The Love Box

Chapter 1

I thought about life and death.

My grandma said that when you died your life flashed before your eyes, and that terrified me.

I would know when I was truly about to die; when I saw all my memories.

My grandma was wise, and I believed every word she told me. There wasn't a reason for me not to; because she never lied to me.

I heard a noise from the hall.

I opened my eyes the room was empty besides the other two beds. They belonged to my mom and my grandma, we lived together in the Bedroom Hall.

That I knew there were only women in my family. I had never met a man before, and I most likely I never would.

Both of them were at work, they had the morning shift in the kitchen. When I turned eighteen in two years I would work in the kitchen, and that was where most women worked.

The men on the other side of the glass worked on everything else; growing the food, getting the meat, building the furniture, and so on. It was there job to take care of us, yet they never even met us.

The glass was only in the cafeteria, the library, and the laundry room; it split the males and the females apart. Throughout the rest of Prudent was a wall that split through what I guessed was the center of Prudent. It separated us.

We were caged.

Everyone had their own version of why the glass was there, our leader Nicki Romans, separated us for the better. The males only ever saw her in the cafeteria, but they heard her voice on the intercom as did everyone else.

Nicki said that when men and women came together it created a poisonous gas, so she put the glass in between to keep us safe.

I lost my concentration as the door to my room opened.

Nicki stood in the doorway of my room.

"Breakfast is being served," She told me. "Why don't you walk with me."

It was a question, but I didn't have a choice.

I stood up and walked to the door, and she backed into the hallway so I could join her.

I closed my door and then we walked down the hallway; we were in the Bedroom Hall. There were one hundred twenty females, we all lived in fifty rooms. Most of us were related and our numbers got smaller by the month.

We were a dying breed and that needed to be fixed. Every year on New Year's Eve; twenty three women were selected. They were fertilized and then had a baby implanted in them.

At least ten of the babies survived every year but most of them were boys; we needed girls to continue our race. It was only a matter of time before none of us were left.

We took a right and entered the Suicide Hall, there were ten rooms. Only one girl could enter each room a day. The doors stood wide open and once you entered they slid and locked shut.

I looked at Nicki and her eyes caught mine, so quickly I turned my head forwards and continued walking.

We took a left and entered the cafeteria.

Both of us stood in line; she let me in front of her.

"You don't like the Suicide Hall do you?" Nicki asked me.

I looked back at her; Nicki had short light brown hair, and she was average height. Her bright blue eyes stood out from the rest of her features.

"No," I told her. "I don't like that hall."