UtopiaVille

Chapter Nine: Found

I sped ahead towards the pink light, my hands shaking from the excitement. This distant pink light could mean so many things- food, water, electricity- but most importantly: the truth. Everyone couldn't stop giggling as we fantasized about what the pink light could have been.

"I bet all of their lights are pink," Blair predicted, gazing out the window.

"No, I bet they have lights of all colours, and they get to choose," surmised Res.

The thought of choosing whatever colour lights you wanted for your home seemed outlandish to us. Since our society was based on inoffensive laws and rules, we only had one colour of light for our homes. Bright, sterile, white. All other colours were deemed offensive because of the different reactions different people had to them, so they were banned.

We stopped about fifteen minutes later, to have midday sustenance. It was only 1100, but we wanted to be prepared for what might happen, and it would lighten our load in case we needed to walk the remainder of the way there.

"I saved something special," Res said, taking something out of a secret compartment in her pack. "I think this is a good time."

When we saw what it was, we gasped.

"Fruit?" asked Blair, their eyes getting wide. "How did you...?"

"I'll just say that I have my ways," said Res, winking at them.

She handed out our treat- one fist-sized green apple for each of us.

I bit into mine cautiously, remembering the last time I had eaten fresh fruit. I was five, still a new-citizen. It was my date-of-sprouting, or what people used to call "birthday". I remember the wide smiles on my care-guardian's faces as they gave me a small, orange orb. Confused at what to do with it, I tried to bite it and put it in my mouth. My paternal care-guardian laughed and took it from my grasp. I watched him wipe it clean, stick a fingernail underneath the shiny orange flesh, and start to peel it.

He gave me a sliver that somehow broke off of the other conjoined slivers, and I popped it in my mouth, almost swallowing it whole. It erupted in between my teeth, tasting of the soy citrus drink supplement we received at school, but better. It tasted sweeter, fresher, realer.

"This is an orange," he said, peeling off another sliver and handing it to me.

How I missed my care-guardians. The thought had come up in my head multiple times, but I always pushed it aside. It's only been two days, Juno, I told myself, ignoring the urge to miss them. I didn't let myself miss them.

We ate our apples in silence, savouring the juicy crunch of sweetness we got with each bite. We were so careful with saving each nibble that our hands were still clean when we were done, and the cores of the apples were skinny and barely solid. Res handed out napkins to clean up, even though we really didn't need to.

*****

The pink light got brighter as we got closer, and it was as if we could hear its distant hum. Res pointed it out and Blair called her crazy, but they went silent once they started to hear it too.

"I'm excited," said Dante, a reserved smile making a brief appearance on his face.

There were wide smiles on our faces as we went along, but they were soon melted into frowns when the vehicle died.

"Alright," I commanded. "Everyone out. We've gotta go on foot."

We left some of our things behind, like clothes and to Blair's dismay, most of the espionage makeup. They only had the bare essentials to transform a face, and to blend us in if needed.

"I'm sure you'll do fine with just these," said Res, rolling her eyes at Blair's protests.

"I know I'll do fine," Blair whined. "I just don't want to leave them behind."

We strapped everything onto our backs, and started walking.

*****

As we made our way to the pink light, which got brighter with every step, we cracked jokes and laughed hysterically. I think we just wanted something to laugh at, for fear the light was a trap and we would be thrust into the claws of the Institution, forever separated from family and the rest of society.

"You don't know that that's what they do in the Institution," said Blair, whose gangly frame was wilting under the weight of the bags.

"No-entity knows," said Dante.

His face was less pale now, and he was laughing along with all our jokes again. Something about his smile still wasn't the same, but I had a feeling it would never be.

"Hey, do you see that?" asked Res, pointing out a fuzzy grey blob on top of a hill.

Looking closer, I saw that she was right.

"I-is that a p-person?" I asked, straining my eyes to see clearer.

"I think so," replied Dante.