Undecided

•Chapter 3•

As I got out of my chair I felt everybody's eyes on me at once. I walked stiffly to the podium as the announcer looked at my papers. I couldn't hold still. I began to squirm as I wondered what he was doing. A sudden look of fear wiped the plastic grin off of his face. An alarm went off as two husky guards rushed onto the stage from where the students were sitting. They were both so large that my chance of escaping was almost impossible. I began to run away when the guards were about to grab me. They grabbed my arms and I was immediately stuck in their firm grip. I screamed for them to let me go but their grasp wouldn't loosen a bit. I noticed that my parents had a look of horror plastered onto their faces.

Purple fog began to fill the air as everybody started to scream. I was probably the only person in the Capital Building that was wondering where the fog was coming from. Everyone began to run for the doors of the Capitol building but the doors immediately bolted shut. We were all trapped. Someone gave a bloodcurdling scream as I was being taken into the common room. I looked down the stand from where I was being held by the guards and noticed a the Jopina boy with an axe stuck in his head.

I shut my eyes and didn't open them for a long time. It felt like they had been closed for hours. When I finally opened them I realized that the fog was beginning to get thicker and thicker. As I looked around the building I saw people lying on the floor unconscious. My clear vision was suddenly being blocked by black specks and my eyes began to grow heavy. A blur of images flooded my mind. I saw my mom struggling to escape the cabin of the boat that we were on when she died. The image of my dad and I waiting for her to break through the door where water was leaking in was unmistakable and I was almost in the common room when I blacked out.

I started to dream. Dream about things that I had no memory of but could be completely real. I saw a little girl tug on a young lady's dress. The little girl appeared to be me but I didn't recognize the young lady at all. She seemed to be about fifteen years old and I looked to be around the age of three.

I said, "Cookie."

The lady looked at me. She smiled with her eyes as if to say, "Take one."

I quickly grabbed a cookie and dashed into what seemed to be the living room. I sat down on the floor and stared into my reflection on a blank television screen.

My mom strolled down the stairs in a beautiful gown. I realized that it was the same one that she wore this afternoon at Placements. The dress was stunning. It was covered in lace and shone like the stars. Tears streamed down my face as I realized that I may never see my family again.

I heard a bang and woke up from my strange dream. I looked around at the world around me trying to remember how I got there. I couldn't remember anything that happened recently. It seemed that I had lost my short-term memory. It took me a long time to remember how I had gotten to be where I was.

I wanted so badly to return home to the people I loved but then I realized that I didn't know where home was or who would be there when I returned, who would be there to mourn for me when I passed.