The Luminary

One

AUTUMN

"In our beginnings we are all formed by what we believe in...Or... in some cases by what we are taught," Breathe. Keep breathing. "And what we are taught to believe in is only a glance of what our parents tell us growing up," The memory of a dark bunker surrounds me. I hear the laughter. What are they laughing at?

"But. What if that image is only a glimpse of the horizon ahead?" Me. They're laughing at me.

"At some point you need to step out of the box they put you in and see it all for yourself."

'Autumn.' my feet follow where i'm led and now i'm on the bridge between life and death. The final test. The pod.

"The sooner you step out of that box, the sooner you will see the truth. The truth that your parents never told you. The one they could never see themselves."

'Your ten minute timer starts now,' Buttons, don't forget about all the buttons. And the numbers! My fingers work all around the room pressing various different things to find out a way to solve the puzzle.

"It's time you stopped listening to what the world says. It's time to turn around. Time to give notice to all the people you thought were crazy... They never really were as crazy as you thought. They just knew the truth... and that truth got them killed by the liars."

112469. Don't forget those numbers!

"The sooner you accept the truth the sooner you see your desired horizon. But I must warn you, the liars are everywhere, and you must be careful. Because they don't even remember the pasts that they used to hold, and because of the lies inside their head they will kill you. Even if you know them, they will forget you and take you out within a moment. Just get out of there... Before she takes hold of you and makes you a liar."

112469.

"It's time you erase your beginning and start from scratch. Leave behind everything you know- everything you were taught and create a new beginning away from society. There you can create a life that's not brainwashed, and you won't have to remember the countless lives you took while under control. It's time you forgot everything you've ever known." 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1.-

"It's time to wake up." The floor caves beneath me.

'You failed. Your head start against death starts in 5. 4.-' RUN! '3. 2. 1.-"

"Wake up."

My pajamas are drenched in sweat, and the knife in my hand no longer feels steady. I'm nervous. I can feel it all.

"The sortings today," I nearly nail mom with my blade as she sneaks up behind me. I let out a hindering sigh.

"I know." If there was a morning to die or not wake up at all. This would be it.

"You're up early."

"Mhm," I turn around as a dummy pops out from behind a bush and throws the knife in my hand at it. I'm meeted with the satisfying noise of the knife hitting the plastic target. If it was flesh it would have been pierced way deeper.

A warm hand settles onto my back. "Do you not feel prepared?"

I grab another blade from my pocket using it like an extension of my arm. "Could always use more practice." This one almost went into the target until I went for the bird in the tree above me that had been mocking me for the past twenty five minutes. But unfortunately it could easily fly to another branch. I glared at the stupidly loud creature wishing that the knife could saw its beak off.

The hand gently rubs my back for a moment before it goes to my hair to begin braiding it like she usually did when I trained. "There's only a 25% chance that your name will be called. And if it is you'd win, you've trained your whole life for this. No one else knows what they are getting themselves into. You do. And I raise winners not losers." She chucked and poked me in the side. I laughed but if anything that just made me feel more pressure.