Others

Cobalt

It's hot

Hotter than the summers in Thistle Creek, where I grew up

Running through the trees

Splashing in the lake

Before my mother started to dress me in boys clothes and cut my hair short

Before the Others came

Other girls are working here

All dressed in the same set of dark clothing

Washing clothes in large vats of water

Cooking a vat of food

If that could even be called food

It looked like something a bird regurgitated for its young

Or maybe it was oatmeal

They stopped what they were doing as we walked in

Staring at me with large eyes

One of the guards screamed at them to continue working

Their sleeves rolled up their marked arms

They led me to a window where the girls served the food

A line was already outside

Girls who I had arrived with

Girls who I didn't recognize

All in line for the meal

Some with tear streaked faces

others with looks of defeat written all over them

This place was a prison

You will be serving the meals until further notice, this one will show you where you sleep

You will not go anywhere without instruction, you will not interact with anyone other than those you see here

Is that clear?

I nod

The guard seems satisfied and him and his counterpart leave us

The Other girl looks at me with pity as I stand next to her, picking up one of the servers

My job was to scoop soggy vegetables onto each plate as it passed

The first wave was all the females

I began to notice the separation of gender

The next wave was the males

All Others, their marked skin alive with black fire

I glance at the girl next to me

She gives me the tiniest of smiles

We work in silence

Sweat drips down my back as I finish

scrubbing the last bit of goop from

the bottom of the vat

Sinder

The Other girl that I worked with

Came up next to me

Her corn silk hair tied back

Several loose strands

Fluttering on her forehead

We're done for the night

She says in her strange accent

I'll show you where we sleep

I follow her out of the sweltering room

My arms numb

Fingers raw red from the hot water

She takes me out into our side of the Grove

Here

The tents were a dusty beige color

Clothes are hung on lines

Girls

Other and Human alike

Sit in huddles

Talking in hushed voices

They stare at me as we pass

Their eyes huge

Luminous

Reflecting the dim light

Even here

Where we are all reduced

To nothing

I am an outsider

Something to whisper about

Someone to gawk at

Slack jawed

Open mouthed

Staring

It takes me back

To when I was younger

Back when my Mother

Brother

And I

Were living in Thistle Creek

One of the smaller

Rural towns

My mother is

Was

A nurse

Specifically for small children

Going from house to house

Treating sickness and small injuries

Wherever we went

People stared

At me

My strange hair

Strange eyes

Calling me names

Half breed spawn

Mutt

Mutant

Bastard Other

Rumors spread like wild fire and

We soon distanced ourselves from the town

Moving deep into the woods

Building our small shack

Planting a garden and raising a few animals my mother was able to trade vegetables for

She always defended me

Though when I asked her later

What the names meant

She didn't say

She also avoided questions about my father

Only saying that he disappeared during the war

She had this look in her eyes

Pain

Loss

And anger

I mentioned him

Once

When I was fourteen

I asked her if my father was an Other

She reared back

Spooked

Like a horse

And slapped me hard across the face

My cheek stinging

Tears streaming from my eyes

Don't ever speak of that again

She hissed

And I never did