Paradise Among Metal

Chapter 3

Lucy sat at the edge of the beam for a while, just letting her bare feet dangle in the wind. The wind was freezing like always, yet she remained. She'd rather remain out here in the cold world forever than go back inside the prison she's been stuck in for who knows how long.

After about fifteen minutes though, she decided to go back inside. Nothing interesting was happening, anyways.

She swung her feet to the side of the beam and scooted back to the window frame, being careful not to fall off. The concrete ground lay several stories below her, and Lucy could imagine how painful it would be to crash onto it from that height.

She inched towards the window frame until she was safe and sound inside the hospital. It was a few degrees warmer in here, but it didn't matter to Lucy all that much. Colors, like the vibrant red of the beam, supplied their own warmth in this cold world. To be honest, Lucy didn't know why she came back inside.

There were plenty of things to do on the beam. Sit, daydream, be terrified of heights.

Lucy eyed the window frame, opened just a crack. She thought about going back outside on it, but one of the boys in her ward came around the corner of the colorless hall.

He was smiling.

"Lucy!" He said, running up to her. There was a maniacal glint in his steely eyes. "Guess what?! We're all going to Paradise tomorrow morning!"

Lucy's jaw dropped. "Really?!"

Hope.

Hope.

There was hope.

But then the Metal parts of her took over, snuffing out the hope as quick as it had come.

Lucy shook her head. "There is no easy way to Paradise."

"You don't know that!" The boy said, tugging on Lucy's tawny arm. The two children were a strange couple, one being black and white, and the other being sepia. "C'mon, I'll show you what'll take us to Paradise!"

The flame of hope ignited in Lucy again, its warmth engulfing her and for one moment, making the gloominess of the Perimeter just a bit more bearable.

Of course, her mind, brainwashed by an eternity in the Perimeter, pushed it away again.

"It's probably not safe for us to go to Paradise so easily. It's hard to go there for a reason, I bet."

The boy laughed, and his echo rang through the halls, adding a bit more life to the dull hospital.

"You're silly, Lucy."

A girl ran around the corner, her faded yellow hair billowing behind her.

"She's not silly, stupid! She's Lucy!"

The two children giggled, smiling like they were already in Paradise. All Lucy could do is stare.

The boy grabbed Lucy's arm again and dragged her down the hall, laughing. "You'll change your mind when you see it! It's a wonderful machine!"

"You shouldn't trust machines! They can hurt you!" Lucy retorted, stumbling over her own feet as she was dragged.

The girl laughed at her. "What makes you say that?"

Lucy huffed. "Um, because I'm hurt by a machine everyday by doctors in an attempt to cure me of an illness that I'm pretty sure doesn't exist. The doctors say the machines heal me, but all I feel is pain, pain, and more pain."

"Good thing we're cured!" The boy said. "While you were sitting on that beam, the Head Doctor said that we were all cured, and that tomorrow, we will all be going home to Paradise!"

Before Lucy could react, he stopped in front of a room.

"We're here!"

The room was bare and sterile, like all the rooms in the hospital. On one side, wall to ceiling windows showed the vast gray world. On the opposite side was a small bathroom. The rest of the walls that weren't covered in windows were a light green color, a color that beckoned to Lucy's hope and made her feel warm and tingly.

Against the window was a strange, surgical-looking machine. Its bottom part was what looked like a cabinet, but its top part was something Lucy had never seen before. There was a chair-looking thing, and hanging from another gray machine were two metal things, shaped like bullets. Their tips had a rubber cap on them.

"How is that thing supposed to take us to Paradise?" Lucy asked, eyeing the machine. The girl shrugged.

"I don't know. The Head Doctor just showed it to us and told us it is going to take us to Paradise."

Paradise.

For the first time, that word took root in Lucy's mind.

Paradise.

Paradise.

The hope was overwhelming her this time.

Lucy nodded in approval.

"Cool," she said, smiling for the first time.

"Might as well go rather than spend the rest of my life in this dump. I can't wait until tomorrow."

Wonder what will happen tomorrow? Anyways, please comment, vote, and share! Thanks for reading!