Short science fiction story

She felt the cold silver slide onto her finger and smiled, gazing at the huge diamond. Bang! Elizabeth woke with a start.

Dreaming of the past was normal for Elizabeth. Dreaming of waking up to an alarm and not a gunshot. Dreaming of love and marriage and happiness. In reality that was completely out of the question. After rebels overthrew the government and monarchy, and got rid of the laws, the country fell to pieces. People tried to flee, but within hours of the rebellion, all possible escape routes were closed. No more moving; no more foreign holidays. We were trapped!

Peering through a tiny gap between her dark black curtains, Elizabeth looked for the commotion. It sounded close this time. As she witnessed the horror beneath her window she screamed, petrified.

The dim alley lit by the faintest ray of sun clawing its way between the huge ruins of buildings wasn't full of people like she expected. It was a river of blood, the shores littered with bullets, now empty of the murderers and their victims. Terrified, Elizabeth headed to the basement and to her relief, her whole family was there.

A few minutes later, Elizabeth headed to work brushing her hair out for face. Most of the town just stole what they wanted since nobody could stop them, but Elizabeth and her family preferred to work. Stealing still seemed wrong to them. They still followed the laws even if they no longer existed.

On her way, a man stopped her. She was very surprised to see him wearing a suit. Although there wasn't a rule against it, seeing someone in a suit was very uncommon. The rebels hated suits due to their association with business and rich people. Anybody wearing one was usually immediately shot.

Then the man said the words that would change her life. "Mr Smith is dead, Prince Edward is out of prison and taking over the country," he announced joyfully. At that moment, Elizabeth could have screamed with joy. She would never have to wake up to a gunshot. She would never have to run home terrified to know who might have died today.

The rebel leader was dead and although the King and Queen had been killed the Prince had only been imprisoned. Normally the rebels would simply have found a new leader but after months of chaos, Mr Smith was one of the only people that didn't want the government and monarchy reinstated. As much as the people didn't like some of the decisions the government made, they had realised the country couldn't function without them. The streets were full of murder. No businesses were open. Trading with other countries had completely stopped and people had just begun to realise that the country couldn't survive.

Finally the chaos was over.

That evening, Elizabeth dreamed of her future, not the past and for the first time since the rebels took over, she woke up to the sound of her parents calling her for breakfast.

A/N Thanks for reading. I originally wrote this on paper and didn't realise how short it was. Please comment and vote