Kashi

Chapter Two

i have opened the vial. asia is dying. russia is dying. china. india. thailand. russia has bowed down to the U.S. shanghi has lost ⅞ of its population. i caused that. china will bow down soon. they have lost 750 million people. watch us rule.

My madre set out dinner. It was in tiny plastic containers, beads of condensation rolling over the top. I had pasta again. It was covered in all sorts of stringy cheese, grated cheese, flavorful cheese, and, of course, nutrients. Those were white powder, but they were tasteless. I looked over at Matthew's container. He had soup today. It was white with hunks of potato and leeks. I hadn't liked that soup. I always like to check Matthew's plate, because since he's only ten, his food is still changing. When you hit twelve, they give you a survey. You choose your favorite breakfast food, lunch sandwich, and dinner. My lunch was a peanut-butter sandwich with nutrients. My breakfast had to be cereal. My parents forced it upon me so that I can go into the cereal industry. The city's producer is called Kashi. Thus my silly name.

I peeled back the cover of my pasta. As I stuck a forkful in my mouth, I thought about ordering a salad sometime next week. That would be nice to eat. My parents had been eating the same thing for years now. Madre was eating rice speckled with vegetables, and Babbo was eating potato and a mush of vegetables. I was happy I chose pasta and not one of those things. Madre says that Babbo's finger slipped when he chose. I hope she's right.

I shoved another forkful in and checked my hand. My left hand. On it would be stamped my day's schedual. 6:30 we were required to walk for an hour. Maybe I would see Trix. I couldn't remember the last time that we had spoken. Last week, maybe. I know we were supposed to keep relationships strong. What was I thinking?

Madre must have read her hand too. "Kashi, Matthew, hurry up and eat, we have to be out walking in ten minutes! You too, Micah. You have to walk also." Babbo had already thrown his container in the recycling.

"Fine, Bianca, I'll eat faster." He gestured at his empty place. I hopped up too and loped over to the recycling chute. I then disinfected. Matthew was the only one still sitting.

"Madre, may I go?" I asked. "I wanted to run today, and we've only got till 7:00 to walk." Madre shook her head, and I walked to the door. "Thank you."

Then I started running. Running feels good. You bounce off the track under your feet, and you run so fast you feel like you're flying. It would be nice to soar this way with the birds. They would be jealous of me. Even though my breath comes in gasps and my muscles burn, I enjoy it. No one stops me. It's healthy. Why stop?

Madre must be really hurrying Matthew now, I thought to myself. I started scanning around me for Trix. She was my only friend who was a girl. She lived down a little farther from us, house 198. In the other quadrant, but close enough to be my friend. All the other girls in her quadrant lived closer to the 150 corner. She should be out now, I thought to myself. I was running past her house when I saw the paper on her front door. I stopped in my tracks. It looked so official. I walked up to read it.

It was set in big official letters.

MISSING GIRL

IF SEEN, PLEASE REPORT

TRIX ROBERTS

5"9, Blonde, Green Eyes, Freckles

15 Years Old

There was a picture of Trix underneath.

It made me want to cry. She looked so happy. How could she be missing? No one ever goes missing. It's the kind of thing we hear about in our history lessons. I looked down at my feet. I felt so horrible. It could be my fault. I was her friend and I had been ignoring her. But then again, she hadn't been coming to the history dome with Luca and me. I studied the mad by her door for a minute before I finally spotted the note. It was as creased and old and thick as the other one, and I picked it up and read it.

i have opened the vial. asia is dying. russia is dying. china. india. thailand. russia has bowed down to the U.S. shanghi has lost ⅞ of its population. i caused that. china will bow down soon. they have lost 750 million people. watch us rule.

 

Another creepy note, I thought to myself.

I pocketed it and ran off towards home.