Bellona 1821

Chapter 1

   “A telegram came in this morning,” my sister voices.
  As soon as she said this, I lifted my head. “What about?”
  “For you.”
  “What!?”
  “Well, not for you specifically,” she chuckles. “Young adults ages 18-21.”
   I blink. “I'm seventeen.”
   “Yeah but your eighteen tomorrow. And, coincidentally, they’re calling you on your birthday. And they said that that counts.”
   I shrug, “What’s this even for, anyway?”
  “Some kind of training,” she says softly. “I hope it’s not for the war.”
  I look to the ground. Our father died in battle, and our mom not soon after. I wouldn’t want to leave Kyrstin all alone. I’m the only blood family she has left. She has her boyfriend, but he’s always off someplace somewhere. Besides my sister, I have no real friends. We don’t go to school anymore, since they have the technology to just homeschool everyone. So I didn’t make any friends. Plus, our houses have electrical fences around them. We’re built up like caged animals, most of the time. And we are allowed to leave our houses, mind you.
  “You never know what the government is going to throw in our faces,” I reply simply.
  “Exactly.”

   It’s just been my sister and I for as long as I can remember. I barely remember my parents. I do remember them fighting all of the time, though. There was almost no peace in our house. But we were used to that. But now it’s way too peaceful in our quiet home. For the most part. We don’t even need to talk most of the time. We just enjoy each other’s presences while we can. But now we may not be able to. I guess only the future can tell.
   “I heard they were testing your strength. Physical and mental. And that doesn’t seem good. Knowing . . . Knowing them.”
   I nod. I’m going to have to prepare myself for the worst.