered the four walls of the room. The walls peeled and oozed with water and mildew. A wave hit me with a stench of something rotten hit me, and my nose crinkled up with a disgust. Dimming lights hung above my head and I was surprised they haven't crashed onto the dusty floor; it would give it more glamour and suspense if it did so. The lab was not as glamorous as everyone talked of.

I wondered if they would find some so secretive about me, that it would make me want to run away and hide. I felt small in the room and as if I was a rare species that people took into fascination.

I sighed and took a deep breath, "My favorite color is green. I play the violin. I've completed only four years of education. I don't mouth back at my elders. I rarely talk in a room of people; I make myself appear invisible," my tongue felt dry as I spoke those small white lies. I shifted my weight to my left leg and stared down at my black, dirty shoes.

My body felt sticky with sweat, and my stormy blue eyes started to feel sleepy. They have been drilling questions at me for what seemed to be forever.

It's an official, these governmental people were dullard. How hard is it for them to go to the computers and pull information up about me, instead of me telling it to them. They've been asking my birthday, what time I was born, where I live, etc. It was bugging the living daylights out of me.

"Ms. Caldwell, follow me," a woman said to me.

I followed all of my observers into a white room with beeping machines. Blue and green lights sparkled in every corner.

"Remove all your clothing and then go to the bed," a large, tall woman, with a pinched face and brown hair, said pointing to the examination beds.

I stripped off my broccoli colored clothes and laid them in a neat pile. I walked over to the bed and laid there in a self- conscious manner.

I once again felt my privacy feel invaded.

A blue and green light swept over me, and sent small pricks of pain across my body. The pain felt amazing, it was something I never felt before. I closed my eyes in pleasure and smiled at the pain. I imagined a harsh pain run through my veins to make me ache even more.

The lights stopped and a pair of icy hands were on the top of my head. The hands caressed my face with light touches. It seemed everything was going fine until a deep voice said, "Well, what do we have here?"

Several traces of foot steps were coming towards me. They all stopped and whispered.

I held my breath, afraid of what they were going to find. I was scared they were going to find out the real me. They can not find out my real identity. My family would put me in an exile. I would be a piece of scum to them.