Etherea

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The next morning I woke up earlier. I took a long bath till the time my breakfast arrived. My parents don't like the idea of me cooking in this limited space. So, they made a tiny door in the wall, almost like a hole, and they placed my dining table near it. When it's time for food, they will place the plate on the table through the tiny door. Once I'm done eating, I will place the plate near the hole and someone will take it.

I ate my breakfast and cleaned my room. When I was about to make my way to the reading room, I heard the turning of a doorknob.

My parents came for a visit. They usually visited me on Saturdays. But today was Tuesday. An unusual visit.

"I was about to head to the reading room," I told them. "If it's fine with you guys, we can talk in there."

They followed me without objection. They sat in the chairs and I sat on the table since there were only two chairs.

My parents weren't old, but they always had a tired look. This made them look like old people. My mother was in her 40s and my father in his 50s. Mother was fair, with light brown eyes and reddish-brown hair. She had a slim figure. I have the same features as her except for my blue eyes and silver hair. My father had the same color of hair as my mother, but he was not fair like her and his eyes were a dark brown. He wore a beard every time I saw him.

As usual, my mother was the first one to speak.

"Did you read the book?"

"Yeah. I read more than half of the book." I said.

"How much do you know?"

"I read till the selection of a leader."

"How do you feel about it?"
She looked straight into my eyes. I felt uncomfortable and I looked at my father, he was looking at my mother.
This time I spoke slowly.

"I understood everything. I liked reading it. But I felt anger after reading the last part, the part where it says that the leader must be a man. I didn't like that part. A woman can do anything a man can do. Women are capable of leading a land."

From the look on their faces, I was sure that they didn't like my answer.

"What do you think about your hair?"
My mother asked.

"I don't think that I have any kind of gift. In the book, it only said about the golden hair, and my hair is silver."

"We thought about that, but we can't say anything without testing whether you can do it." My father said.

"Do you think that I can do magic?" I waved my hand in the air like magicians would do when they are performing some tricks.

"We will do something that people did to test their gift. I have some candles with me. We can try to light them first."

That's when I noticed a pack with my father. He opened it and took three candles from it. He placed each of the candles in different parts of the room.

"I don't think that I can do it," I said. My voice sounded more tensed than I was. I looked at my mother. She took my hands in hers and looked straight into my eyes.

"Just try. If you can light them, then you have the gift. If you can't light them, there's no use for keeping you inside this place." She said.

Her last words echoed in my mind. If I don't have the gift, I can go out. I will be able to live like others. I don't know if that's going to happen, but it gave me hope. If I can have a life like others, what it will be like? Fresh air, light, the sky, the stars. I must try to and I must prove that I'm ordinary like others.

"I will try. Tell me how to do it."

My father gave me instructions.

"Close your eyes and clear your mind. Concentration on the task. Think about lighting the candle. Give it some time."

I did everything he said. I concentrated on lighting the candle. I waited for some time. I concentrated hard on the task. I felt sweat beads rolling down my body. My body became warm. My legs turn into jelly. I felt like I might fall. Blackness crept into my mind. The last thing I heard was the voice of my mother and I collapsed to the floor.

When I opened my eyes, I was laying on the floor. I saw my mother. Her eyes were filled with tears.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

My father gave me a glass of water. "Drink this. Relax."

I drank the water and waited for my breath to calm down. I was exhausted. I lay still for some time. I felt the urge to throw up.

My eyelids felt heavy. All I need in times like this was sleep. I tried to get up, but my legs were like jelly. My mother came to help me.

"I'm not feeling well. I need to rest. Can you help me to reach the bed?" I asked her.

She nodded. They helped me to reach the bed and I slept as soon as I climbed the bed.

I don't know how long I slept. When I woke up, my mother was sitting on the other side of the bed. She was leaning on the bedpost and was fast asleep. She looked pale.

I quietly went to the bathroom. I looked in the mirror. The face I saw in the mirror looked like a ghost. I looked even paler than my mother. My blue eyes made it look like I was a walking dead girl. I took a quick bath and some colors came to my face. I thought about the things that have happened. How long did I sleep? I thought. Suddenly a question popped into my mind. Did I light the candle? If I haven't done that, does that mean that I will be free? I went back to the room to find the answer.

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★★★

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