Paired

Paired

-Prologue-

     It really was an unbelievable pair-up. You could say it was maybe something “only in fairytales”, as they would say, but it wasn’t. I would say it was something like “a dream that came true” or something to that effect. Sure, there were people who said that it was majorly odd for the Government to match me to live the rest of my life with him. He was one I didn’t expect to be my pair, he was one I wished and hoped to be my pair. I, of many, thought I’d be paired with my childhood friend, Connor; that’s what everyone thought I would turn out with. Even Connor thought I’d end up with him because we were “meant for each other”. That’s what my Mother and Father said. Even Connor’s parents thought the same. And when his name was not called during my Pairing Night, I could feel his expression as if it was my own. His facial expression flashed into my mind and I could see the pain and the sadness that was painted onto his face. I wished he was right next to me so I could reach over and hold his hand in mine.

     Unfortunately, I was on stage with a spotlight glued onto every visible feature on my body. I was all everyone’s focus because it was my night that I would be paired with a young man in a different province, everyone hoped a richer one, and in a matter of two months I’d be off in his area living the life I dreamed about. Some women wouldn’t get as lucky as others and be sent away to a rather awful place. Where they would live to be miserable and never live the life their parents intended them to live. A lot of stories I have heard have ended in such terrible disaster. A story I hated the most was one about a women had met her soon-to-be husband and on their night as a married couple, he murdered her in their home. I get chills whenever I think about it. You never really know how your pair will turn out. He could be an anonymous murderer or a rapist. It was illegal in our province for a man or woman to force someone into your bed or use a weapon on anyone or cause someone to die. I knew that my pair wasn’t like that because I did know him. Not in a very personal way, but good enough to know that he was a goodhearted person.