The State of Euphoria

Chapter 1

When the morning alarm rings through my house I am already wide awake. I usually am. I'm always ready to start my day. I throw off my sheets and hurry to my closet where my Sunday clothes wait in the pod. I place my hand the glass and wait for the tingle in my palm to go away. When it does, the pod opens slowly as it releases the smell of clean clothes. Quickly, my shirt comes off the hook, and I pull it around my torso, embracing it's clean pressed hug as I button it up. It's the same shirt every day, but putting it on feels right. The new shimmering white fabric is as happy as ever. I follow it up with the same white pants and sandals and stop in front of a mirror, smoothing out any wrinkles. I brush through my tangled hair with my fingers, throwing out the auburn strands that fall through my fingertips as I hurry outside where the sun sits just over the horizon. A few people walk past my house, carrying groceries from the market and offering me welcoming smiles. Across Acacia Street is where my best friend, Castor, lives. He is there on the porch waiting just like he is every morning. Next to him, is his apprentice, Joey. I wave to them and he stands and says something to Joey as they walk over to me.

"Good morning, Moon. Sunday welcomes you."

"Hi Castor, Joey. Sunday welcomes you." I smile and hug Castor and give Joey a small pat on the shoulder. "Where to today?"

"I'm taking Joey down to the Marina to go out on the water."

"May I join?"

"Of course!" Castor smiles.

"Maybe you could teach me how to fish?" I say with a sigh looking at the ground.

"Moon," He says with sigh, "you know I can't do that. It's against the rules to teach someone who isn't in your Division-"

"The way of that Division. I know. I know. I try every morning. It's just upsetting to have not been Assigned yet. You know that."

"You will be. Don't worry so much. And you'll be great at whatever you do." Joey says with a smile.

"Thank you, Joey. I really hope so. I put my faith in the Euphorics every morning." I smile back and take Castor's arm as we walk through the Villas to the City. The white buildings and cobblestone roads are the same as they were the day before, only because it's Sunday are there small shacks and stands set up with people trying to sell their wares. It's fun to see all the hand-crafted things they make, from baskets, to jewelry, to home-grown fruits and vegetables. I pick up a few things to take on the boat for breakfast, and Castor buys himself a leather bracelet with an emerald sewn to the center of it. I help him tie it on and he beams at its' uniqueness.

"It's very pretty." I tell him.

"Thank you. I'll wear it everyday."

"That's what you said about the last one." Joey says raising an eyebrow. "How long has it been now since we saw it?"

"Well, this time I mean it."

"That's also what you said about the last one." I remind him.

"Both of you leave me and my bracelet alone."

"Bracelets." I say with a smile, eyeing Joey, who is trying to not laugh.

Castor rolls his eyes and pulls us both into him, wrapping his strong arms around around our shoulders with a squeeze.

In front of us is the marina and several boats are already out on the water. On the western side of the docks sits Castor's fishing boat. A long silver arm with a net hangs on the side submerged in the water and Joey runs over to reel it in.

"Hey! What is the first thing you do when you get on a boat?" Castor yells at him from the dock.

"Oh, right." Joey stops what he was about to do and he goes to a metal wheel sticking out of the floor boards and begins to turn it.

Castor helps me onto the boat with one easy lift and then jumps in after me. While Joey rolls up to the ropes that hold the boat to the dock Castor goes inside and starts it up. I sit in my spot out of the way and wait. Joey pulls the net out of the water and starts sorting the fish in the designated containers under the floor boards. I watch him work quickly, and without error.

Soon, the boat moves. The hum of the engine comes to life as we soar out of the docks and farther out in the ocean. Castor stays at the wheel as we move and Joey crosses the boat back and forth doing different things with different fish and tossing out the ones that don't fall under a category.

After a while, I see the iridescent glow of the Euphoria border coming into view. We are far out in the water, but the border lets me know we are safe, protected from whatever lies in the ocean beyond.

When it gets hot, Joey pulls off his shirt and tosses it aside leaving it not so white. His shorts are covered in fish scales and little red splotches. On his chest, over his heart is a dark black circle, like the one I have. I'm not sure what it means, but we all have it. Castor's is a triangle. They are like birthmarks, except we all have one of three shapes. A circle, a triangle, or a diamond. I've only seen a few people with a triangle, like Castor. The most common is a diamond, and after that, a circle.

Castor has some weird thoughts about the markings and where they came from, but to me, it's obvious they are just birthmarks of some sort. The explanation as to why we all have it is that we are born with it. That's what the Euphorics tell us.

I watch Castor watch Joey as he moves around the boat with ease and agility. He doesn't look like he belongs on a fishing boat, but it's easy to tell he enjoys it.

I wish I knew what that was like. We are all supposed to be assigned to a Leader by the time we are 15, but in rare cases, like me, we don't get assigned until later, not 18 years old "later", but later. We knew Joey before he was assigned to Castor. We all went to Finishing School together. Joey was supposed to graduate two years after Castor and I, but he was smarter than most of the other kids his age and the Euphorics bumped his graduation status. He became Castor's apprentice shortly after that.

I, however, am still waiting, and waiting, and waiting ever longer. Sometimes I feel like maybe it was a mistake, but Euphorics don't make mistakes. And, of course, I'm not supposed to feel like this; out of place, I mean. It's not allowed, after all. I tried to express this to Castor, but all I get is, "Moon, Euphoria is for everyone, if you feel out of place, you're not for Euphoria, and that is entirely impossible..." and blah blah blah stuff like that, which really doesn't make me feel any better.

"Hey, you still there? Hello?" I feel someone tap my forehead and I blink and look up to Castor.

"Sorry. I got lost in the ocean." I say.

"Well come on before the markets close for the day, I've got fish to sell."

Castor easily pulls the boat back into it's space in the dock and when it lightly bumps the wooden planks, Joey slaps a small metal rod and it starts to spin as the anchor drops into the water securing a spot in the sand below.

I stand and let Joey help me down off the boat. He fastens the stays on the dock again and follows closely behind Castor with a sack of fish on his bare back. Castor carries his like it's nothing and he never stops to catch his breath like Joey does.

Once we get to the marketplace, Castor heads strait to a man with a long grey beard, even though he isn't that old looking.

"Afternoon Castor! Sunday welcomes you!"

"Good Afternoon Isaac, Sunday welcomes you. I brought your usual." He takes out a smaller bag of fish from the sack and hands it over to Isaac in exchange for a nice sum of Coin. Castor nods to Isaac and we walk on until both boys are empty-handed and smelling like they sleep with a whole school of tuna.

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I thought of this chapter while listening to Breathe by Telepopmusik