Stay

Elliot

Snowflakes settled on my long, dark brown hair as I sat below the Lonesome Tree. It had been years since I'd been here, back where we first met. Back when there was no war. Back when we were in love. Everything seems different now. There are barely any bright colorful leaves hanging from the Lonesome Tree anymore, they've all fallen and turned gray, like the rest of the world. No one's seen you or heard of you since that horrible day, that day that changed everything.

I go back to that Saturday morning, when everything seemed so peaceful, so full of life, so real. We were eating breakfast, crumbled eggs with pieces of fruit, and we were all sitting around the wooden table that dad had built for the family. My little sister, Lisa, was arguing with mom trying to get away from eating her fruit while I laughed at her failed attempts to win over the conversation. You came in then with a worried expression on your face, quickly hiding it when you noticed I had stopped laughing to look at you. I now wish I had payed more attention, for then I would've seen the voluminous envelope you were hiding behind your back. But I didn't, and that cost the lives of hundreds of thousands. I knew your smile was fake but I didn't push it. I had to go to work anyways, as a 16 year old Commander of all LA Squadrons, the military has low expectations of you that have to be proven wrong.

It's 2064 and the way of life has changed greatly. 16 year-olds go work for the military after 6 years of elementary and 2 years of high school, studying the basics of military, training, and taking The Test after, which decides what the government wants to do with you. If you get 1800/1800 then you become a prodigy which has only happened once before, if you get 1500-1700 then you go on to a chosen college then off to the military, if you score any lower you become one of the loons they're the ones that live in the slum sectors, the poor, the failed, the middle class, basically everyone that doesn't pass the test and goes to college.