Forbidden Enchantment Series: The Virus

The Time to "Grow Up"

I guarded my eyes from the sun with my hand, and walked out several yards to a walking-guide displaying a red hand. I looked up at the glass sky and stared as the clouds from the outside passed over and went on their way. I studied the intricate pattern of the glass crystals as the sun, through a break in the clouds, reflected off of them. The red hand disappeared and was replaced with an emerald green eye. I crossed the paved boardwalk and skipped a few steps to the opposite side. The streets were quiet except for the people coming from the "stable". Both the old man and the girl had stopped following me and went their own way.

"Em wait up" a familiar voice shouted from behind me.

"You walk fast. How did it go?" she said breathlessly.

"Willow I'd rather not talk about it" I replied grabbing the end of my braid and weaving it through my fingers. Willow nodded understandingly and smiled.

"What", I asked biting my lip. I had a feeling she had a secret, something she wasn't going to tell me then.

"Oh nothing" she said looking around. Yep I was right it was something she was going to have to tell me later. We had to be cautious for there could always be someone listening or watching nearby. Willow winked making my suspicion truth. Willow and I grew up together with our families and were transferred to this new community-sphere only a week ago and we were still separating friends from enemies. We were transmitted here because the leaders thought Willow and I became of age to be matched with people we would get along with. We were surprised and also glad that we were matched to the same community. Today, our families had come to see us one last time before it had been time for us to move on and officially "grow up" as the people called it. I felt a mix of bitter sadness and harsh fear and I left my childhood behind, not knowing what the future had before me. We parted never to see each other again. I remembered my mother's story of her matching to her community sphere, and the advice she had given me to face my future and be successful.

"You must always remember to be your own person and find what you enjoy doing and do it" she had said the night I was matched.

"What was it like when you were transferred" I asked trying not to cry.

"I was terrified, I was leaving the only people, place, and things I knew" she said with a far-off look in her eye. "I remember when I first got there, and the first person to greet me was your father, and now when I look back I realize if I still remained in the same biosphere I had when I was a child I would never have met your father, and then you wouldn't be here right now" she had said teary-eyed. She kissed my forehead and held me close.

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We walked the rest of the way without conversation, avoiding an occasional puddle from the rainfall the day before. We would exchange a glance from time-to-time, but nothing more. Willow seemed occupied watching her feet move beneath her. I followed the path her feet would take; her new black boots were given to her at the matching. They were her only pair of shoes, beside her worn patched up boots that she had at her old community. Her long cardigan had a tear, revealing part of her shoulder. I knew why she wore it. It was one of the few things she was allowed to keep from her old community. Her pants and tank were also new. I hadn't noticed before, but she had a deep laceration across her cheek that was red with fresh blood. I knew it involved the secret so I didn't say anything. We walked on silently. When we reached the residential-district we separated, into our own cubicle. I watched as the sky turned pure liquid outside the glass with shades of red, orange, and yellow all blended together in a magnificent display. Eventually the colors faded and as the sky turned grey I turned over in my bed and sealed my eyes shut. My world faded and blurred and I drifted off into a fitful sleep.