The Vessels

Prologue

Prologue:

I run through the sea of colored fabrics, each footstep I take is taunting me. Which footstep will be the last, which one will be the one that destroys me. I know, eventually, one footstep will lead me straight into the enemy. At least, into the rich. The wealthy, the ones who don't care, they don't have to care, because everything is already laid out right in front of them.

"Layla! Dude! Where are you going!" My sister Rachel screams from behind me.

"Where do you think?" I yell over the crowd. The vessels are leaving today, and I never miss it. I love this feeling, the wind rushing through my thin blonde hair, it's amazing really. I close my eyes and enjoy the breeze. People yell and shove and push me around, but at this point, I don't care. The only thing I care about is making it through another week of torture.

Long ago, a nuclear military experiment had gone wrong. The oceans started to rise, so high the state of Pennsylvania was covered completely. The population is growing. 340 billion.

And in case you're wondering why these ships are leaving, it's because they are taking people like me to die. Every week, a selection of children are taken to a small island off the coast of, well, nothing anymore.

The point is they basically bring the inferior to this island so they will die, because honestly its a 3 foot long piece of mountain at this point.

My stomach slams into the rusty metal railing, interrupting me from my thoughts. The moss covered ships are below us, each human awaiting death. One vessel in particular sticks out to me though, this vessel beholds thousands of inferiors. The vessel is almost the color of a chopstick, so brand new it could have been bought today. I wonder how anyone could afford something bought of this size, and that beautiful tan-brown color it is.

I watch the little boys and girls being shoved into the other ships, for some odd reason in particular they always handcuff them before they ship them off, which is basically saying they are going to die for sure. I mean if you have handcuffs on in the middle of the ocean, it's bound to happen.

"Gosh Layla, how fast are you?" I hear Rachel panting. "Why are you so obsessed with these things anyway?"

What Rachel doesn't know is that there was a time when these ships were not here, these ships did not leave every week with people. Nobody knows where they came from, they seemed to just... well... appear. "Just fast enough" I reply to her. The thing is, I'm not sure if Rachel actually understands the fact that those people are dying.

"Where did everyone go?" Rachel is a very curious 11 year old, but I love her anyways.

"Well, apparently nobody else appreciates the real beauty of it" I whisper, fading out at the end.

"Beauty of what" She says in a mocking tone. I reach for her hand and hold her wrist, slowly picking it up. I use my left hand to lift her index finger and point it at the sun.

"The beauty of the vessels being swallowed by the dying sun" I tell her. It truly is beautiful. The ships start to disappear, one by one. All through this time, I do not drop Rachel's hand, any physical contact at all could be my last. I must remember that.

Rachel stares in awe as the ships disappear. "It- I mean I never noticed it before. It truly is amazing".

"It is beautiful, isn't it?" I smile. "Come on, we should get home before curfew". I walk Rachel home, and open the door for her.

"After you" I say, mocking the wealthy who have a habit of talking in a funny way and doing the most courtiest things. Rachel giggles, and steps into our one room home.

The right wall is lined with 3 mattresses: Rachel's, my mother's, and mine. The left wall has a single sink, and a cabinet. Thats all we have. The walls are peeling to reveal old, mossy oak wood. How I remember our house used to have beautiful teal painted walls. Just to have running water would be nice, but no, that sink we have to fill ourselves.

I look over and see that Rachel has already been captured by sleep's dreams. I- not wanting to be tired for the weekend- collapse on my 2 inch thick worn out mattress and sleep.