This is Society

Chapter 1: This is my World

My name is Rosalinda Jade Ray. But I go by Jade. The only person to ever call me by my first name, was my grandmother. But that was before the end of life as I had once known it.

It was 2047 if I recall correctly. I lived with my mother, father, twin brothers, both 9 years old at the time, and my grandmother. We owned a little apartment in the outskirts of New York City. I was 11 years old, and a younger image of my grandmother. My mother always used to tell me how my mid-waist dirty blonde hair was the exact replica of her mothers when she was younger. And my piercing blue eyes, filled with spirit and intelligence are the same eyes I looked into very often as a child, when I listened to my grandmother tell me stories. No matter how old she got, her eyes always help so much spirit in them, just like mine.

We lived a pretty normal life back then. My brothers, Brayden and Blaine, and I went to our local elementary school, our parents went to work, and my grandmother stayed home and waited for us to get back from school. Our easy life I must admit, we took for granted. But being so young, us children didn't know our way of life was being threatened.

Several days when I got home from school early, I would see my parents and grandmother sitting around the TV with worried looks in their eyes. Staying quiet so they wouldn't notice me, I saw my dad take my mothers hand in his, trying to comfort her. But I couldn't see what they were so upset about on the TV. I heard some thing such as 'No longer will it be like this.' And 'This is only the beginning.' But nothing I could really imagine making my parents this upset. Even my grandmother looked disturbed. Never in a million years did I know it would be this bad.

That very same day, my parents put a flashlight, matches, candles, a pocket knife, and a small pistol into a small metal box. I watched them hide it under a few floorboards between a dresser and the wall in their room. One time I asked my mother about the box and all of its belongings. She became very tense and told me to never speak of it to anyone ever again, no matter what. This made me even more scared of what was worrying my parents. My mother never got stern with us kids, and I was smart enough to know something wasn't right.

There came a day when it wasn't the TV my parents were sitting around when I got home from school. This time, I found them at the kitchen table. My mother was crying, her eyes puffy and red from the tears. And my dad still, holding her hand. I remember calling out 'Mother!' And running over to her. I had never seen her so upset. I asked her what's wrong, but she wouldn't tell me. She stuttered something about me being too young. My dad led her up to their room so the twins wouldn't see her in that condition when they got home. It was just then I noticed my grandmother sitting at the other end of the table, mumbling something to herself. She called me too her and told me to not speak of what she was about to tell me to anyone. I remember her exact words...

"Rosalinda your mother thinks you are too young to understand. But I know better. You are a bright child. You catch on fast and you use your head. Tell me honey, have you ever heard of Society?"

"Kinda... I heard some teenage girls talking about how they hate Society because they are never skinny enough, but when they are, they are too skinny. And how Society won't ever let them be satisfied with what they are." I replied to my grandmother.

"Yes what they said is true. But it's just not that simple anymore. Society has become more than that. Certain groups of people wanting to change others to be more perfect to instead tear them down have risen up. They now want to reign over everything we do. They have taken over the White House. These people are growing in number. They are making it illegal to have any sort of weapons. No longer are we allowed to go to the store and get whatever we want. We only get what society gives us. Money is now worthless. We are not charged for anything but we have to work for what little items they decide to give us. All electricity is going to go out because Society claims we are too poor to pay for it. But it's really because they have rid of the money system. Turning things back on us is Society's sick game. Once Society advances into the city, we have no hope. I never thought it would be this bad." She shook her head and sighed. "Rosa-"