Eden

Chapter one

"All the people you are about to see are real, although some of what they do has been set up for your viewing pleasure." - Eden disclaimer

The girl was on her knees, hands pressed to the dirt, her head bowed. You could tell she was crying, even though she made no noise, from the way her back heaved as if a sob was taking over her whole body. Well that and the tiny drops you could just make out as they pattered to the mud underneath her. The girl was tiny, she looked about 10, a poor retched creature with matted hair and a rather thread bare Eden uniform.

"You shouldn't have stolen from me Annie," said the man looming over her. He was a big man, broad shoulders, but there was no threat in his voice, if anything there was an element of fear.

"I work hard to support my family and if someone takes something from me I cannot sell it on to pay to feed my wife and son."

The girl stayed silent knowing if she were to lift her head it would make things ten times worse. She was Eden born and raised, she knew what was going to happen next, knew what would happen if she cried out.

"Annie the punishment for stealing is a lash for every year of your life to be performed publically in the market square... I'm sorry, I can't do this! Her parents have died, she's hungry." The man turned to speak to someone standing behind him, pleading with them. The camera panned too far and Lexi saw the guards standing behind him, guns pointed.

She hated when they did that, it broke the mystic, made it more real. Well it was real, but it was never nice to be reminded of that. With a huff Lexi walked over to the TV and switched it off, just as two gun shots echoed out of the screen. She was glad they were so high up, that she couldn't hear the gun shots in real life; it made it easier to forget.

"After that I think I need cheering up" Lexi said aloud to herself. It was Amy's party tonight; she was turning 16, a year older then Lexi. Realising her curls were starting to drop a bit Lexi rummaged around in her drawer for her hair curler. Having tight curls and glossy natural hair was all the rage at the moment, everyone in the towers was wearing their hair that way. Last month it had been dead straight hair and as Lexi lived on the 134th floor she knew she had to look perfect. Ah the pressures of being an upper 5's girl.

There was only one more floor above Lexi, a sign of how successful her father had become. Each family lives on a floor depending on how wealthy they are. Some families moved a lot, some stayed put. Lexi had been born onto the 134th floor, and had lived there her whole life. Amy lived on the 135th floor, with a roof garden. Only the upper 5's were invited to her party. Lexi had never spoken to anyone below the upper 5's; they were below her in every sense of the word.

Lexi walked over to her wardrobe to select her dress for tonight. As she did so she glanced down out of her window. She could just make out the boundaries of Eden, sprawled out below, a mass of brown and filth, of insect people in a far away land. With a shudder Lexi turned away. Sometimes she didn't like to be reminded that Eden was down there, that it was real. It certainly served as a pretty good warning. Who would want to live down there?

The sun begin to set. The reds and yellows and even purples as the sun began to dip below the horizon. The evening was beginning.

                                                                                  ***

Life hadn’t always been like this, or so they’d told him. Once they’d lived up in glistening towers too, rather than trudging around in the mud. At least that’s what they’d told Alex. He’d never known anything other than Eden. He’d never known anything other than this world of make believe and deceit.