THE OUTSIDE WORLD | ✔ #ONC2023 Shortlister

Chapter One

Mama sighs in relief as the floor becomes solid and the vibrations stop. She sets Phoenix on his feet and a huge smile fills his face.

"It stopped," he announces, turning to me. "River, it stopped."

"I said it would, didn't I?"Holding up the basket, I show Mama my bounty.

"None of the markets have turnips," I tell her. "But the lady at Green Market gave me beets and wild corn, no charge."

"That was kind of her," Mama says, taking the basket and bringing it to the little kitchen behind the supper table. "This is a lot of carrots. Di-"

"Marsha owed me for the sowing I helped her with," I quickly add before there is time for a lecture. "I asked for extra carrots because Phoenix needed something after all the walking we did."

Mama's face softens, and she nods as she unloads everything onto the short counter. I wait until she has laid everything out.

"He did better today." I lower my voice so Phoenix doesn't hear. "Only cried a little bit at Green Market, but that was only because everyone was in a frenzy. The vibrations were stronger up there."

Mama nods but says nothing. I sigh and join my brother on the old sofa. He already has the crayons and paper out.

"Draw the sky for me," he says, holding up a blue crayon. "And tell me the story."

"The sky, again?" I tease, pulling out the slab of wood from under the sofa and placing it on my lap. "I always draw you the sky. Don't you want me to draw you something else?"

"Please, draw the sky."

I meet his gaze and for a moment, I remember what it was like for me at his age. Finding comfort from our circumstances in every distraction.

"The sky was once a beautiful shade of blue," I say, scribbling all over the top of the paper. "Before the world was at war and big machines didn't fill the air with the black cloud of exhaust."

I fill the paper with blue, leaving a small space for the sun I, which I will add later.

"Birds of all kinds used to fly those skies," I go on, reciting the story I knew from memory. "Birds and bugs. Big bugs, little bugs. Bugs with tough armor, and some bugs that would squirt guts when you squeezed them."

"Gross," Phoenix laughs, handing me an orange crayon."So gross. Cattle roamed grassy fields, they were not locked away in a bio-sphere. The cows we get our milk from were created in a lab. The cows back then were born and raised naturally."

I go on saying my story, carefully adding color upon color to my version of what the sky looked like. Phoenix listens and hands me new crayons as he sees fit. I notice Mama pausing her work at one point to listen, too."One day, the war will be over, and if it ends while we are still living, we will get to see the sky. For the first time."

"Night Hour Newscast will commence in three minutes. All family members, please convene in the main room."Mama stops her chopping and joins us on the sofa, wiping her hands on a rag. A large timer appears on the projection screen opposite the sofa. It counts down the three minutes, and then Clarissa Delgado's face appears.

"Good evening," she says with her usual smile of assurance. "For our younger viewers, that is how people greeted one another during night hours. Tonight, we bring you an update on the Surface War, but first a word from our sponsors."

The visual changes and in large letters, the word ELITES flashes across the screen.

"The Elites are proud to sponsor War News!" says a male commentator as each of the Elite families is showcased. "Without the Elites, we wouldn't have the technology to bring these daily updates. Thank you, Elites, for your constant contributions!"

Clarissa's face returns, and she seems caught off guard. She clears her throat and looks at the cards in her hands.

"The war continues to rage above us," she says, reaching for her glass of water and taking a long sip. "Many brave soldiers died during yesterday's attempt to conquer the Land of the Free... Martin, more water."

I glance at Mama, who looks at me at the same moment. She is as confused as I am.

"Thank you." I turn back to the screen as a hand appears near Ms. Delgado with a fresh glass of ice water."Recovery efforts are, again, in vain as our military is forced to retreat and keep their position at the entrance of our Bunker... I can't do this anyone."

Dropping her note cards, Clarissa looks straight at the camera, giving the illusion she is looking straight at her audience.

"Everything is fine," she says, enunciating each word. "They're lying. Th-"

The screen goes blank and for a moment there is nothing but white noise. It is soon replaced by the automated voice, saying: "We are experiencing minor technical difficulties. Please go about your routine. We will be back tomorrow at the usual night hours."

"What did she mean by that?" Phoenix asks, but he seems more interested in drawing over my unfinished artwork. "Who's lying?"

"I don't know, honey."

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