Revolution II

~~~In the future...

I walk down the moonlit path, while the chilled night air is sending shivers up my spine.  The park is empty, and the river still.  But I'm distracted.  Thinking about my surroundings rather than why I'm here.  The thick, white glass I walk on is always clean, the grass, trees, and flowers always trimmed, neat, and bright.  Perfect.  My parents used to(before the law was passed) tell me stories about what the world was like before.  Before this "Revolution", before the Maelas took over and they-I mean, we, started on a "clean slate."  It's weird to think that so long ago there were different people, living these distinct lifestyles, by the old rules.  It seems so absurd now.

But at this instant, I can't think about what happened those hundred years ago.  What happened then is irrelevant to me at this time.  I look over to my right.  The river is so clean I could swear something's unnatural about the water.  However much it intimidates me, the contrast between humankind's littered history and now, I follow the river to our meeting place that will come along my path anytime now, maybe I'll make it there by 10 o'clock, but only if I hasten.

Suddenly, I hear a rustling sound around the bushes.  I turn so sharply my braid smacks me in the face.  I expect to see a shadow at the birch tree a few yards away.  Nothing.  There's no one there.  Still, I perfect my posture and slick back my hair.  My suit is zipped up all the way.  I walk faster now, sticking to the shadows, while trying to look customary.  For the next ten minutes or so I sneak glances over my shoulder, assuring myself I'm alone.

Then I see his silhouette in the lamplight.  Dressed darkly, he looks like a shadow with the exception of his golden hair igniting around his head.  I smile, relieved to finally be here.  I speed up, beginning to jog when he turns around.  He loses the impatient expression when his eyes meet mine, and a bright grin replaces it.  I'm just about to say his name when a hand clamps over his mouth and another pulls him back into the darkness.  All I'm doing is standing there, all I'm seeing is my best friend's wide, frightened eyes, the look of fear and helplessness, that's what I see when I feel the exact same way, when a leather glove-clad hand muffles my screams and my vision goes dark.