The Invisible Force

Chapter 1

           "Mom, what was that noise? I'm worried."

           "Don't worry Leigh, it's going to be ok."      

        When you were a little kid and you fell and scraped your knee while playing in the park, your mother reassured you with the words “it’s going to be ok”. Ok. Ok is a two-letter word with more weight than it can carry. By definition, what does “ok” really mean? Does it mean you’ll be good as new by tomorrow? Does it mean it will take time, but you’ll eventually get better? Does it mean you won’t die?

         For the first time in my life I didn’t believe my mother when she told me that everything was going to be ok. I had finally understood the power of the word “ok”, and living in an underground house with the potential of climbing out of your steel vault door and being crushed to death didn’t seem ok at all. So if you are wondering how I’m doing, than I’m sorry to inform you that I am not doing ok.

         When I woke up, the first thing I felt was a icey cool rush, which soothed my burning forehead. My eyelids slowly slid open to the sight of my mother standing over me with her left palm resting on my forehead and her thin lips pursed into the best smile she could fake. I had been running a fever for a week, with no access to any medicine to calm my fever down.

         Although she was far from ever saying it out loud, I knew my mother felt that things really weren’t ok. My father left for medicine and supplies five days ago, but he hasn’t returned yet. This is the longest he’s ever been gone. And my little sister, Heather, is currently missing as well. We figure she’s long gone, seeing we haven’t seen her in a month. She most likely left from our underground home in the middle of the night. That's what a lot of people have been doing, you know. They get so depressed, or hopeless or just straight up claustrophobic that they leave their homes and never come back.

         “Good morning sweetie, do you want anything to eat? How are you feeling?” My mother spoke softly with concern in her voice.

         “Can I have some bread with jam and a glass of water please? I still feel hot, but I feel better than I have the past few days.” I replied.

         “Well, I’m glad you’re gradually getting better. Let me go get you your food.”

         “Thanks mom.” I stretch up to kiss my mom on the forehead before she gets up to go prepare my breakfast.

         I lie on my bed and look up to see our faded world map sloppily taped to the steel wall, with tons of colorful pushpins piercing its continents.

         These colorful pushpins don’t signify happiness at all. Each pushpin represents a location that has been crushed by the invisible force in the past two months. Each location was pretty much the same--- All its trees crumpled to a pile of bark and leaves. All its buildings demolished into smoking piles of rubble. Its entire population of human beings, crushed to death.

This living horror story is where I live, and there's no escaping it. I am stuck in this hell hole forever.