cleanse

13

When I was ten years old, I found an old book at school. It was all about life before Noredge. When I showed it to my mother, she told me all the secrets about America. "They were great people until the new president was elected. Once she was elected, everything changed." She would whisper. No one could find out about our talk.

"America was a happy, peaceful land. Everyone finally got along after hundreds of years of internal battles with people that were different than them. For instance, if a woman and a woman were to get married, it would make people upset. Same goes for two boys. But a law was passed that in every state, they had the right to marry. At first, people didn't agree with it. But slowly, people came to terms with the fact that they aren't causing any harm.

People who weren't the same skin color were disliked as well. For most of America's lifetime, people with dark skin were a white man's piece of property. Even hundreds of years after slavery ended, dark-skinned people still weren't treated right. But once they got fair treatment, Sandra Turrets was elected and ruined the system of peace."

I was enamored by the subjects. I was so intrigued by everything that we had talks like these everyday after school. After mom was Cleansed, I started reading online articles about racism, sexism, and homophobia, trying to understand why people were treated so poorly. 

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I can't stop shivering in the frigid night air. It's springtime, but up north, it stays cold until the beginning of summer. I was never cold at night when I slept in my cozy bed. Mahree's arms are wrapped around me, and her jacket covers the two of us like a baby blanket. Her teeth clatter together and the goosebumps on her arms press into mine.

My eyes haven't shut since I kissed Mahree. Every time I try to close my eyes, I envision her lips, her face, her collarbones. It's not that I don't want to, but there's a more serious task at hand than being in love. We have to get home, even if it means Mahree and I aren't a couple. 

But there's something about Mahree that I'm attracted to, and no matter how hard I try, I can't stop. Her strength and her determination, despite having a family that's been wiped out by Cleansing, and the fact that she was hours away from being Cleansed herself. I keep finding her wandering through my mind. 

I decide that we should get up and push forward through the woods. I prop myself up on one elbow and nudge Mahree ever so slightly. "Mahree," I plead quietly. "We have to go. We've been here too long." Mahree opens her eyes and lifts her head up. She places a peck on my lips as she takes the jacket off her body and wraps it around her waist. 

"Alright then," she exclaims. "Let's carry on." And we begin jogging into the darkness with only the moonlight to guide us. We jog for about ten minutes, I believe, until we run into an abandoned park path. The gravel road twists and turns around the trees for as far as I can see. Busted streetlamps line the road, flickering every now and then, providing minimal light.

"Do you think we should follow it?" I turn to Mahree. She shrugs and grabs my hand. "I don't see why not." She replies as we make a run for it down the path. Based on where the stars are, I think we're heading West. 

Another thing my mom taught me was stars and constellations. My favorite constellation was the Gemini. It reminded me of Magdalena and I, holding hands. I also loved it because mother told me that the Gemini is my zodiac sign. Zodiacs and horoscopes were a popular tradition in America, but didn't matter as much when Noredge came about. 

The morning is creeping up, causing the stars to fade. It gets harder to find the constellations with every minute that passes. The sun slowly rises above the trees and lights up the once dark path. Mahree and I take a five minute break on a bench after what seems like an hour of running. I know that's not true, but time doesn't exist in the wilderness. 

I turn my head and notice another stream of water. It's smaller than the creek, but I'll take what I can get now that I don't have water on command. I look down the stream and check to see if it has run long enough to be safe for drinking. I give Mahree a thumbs up before plunging my face in the frosty water. 

For the first time since we've been in the woods, hunger stabs at my stomach. I haven't eaten in a day and a half, yet I haven't gotten hungry. But now its catching up to me, and probably with Mahree as well. I keep my eyes open for stream fish such as catfish or shad. Just another helpful lesson that mother taught me.

A glimmer in the stream catches my eye. Scales! I snatch the shad from the water and inspect it for disease or wounds. It looks perfectly fine to me. "Mahree!" I call. "I got us breakfast!"