To Breathe Only Smoke

Chapter One

Never, in any period of time or space, had a house of twelve children been this silentious. We'd always been very shy, very obedient children because that was what the Sector Policy dictates, but a little bit of conversation at dinner sparked by our Father was usually permitted. He would recite to my eldest brother, Elias, the not-so-exciting details of his future position in the sector's capital building, and Elias would reply how ready he was to take over for the old-man holding the position at the time. He would compliment Mother and my oldest sister, Marlene, on how delicious the food was too, but tonight, no one uttered a word.

Elias sat beside Father, with his eyes fixed on his plate of salted potatoes and peas as he passed the dish of sliced ham on to Marlene and the rest of my sisters. They both looked very much like a perfect combination of our parents. Elias was the spitting image of Father in his youthful days. He was naturally muscular, with a jawline sharp enough to cut glass and a full head of black hair that was always neatly combed into place. Elias and Father looked more like brothers than father and son, but only to people who didn't know who my Father was. They often walked together through the government buildings in their best clothes, chit-chatting about politics and their ideas for a perfect government system. Elias tried to explain it to me once, but the blank expression on my face made him think otherwise.

Marlene, on the other hand, was Mother's perfect double. Curled bronze hair hung to her shoulders, with a grey clip that held the curls around her face back behind her head. Her eyes were large with lashes wealthy people would pay to have. She was thin and frail looking, with gentle fingertips that offered a reassuring touch to anyone in need. She wore Mother's old dresses, which were grey and long enough to conceal her ankles. All married women were required to wear them until they gave birth to their first child, because then they were a mother, and they created their own household clothing. Marlene hadn't done so yet, or officially moved in with her husband, so she spent most of her days working in the house with Mother. I didn't mind much. Marlene was one of the only two people who looked my direction. Elias was the other one.

As I glanced around the table, I spotted more and more carbon copies of my Mother. I had nine sisters, with Marlene at seventeen years old and Janice at nine-months. Mother was married to Father when she was sixteen, and has spent more time pregnant than not. Elias was the first, born the same year she was married. Marlene was the year after, and myself the next. After myself, it just becomes a jumble of ages and names until Janice. I only remembered her name because she was the youngest, but I was sure that her status in the family wouldn't last long. I had a brother somewhere in the midst of the curls; William. He and Elias were the only sons, and that was the only reason Father paid any special attention to them. He tried to show all of us some kind of interest, but he knew we would just be married some day and that would be the end of our potential. We all agreed. That was our place. It was better not to question it.

The silence at supper was nearly unbearable. The tension was thick enough to cut with the knife in my hand. Mother was afraid to say the first word, so she picked anxiously at the peas on her plate and glanced around the table to see that we were all served. This was a rare time that she wasn't ready to give us a speech about how she was pregnant again, so we all awaited Father's voice to break the silence.

"So, Elias. Have you decided on what your position is concerning the food shortages in the Dark Sector?" Father asked as he placed a piece of ham into his mouth.

Elias's eye shot up to Father, as if his words startled him from whatever he was concentrating on. Elias's thin lips curled into a smile and he nodded. "I have. I stand on the side of you and the sector council. The Dark Sector citizens are in the Dark Sector for a reason, and if they want to survive they should be required to grow their own food, just like every other sector."