Fallen

Chapter One

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            The only place I ever really go, besides school, is the library. I love to go and read all of the beautiful poems and stories.  One of my favorites is one about a girl who, like myself, loves to read and is very curious. Her curiosity gets the best of her when she follows a talking rabbit and falls down a rabbit hole. My mom told me that I need to stop reading all of these works of fiction because they are entirely impossible.  But, if you were me, you would understand that nothing is impossible.

            Ever since The Fall hundreds of years ago, the society that was once democratic and independent has become declaring and forceful.  I like to read old newspaper articles because they allow my mind to wander.  What was it like before The Fall; before everyone’s lives were laid out in front of them; before the people we once trusted decided to control our lives in every way possible?

            I look down at the magazine in my hand.  A beautiful girl with red hair and freckles is on the cover.  I stare at the picture for long more than necessary.  I can point out several similarities between the model and myself:  her hair, her smile, her face shape.  But that’s where the similarities end; she’s far prettier than I am.

            I always wished from a young age that I would be lucky enough to be chosen for a modeling job assignment by the society.  I stare back down at the model; did she want to have a modeling career or was it forced on her?  The question I ask myself is silly. Of course she chose it; everyone, long ago, was able to choose their career…they were able to choose everything.  Unlike now, where the government controls our lives. They choose what we become, who we love, where we go.

            They choose who we are.

            In school we learn about common stuff, like math and writing, as well as an entire class devoted to The Fall; what it was like before and after. We learn that The Fall was something that wasn’t intentional or predicted; it just happened. According to our teachers, civilians were given too much power – the power of choice.  Being able to make their own decisions made people very greedy.  They wanted more and more until there was no more. But people still weren’t satisfied; they went mad! A war broke out that couldn’t be stopped!  Almost the entire nation fell.

            Very few sane people were left; they are known as the Legends.  They somehow banded together and made a new society built upon the ruins of the old. Because of these people, we were able to live.

            I never really understood why some of the people were so selfish.  Every year in school I would ask my teacher, but they would never give me a straight forward answer. The thought that someone who has everything would want something more brings tears to my eyes. Because of them, we are punished to never be able to be the pilot of our own lives. With this thought, a tear escapes my eye and drops onto the picture of the beautiful model.