Back When the Lights Shined

Chapter One

Today is the perfect day. The day after I graduated, there is not a cloud in the sky. We are nearing the end of winter, but it is still freezing outside. According to the forecast shown on the television every morning, it will be snowing later, but I won’t be affected me. My disposition is too elated to be soiled by anything negative that could happen. Today is my first day of adulthood, one of the most important days of my life. I plan on showing everyone that I’m ready for new responsibilities.

            The outfit I’ve chosen from my personalized wardrobe is a pair of denim pants and a t-shirt that I cover with a warm hoodie. I slip on my sneakers, something my adoptive family has saved from their grandmother’s time in the old nation. Surprisingly, they are in good condition, considering how old they are. I suppose she never had a chance to wear them often before she died.

        Everyone in Central City gathers at the gates of the palace. We form a line that extends all the way to the city limits. We are all waiting for the Caretakers, also known as CTs to everyone else (whenever they aren’t listening). Soon, they will gather at the head of the line and begin handing everyone their schedules for the day.

            Everyone in the city meets in front of the square, forming a line that wraps around the entire city. Each citizen lines up from A to Z to receive their schedule. I’m closer to the back of the line, since my name is so late in the alphabet. It’s always crowded near the end since we begin to run out of room for the line to stretch out. However, it always gets better as everyone inches forward.

            Each day, the Caretakers have the same schedule. They go to the front of the gate, enter their code into the system in the stone wall, and then begin printing papers. Each paper has the same format. At the top of the page, the citizen’s name is printed with their last name, middle initial, and then the first name. Then, the birth date is printed beneath the name, along with the age. Following that is the schedule itself. After it’s all printed out, the CTs give each personalized copy to its owner.

            The Caretakers’ job is to simply keep the peace in each town and hand out schedules to everyone. The CTs do not decide what everyone’s activities are. Their bosses, the Officials, are the ones who have taken the time to create a system to personalize each schedule based on every particular citizen. After carefully creating each schedule and approving the computer’s work for themselves, they send it to our leader, President McCrastly, to be approved.

            From the beginning of our kingdom 30 years ago, President McCrastly approved of everything for us. He approved whether the friends the Officials thought were suited for us were okay. He approved if our families were ideal, or if mothers should be swapped, or children should be moved. He’s made life easier for everyone by taking away all the big decisions. We only make tiny decisions, like marriage or baby names. There are certain restrictions for those decisions, too, so that we can’t overwhelm ourselves with stress. We are not allowed to marry out of town, being one of the rules. There is a list of thirty baby names that we may choose from, all based on our location and family history. The citizens in the higher classes get the best names, such as Arthur and Lillian. The lower class gets the names considered to be old fashioned and bland, such as Nellie and Jamie, and my own name.

            When I was born, my mother was an Abbralin, a criminal, and also a Crazy, an outlaw. The Officials still gave her the privilege of naming me, despite the fact that she could not keep me. I was named Zena Whistley. As soon as she even uttered my name, the Caretakers that were on duty immediately took me away from her. Immediately, I was taken to a separate room to be branded with a code on my lower back: DA2583. My mother was supposedly branded with the same number.