The Chasm

Chapter 2

Lily rubbed her eyes in the early morning light as she went to check her mail. She opened the mailbox and rolled her eyes to see another card from AJHQ. Lily collected the rest of the mail and went inside to drink some milk and eat her usual breakfast of chocolate chip cookies, then sat down and began to read the card aloud in a snobbish voice, doing her impression of AJHQ.

"Dear Nonmember,

"We understand your little riot gathered quite the crowd yesterday. Well, they must cease immediately. You are messing with forces you do not understand. Everything we do is for a reason. So stop the ridiculous strikes or else.

~ AJHQ"

Lily cocked an eyebrow and read it again. 'Nonmember,' she thought angrily. The nerve! She tossed the card in the fire where it belonged. She had gotten many of these over the years, and she ignored every single one.

The 'ridiculous' strikes meant everything to her. It gave her a sense of identity, made her feel like she was doing something important. And it must be something important if AJHQ themselves were taking the time to warn her against it. Lily wouldn't give them up for anything.

The wolf donned her usual outfit, a flower crown, black necklace, silver glove, and mech angel wings that complimented her purple fur with lavender swirls. She boarded the bus traveling from Jamaa Township to Kimbara Outback, where she worked tirelessly in the hospital.

The Kimbara Hospital was a mess. A nonmember tiger was crying in the back with a broken leg, but the nonmember healthcare policy was so bad that the most the doctors could do was put a bandage on it. And even the bandage was created mainly for the head. "Please," the tiger groaned, the edge of pain in that word haunting Lily, "It hurts. So much." Lily watched helplessly as the doctors wheeled him out, and then tried to busy herself with the paperwork at the desk as she prepared for her clients.

Later, Lily walked to the bus stop, still thinking about the pain of that tiger. She had seen so many Jammers pass through the hospital and get denied proper healthcare that it seemed almost like the normal now. How did this all start? She asked herself, How did AJHQ get so prejudiced that they would risk several innocent Jammers? I know it's not all about funding. Every child has gone to visit the government house, we all know they have more than enough money to live lavishly. Realizing she was about to go into a mental rant based on unanswered questions, Lily stopped and shook her head, seeing the bus around the corner.

On the bus, Lily revised her latest speech, mainly centered around the mundane things that nonmembers were denied, like emotions and some foods. She added in a section about healthcare for nonmembers and quietly read the speech to herself.

"Thank you all for coming today. How many of you woke up this morning, went downstairs, and found little proper food on the table, while you could smell the delicious aroma of food coming in from your member neighbors' house? We nonmembers have food, yes, like cookies, and lollipops, and donuts. But if you look for any real meals, you will see none. Members, of course, get banquet tables and feast tables and dessert tables, and more."

"I saw a tiger today in the hospital, who had recently broken his leg. See, if he was member, he would have had a good healthcare policy, and been able to get more help than a small Band-Aid. I watched them wheel that tiger out, as he cried in pain. That tiger, is our future. Pain, and terrible conditions. Unless we rise to stop it."

After that, Lily said her motto. She had her usual catchphrase at almost every meeting, and she worked it into the speech in a way that inspired passion. The most memorable part of the speech was her catchphrase. It was the part Jammers remembered and told to others, the part that resonated in their hearts. Of course, she had said it so many times that she simply didn't need to practice it.

Lily grinned and imagined the strike the next day, but something worrisome clouded her thoughts. What did AJHQ mean by 'or else?'