Utopia (ON HOLD)

Rain and Auras

It's raining today.

I wake up to the sound of the rain's pitter-patter on the eaves, dripping onto the ground outside. Rain is rare in Utopia, where it's usually sunshine and warm breezes, relaxing weather. I curl up into a ball in my comfortable bed and listen.

I love the rain. So rhythmic and musical, so inspirational and calm and emotional. Most people enjoy the sun, but rain...they don't like that much.

The rain, however, gives me peace.

It might be strange for Utopians to see someone who likes rain. But hey, I've always been a bit special.

My birth was off schedule, something that almost never happens in Utopia. All babies are scheduled to be born on a specific day named Life Day here, but for some reason, mine was a bit off. Originally, like everyone else, I was going to be born on Life Day, but something happened that caused me to get born a few days early. I was born on the night of the full moon, which is why my mother named me Luna. I'm sixteen years old and a few days older than other kids my age.

In Utopia, everyone's born with a special talent that has never been seen before. My friend Holly has a great mind for mathematics, and she can calculate things in seconds. Mum is immune to fire, so she works in the gold refinery.

My special talent is weird. I've always been able to notice a glow around people, all different colours. Dad's is pinkish. The president's is indigo. Mine is a mix of light blue and gold, and I can manifest it in different ways, like wrap it around me in a warm blanket, or making the part around my hands into gauntlets, which are really cool.

I've never told anyone exactly what my powers do. I'm not quite sure myself, actually.

I tune back into the rain, revelling in the peace. Utopia is perfect. No bad things like war, famine, sickness and poverty that every other city seems to have to deal with. We learnt that in Utopian Studies, a required subject for all students aged 12-18.

Life feels great.

I glance out of the window again, pressing my palm against the cool glass.

As usual, every adult is coming home from work at either the government, refineries, and whatever. Jobs are really important to Utopia, and everyone's supposed to be apprenticed to a master of one according to their talents as soon as they turn 28. I've never had a special talent before, though. I'm just about average at...well, everything.

Thank goodness I'm only sixteen and still have two years to figure my talent out. Otherwise, I might end up like the Talentless, living a life with only bare necessities and spending their time running errands for those who have jobs for just the tiniest amount of money. There is hardly any governmental protection if you don't have a job, so they often injure themselves with no health benefits.

I hope I never become like them. But I won't. The government loves all of us, and this city is better than lots of others, and it's way worse.

Sometimes, though, I wonder if this mundane lifestyle is really so good.