Lamae | #JustWriteIt WINNER ✔

5 | Strange

She dressed me in clothes all the same shade of gray—since in Lamae, there was no need for color in how people dressed—and took two gray contact lenses out of a case she kept in her white lab coat. "These are for you. When you were blind, your eyes were gray. Now, they are brown. That will give you away as a sighted one in the eyes of the Alhukum."

"But are they not blind as well?"

"The lower-level enforcement, perhaps. But if they were truthful, they would blind themselves. Nobody can bear the sins they commit otherwise."

I swallowed and stuck the contacts in my eyes. I had heard that some sighted people's honor was so bad that they had to run from even partial blindness—often accomplished by devices such as these. "Will I need to take them out when I sleep?"

Essa shook her head. "Our technicians have especially designed them to mesh with your eye. We will remove it when you return from your expedition."

My head bobbed up and down, akin to a robot. "What else should I prepare myself for?"

The doctor shut her eyes. I feared she was having a post-traumatic stress flashback (the Alhukum said that if we could see, we would have them too), so I touched her hand. Had she been a happy citizen of Lamae once, like I had been? "What is wrong?"

"It was a long time ago," she said, touching a heart-shaped metal pendant that hung around her neck. "If you are caught...."

"I won't be."

"Be prepared." Her voice suddenly sounded very old. "Whatever happens while you are on the surface, don't interfere."

"What sorts of things will I encounter?"

"They are too awful to speak of. You can only experience them for yourself." She lowered her gaze. "Your only hope to return normally to Lamae is to act as though we captured you and tortured you for information. That is the only hope of convincing the Alhukum you were not fraternizing with us."

"Why?"

"Because we are outside Lamae's limits, in the air." She took me to a wall and tapped it once. The dismal gray began to clear, replaced by a clear glass pane. (I had heard that sighted people needed to know that the outside world was still there, so they erected these strange objects called windows. It was a strange feeling to finally see one for myself.)

Outside the window, far below, an enormous patch of desert rumbled across the surface of the earth. In the distance, a great stone wall stood firm, cruel and tall, barricading a large patch of land.

"That is Lamae," I whispered, pressing my hand to the glass. "What will I tell the security guards?"

"Tell them that you were kidnapped by the rebels. That they tortured you for information. With luck, they will believe it."

"What do you mean, 'with luck'?"

Essa continued fiddling with the plastic card that had my identification on it. "The Alhukum knows that we do not torture people. If you told any high-ranking officer, they wouldn't believe you. You would be executed immediately."

I swallowed. "Very well. How will I know which are high-ranking and which are not?"

"The black-coated enforcement is just as brainwashed as the rest of Lamae. You should be able to convince them with that story. They are under the impression that special forces go after rebel terrorists, but they will help you if you pose as blind."

I nodded. "Get into the city. Pose as someone who was tortured. Act blind for two days. Witness the Alhukum's behavior."

"Yes," Essa said. "Someone will escort you back to our headquarters, and we will help you escape Yemen from here. But sometimes....we must show some people the very face of wickedness. It shows them what they escaped from, and how they should learn from it."

And I must learn the truth. I turned my gaze upon Lamae, blazing with its proud swagger in the distance, and swallowed. My body burned for knowledge. Could the Alhukum be redeemed? Or were its sins too much to be atoned for?

▣

Essa passed me my identification card, as well as several canteens of water. "It will be a long trip across the desert. We can see Lamae from here—it is sixteen kilometers. You have the water necessary for the trip, but no food will make it more convincing that you were kidnapped and tortured. Try to reach the city by tomorrow."

I took the canteens and hooked them across my belt. "You won't be able to communicate with me while I am there, correct?"

"That is true. I cannot bypass the Alhukum's static—although there are people friendly to us in the city. But I will watch you from afar."

I nodded. "Thank you."

"For what?"

"Your kindness."

The woman chuckled. "Grace doesn't require gratitude."

"But that doesn't mean I won't give it."

▣

We reached the door. Essa squeezed my hands. "Drink. And stay safe. Let nobody know who you are. Tell nobody that you have been given sight."

I nodded. "Goodbye....for now."

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Tell me what you think....

● What will Chaima find in Lamae?

● What secrets do you think Essa hides?