Providence

The Right to Family

The family is the natural and fundamental group unit of society and is entitled to protection by society and the State.

--- UN General Assembly, 1948, Universal declaration of human rights (217 [III] A). Paris. Art. 16.3

Erin wakes up to the sound of Gwen banging on her bedroom door.

"Get up," Gwen yells. "We don't wanna be late."

Erin grunts and rolls out of bed. "I'll be right there."

She opens her eyes and looks at her watch. Six o'clock in the morning. More than enough time, as the pilgrimage only starts at nine. She sighs. Gwen is way too eager for these things. Then again, if Gwen wasn't there, Erin would probably oversleep and arrive too late.

Erin sits on her bed and puts her feet on the cold, brass floor. She shivers. Her room, and every room in the golden city for that matter, always had the same temperature. Yet, the floor always feels cold.

As Erin walks into the shared living room, Gwen is already eating breakfast. The dish she is eating is called 'bacon and eggs'. It looks very unappetising. The 'bacon' is just a red and brown coloured plastic-looking thing, and the egg is just a white square with a yellow circle on top. It smells like chemical liquid smoke.

"I don't understand how you can eat that crap," Erin turns up her nose.

"What do you mean?" Gwen asks. "It tastes delicious."

Erin shakes her head. "I can smell the chemical smoke from here. I'll pass. Let's see what the other options are for today."

Erin walks past Gwen to the food generator, placed on the counter next to the door. She presses her hand against the scanner. Today's options are "eggs and bacon", "cereal" or "beans on toast". No way Erin is going to select the "bacon" option. She hesitates for a bit and then selects "cereal" on the screen. The food generator whirrs and Erin hears a ding. She opens it, and a plastic bowl filled with small, brown, perfectly flat disks appears. It smells awfully like stale bread.

"Aww," Erin exclaims. "Couldn't they at least have included milk?"

She scans her hand again, and a message appears. "Limit reached. Next ration is available at lunch."

She walks back past Gwen and sets her bowl on the table.

Gwen laughs. "You should have gone for bacon and eggs."

Erin rolls her eyes and doesn't react. She slowly starts eating her cereal with her spoon, staring into the distance.

"By the way," Gwen asks, while she stands up and spins around. "What do you think of my outfit?"

She is wearing a long black skirt and a matching black long-sleeved blouse. Heavy black boots are barely visible from under the skirt. Her hair is brushed and bound together in a tasteful knot, decorated with a dark green ribbon. Even her nails are coloured black, and her lips are decorated with black lipstick.

Erin is unimpressed. Gwen usually wears bright colours. This look really does not suit her. Her pale face and dark eyes make her look black and white. Like some of the old pictures from Erin's books. Erin scoffs. "Looks like you are going to a funeral,"

Gwen frowns. "Come on Erin, the angels expect modesty from us. It is only respectful we wear this. I have a spare set. You can borrow mine. Or were you planning to wear that?" She gestures with her hand at Erin's nightgown, which is bright green.

Erin rolls her eyes. "Fine, I'll wear your spare set of clothes. I really need the goodwill from the angels. But I am not happy about it."

Gwen smiles. She runs to her room and returns with a bundle of black clothes and a pair of black boots. "I hope the boots fit."