The Spartan Project

Where Lilacs go to Die (Unedited)

There were two flowering shrubs which took root outside the compound where Orion grew up. The flowers would bloom early in the Spring and would decorate the countryside would spots of color. Since the first year Orion found them at his encampment he looked forward to their fleeting beauty. Once, he tried to take one of the flowers back to his cabin, but was disappointed when days later it withered and died.

Orion was sitting on the wooden steps of his cabin when an elderly woman with squinty eyes approached him. "'If you love a flower don't pick it up. Because if you pick it up it dies and ceases to be what you love. So, if you love a flower let it be. Love is not about possession, but appreciation.'" At five years old the meaning of her words was lost on Orion. He held the dried flower with despair in his small, chubby hands.

Jean, the elderly woman who spoke, saw the confusion on young Orlons face. She knew him from her time in the bakery at the compound, as well as from rumors going around regarding the boy who never spoke. Orion looked down at the flower, still listening, but also deep in thought. Not discouraged by his seeming lack of attention, Jean moved to sit next to Orion on the wooden steps.

"You see," she began to explain, her voice high pitched but her tone soft. "When I was a young girl about your age my Grandfather would tell me stories about the Old World." At the mention of the Old World, Orion became captivated once again. He stared up at her too thin lips as she spoke with genuine interest. Like many young boys, Orion was curious about things that were forbidden to him. Talking about the Old World was forbidden to everyone inside the Colony. 

"My Grandfather was a wise old man, and always said that the Old World was not to be feared, but to be learned from. He told me stories of great cities with buildings miles high. He would recite old poetry to me by memory until I could also recite it. His mind was a history book to a gruesome, but important past." Jean wasn't sure why she felt so comfortable telling Orion all her secrets; secrets that could get her killed, but she supposed that her sense of easiness was likely to blame on Orion being a mute. She had reassurance that he would never physically say the things she was telling him. Knowing that her Grandfathers legacy would not die with her was comforting.

Orion was grinning happily, but at the young age of five couldn't completely comprehend the consequences of her speaking to him about such things. Jean smiled, revealing a few missing teeth on the left side of her face. "The man who said that, about the flower, there were a lot of disputes about him, but very few people disagreed with his sentiment." Her voice was soft and kind, and Orion found himself relaxed around her. Jean was comfortable with his silence, and together they sat in the quiet, thinking about the flowers which bloomed for only two weeks out of the year.

Much like the flowers, their serenity didn't last.

Months passed, and over this time Jean taught Orion many things. He learned that the flowers which bloomed in the compound were called Lilacs. He learned about the history of the Old World, and how there used to be many different societies which worked together to survive. Jean laughed at his excitement as Orion imagined what it would be like to have technology for fun, like a television, which he'd never seen before. Currently there were very few televisions but the ones that were still in operation only played one channel that the Colony produced. What would it be like to be able to see anywhere in the world in the blink of an eye through a screen? Most importantly Orion learned what freedom and love meant.

During one of their lessons, Orion looked up at Jean with sad eyes. Love seemed to be some huge force, and it seemed impossible to him to feel such strong things for anyone. Orion didn't know anyone who he would die for. 

Jean smiled at Orion, "Love isn't a scary thing, Orion." She had told him. "I love you, you know." Her laughter roared at the horror stricken expression on his face. She had recently told him the Old World story of Romeo and Juliet.

"There are different kinds of love sweetheart!" Of course he had known that, but Jean was growing to learn that Orion had quite the sense of humor. She gave him a sweet smile and kissed him on top of the head, laughing herself. Such contact wasn't permitted, but Jean was finding herself more comfortable around the young boy. "I love you like a mother loves her son." Orion smiled happily. He had a family. It was small, and unconventional, but it was real. 

The compound remained fairly peaceful, besides the occasional innocent mischief which boys caused.  However, Orion noticed that Jean's movements were becoming slower, and her breathing more labored. Her health had declined rapidly over the few months since Orion had met her. More than once, health officials were brought in to check on her, but each time they gave her a clean bill of health. 

"They don't have the supplies to help me, I'm afraid." Orion had taken the news hard, but he understood what she actually meant. Jean wasn't a priority for the government. She was old and required more resources to survive than she produced in a given day. Even if they had the supplies, they wouldn't waste them on her. He felt a surge of anger both at the injustice and at his inability to do anything about it. The Colony knew less about the value of a human life than a five year old did. He hugged Jean, wishing with all his willpower that he could make her better. The officials had said she could get better with time, but Jean had responded that age didn't work that way. She had laughed when she'd said it, but the sound had been bitter. 

The day that Jean died, Orion was not there. It had been a year since their first meeting on the wooden steps and Orion had finally come to accept Jean as a permanent fixture in his life. As he sat on the grass overlooking the valley bellow he felt his stomach drop at the sight of the morgue truck. No! He sprinted to the infirmary, his movements hysterical and erratic. "Orion! Orion!" Nurses shouted at him, trying to catch him but he was too fast. Everything sounded like he was underwater. It was as though he was moving so fast that everyone else got slower. 

The rest of the world suddenly slammed him to a full stop and hung still around him as he saw her body laying on the white sheets of the infirmary. He tasted water, and raised a hand to his face to find that it was wet. His hand was shaking as he pulled it away. Everyone in the room stood still, watching Orion with caution. A waterfall of emotions overcame Orion, including anger, grief, and disbelief, if you counted that as an emotion. Orion shook his head, and his heart beat so hard the movements could be seen through his skinny chest. A tear fell from an attendants eye as she watched, but she brushed it away quickly. Emotions were frowned upon. 

 No one had been there with her when she passed; no one who cared. Orion felt his legs give way and his kneecaps slammed into the floor. That should have hurt, he thought briefly before his vision tunneled as medical personnel arrived to take her away. The last thing he saw was Jean, his Jean, lifted onto a gurney. In the distance Orion could hear the sound of a truck being started. After that, it was all a blur. 

The next day there was nothing left but memories of Jean. Per usual, there was no funeral service, and the only words spoken about her were rumors on how she died but even these were whispers. There was a new woman doing her job at the bakery, and Jeans bed was cleared out. To anyone besides Orion, it was like she didn't exist at all. Jean had been a lilac, a rare and courageous flower who bloomed in a world too ugly for her beauty. She had been yellow in a sky of grey, and had shown Orion the truth behind the Colony and The Ultimate who controlled it. 

Jean deserved better; she deserved justice, and Orion wouldn't rest until he got it for her.