RED: Preface

What is the true meaning of perfect, exactly? In my world, perfect isn’t a body weight or hairstyle but the way you are on the inside. Perfect is being level headed. Perfect is being intellectually correct. Perfect is having the right values. Perfect is being a white.

            When we are born, our bodies develop souls. Until we reach the Judgment Day on the sixteenth anniversary of our lifetime, are souls are given five thousand eight hundred and forty days to grow into its permanent shape. Not only is the elder’s judgment based on the good things you have done in your lifetime but also on the things you are going to do later on. Being perfect isn’t just being it, it’s living it as well. Only those who are perfect are allowed to be in the community.

            Now, it’s my turn. My Judgment day has finally rolled around and I was ready to join my friends on the white side of life. I was nervous for everyone because we as kids have done some pretty crazy stuff in our lifetimes. But, low and behold, everyone turned out okay. Now, as I head my way towards the Town Center,  my nerves are calming down. I was the youngest of the group of five so I’m the cleanest of them all. I should have no problem pleasing the elders.

            Everyone was in the car; Jay, Rudy, Jason, and Danny. They were all here to cheer me on. When that light flashed bright white, they were ready to bring me to the new side of life. In the few times I have spoken to them after they ‘changed’, they vividly describe something that happens after you cross over. Something that I couldn’t comprehend, but something that I wanted so badly. My parents were there as well, smiling back at me in the rearview mirror proudly. Everyone’s silver bracelets were glowing brightly like a nebula of stars shining in the middle of the afternoon. I was the lonely spaceman floating in nowhere. Soon, that would very well change.

            “You ready for this, Maxy?” Jay, who only changed a week earlier, said, teasing me with my infamous pet name. I smiled and nodded my head, to lost in my thoughts to speak. “I know you’ll do great.” My mother said softly from the front seat, visibly trying to not embarrass me. I silently thanked her for that. My friends would never let it go if they heard one of my mother’s nicknames for me. I blushed at the thought of her squeezing me tightly and calling me Cheesy. (I had a terrible liking for cheese as a kid.)

            Soon, the town center appeared through the windshield, separated from the rest of the community in all of its glory. The building was only one story tall but supported great architectural feats and heavenly designs that only the highest of the high could afford. For the profits of our community, they could afford anything they wanted, even time.

            Tens and tens of cars, all the same make, model, and color as the others, circled the building’s rotunda. People exited their cars and filed in and out of the building doing something or another with great importance. What, I did not know. But I had a feeling I would as soon as my very own bracelet glows the bright white light it will. Jay put his hands on my shoulders and shook them fiercely, almost like he was preparing me for the biggest fight of my life. It sure did feel like it.

            The Elder’s building was grander than I had ever imagined. This was my first time in the building and my eyes went wide as I saw how truly beautiful it was. My mother and father both worked as accountants for the community, traversing back and forth to the Elder’s building each day to ensure everyone paid what needed to be paid. This was just like another day’s work for them but for me it was like going to a zoo and seeing hundreds of strange species never seen before.

            Everyone was wearing their business clothes, including my friends, parents, and I. Any time you were visiting the Elder’s you must present yourself at the very best. You surely don’t want to disappoint on your Judgment Day, that’s for sure. Jay explained to me in an email (They were only permitted to those who have already be judged, and the young ones like myself are only permitted to use the service, under supervision, if a message had been sent to us.) that you may dress how you please in Eden, the capitol city of our community. He also explained that even though the freedom to dress, unlike the uniforms and dress clothes we were for the first sixteen years, was nice, it was still quite bland on fashion standards.