Children of the Fence (The forgotten Children)

1. Welcome to the South

She lay in the grass and gazed dreamily into the clouds. Her hair was blowing in the wind. I didn't know who she was, but I knew her from somewhere.
And although her face was barely recognisable, it took shape in my mind as if I had seen it many times before.
I blinked a few times. My eyes had not yet adjusted to the brightness.
The wind flitted across the green grass and cut funny patterns in the field. It was spring.
But on the other side of the high fence that divided the two worlds, it was dark and cold. The wind was brutal and chilly. Like a storm that was slowly brewing. Mercilessly destroying anything in its path.

But I, as I saw the world from up here, got to feel both. I sat on the gigantic fence, my legs dangling in the air. But I felt no fear.
Who I was, I did not know. I felt as if I had been chosen by chance and thrown into a new story whose ending I did not know.

All I could remember was a steep path downwards. To the left and right, the trees were drawing closer and closer. The wind blew at my back as if it wanted to throw me off the cliff.
The cliff.
The abyss right beneath my feet. I gathered all my courage, took a few steps back, started running ... and jumped.
Suddenly I was suspended in the air, the world was huge and yet small, but it was getting closer and closer.
I felt a strange sensation in my stomach. Was it joy? Was it freedom?
Maybe I just didn't care.
But somehow I knew that this would not be the end.

The grassland revealed itself. It smelled of spring and fresh flowers.
The next thing I remembered was the girl lying in the grass below me.
It was as if she was waiting for something. For someone.

I was sitting on the border between two worlds. I had escaped from one, that much I realised, and this...
This had to be paradise.
This was where I wanted to stay.
Never again returning to cramped cages, chairs of burning ice, the cruel indifference of dead eyes...

The girl looked up at me. The thought faded and plunged into oblivion.
Surprise and joy flitted across her face. She was on her feet in one leap.
"If you stay up there, they'll crawl up and bite your arse," she called up to me.
I woke up from my trance.
"What? Who?"
I looked down at myself. That's when I noticed the barbed wire slowly digging into my flesh. How had I not felt that?
"Well, the black guards. You'd better get down from there."
She looked up at me, covering her eyes from the light of the sun.
I looked round. No guards to be seen.
Just me and the girl.
Then I spotted a tiny insect moving slowly but surely up my leg.
An ant? I flicked it away.
But it wasn't alone. There were hundreds, maybe thousands. They were hanging in silky webs strung between the wire, crawling slowly towards me. They were spiders.
I freed myself from the barbed wire and climbed down the fence.

"I knew you would come, but I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw you up there..." She interrupted herself. "You've got another one here," the girl said, picking a spider off my jacket.
She crushed it on the ground. Then she walked round me once, examining me more closely. She looked for more spiders. I laughed involuntarily when she reached under my arms.
"It's just a few little spiders,' I chuckled.
She snorted in amusement.
"A few little spiders? What's happened to you?" She faltered.
I laughed again. What a strange place. Strange circumstances.
A strange girl. But I kind of liked her.

"What's your name?" I asked.
She had stopped smiling and stared at me wide-eyed.
"Hey, what's the matter?" I cautiously reached out an arm towards her.
She backed away.
"Sorry! I didn't mean to scare you," I exclaimed quickly. "The spiders are gone, see?" I affirmed placatingly, holding out my empty palms to her.
No reaction.
" ... Do we know each other? You look kind of familiar, but I don't know your name," I said hesitantly, trying to break the silence.

When I saw the glistening tears in her eyes, I fell silent.
Had I said something wrong?
The girl looked up and smiled. At least she tried to, but the tear running down her cheek only made the sight more unbearable.
It wasn't a happy smile. Not the smile she had greeted me with.
Tears were still glistening in her dark eyes. Her face bore a broken expression. Quickly she wiped them away.
"You've lost your memory ... It happens to everyone who crosses the fence. How could I forget ..." she replied in a broken voice. "How ironic."
"Oh ... I'm sorry ..."
"You're a refugee from the north now. Welcome to the south."
She took me by the hand, somewhat roughly, and pointed to the small town tucked away in the valley below.
"This is Avendor. Or what's left of it anyway."