The Oasis

Chapter 8 (a)

An alarm sounded. Like any other day the morning alarm sounded through my head, except this time I was already up. Sleep was not something I got a great deal of last night. The eve of Testing Day kept many awake. I wanted nothing more then to sleep, but my nerves and excitement for today's upcoming event hinder any chances of a restful eve.

The sun shone brightly through the grey curtains.

Hmm grey...

The thought had just occurred to me that today may be the last time I see the light through a grey filter. For tomorrow it may be brown, or white, or even black. All of that depended on today.

I watched the curtains dance in the summer breeze that crept into my bedroom via the slightly opened window. I looked around.

This is it. This is the last time I will see this place.

I wondered just what my new place would look like. It's possible, I suppose it could look very much like the one I'm in now. It is possible that my Test results would place me here, in RING 2 . Of course I would not be "here" as in my own house. But it would look nearly identical.

Would it smell the same?

I breathed in, sucking in every inch of air I could before my lungs simply refused to fill.

If I fail today, I will be dragged off, straight from the testing center to RING 4. I will not say goodbye. I will not gather my belongings, and hug my loved ones. I will be loaded into a transport and swept away. Shunned like the disgraceful being that I had proven to be.

A shiver crept up my spine, and I pull the sheets in closer to me. In this moment I want nothing more than to just stay. Just for a little longer. Here in the warmth of my home. In my room filled with grey summer sunlight. For it is here that I am comfortable, it's here I am safe.

"Magda! You're awake right?"

Mika's voice booms through the hallway, shaking me from the warmth of my daydreams.

"Yea... I'm up!"

I stand and stretch. My bones ache from lack of actual sleep. My head seemingly foggy, struggles to wake as I make my way to the closet.

I pull out the same grey pants and shirt that I wear nearly everyday, and head down the hall to take a shower.

"Sulu, Time till transport?"

"You have 37 minutes till your transport arrives."

I scan my wrist near the faucet of the shower. The shower head turns green, acknowledging me as the current shower user. The temperature is set just to my liking, the shampoo and body soap, just the right amount. Never to little, and never to much. I stand and let the near boiling water cascade over my head and face. After all of me is washed I command Sulu to change the temperature to a colder temp. Hoping against all odds that a more frigid shower will wake me from my slumber.

The shower turns off after the 10 minutes I'm allotted. I dry and dress in those dreaded grey clothes. I wipe my hand across the mirror and begin to tame my unruly tresses. I step back and look myself over, happy that I no longer look like the walking dead, I turn and make my way the the kitchen.

"Sulu, can I get some caffeine for breakfast, I feel it's truly needed?"

"Request granted!"

I sit across from Mika and eat the pancakes I have been given for the past week.

I'm not sure what has changed but I'm not complaining.

In this last week, I have noticed a few things that seem a little off, not just my breakfast. None of them are bad things, but somethings have changed without cause.