May's Workshop Stories

Self-Discovery

That morning started like any other. Getting up, drinking coffee and having breakfast, until something unexpected happened, something that broke the regular routine and changed Ashely's boring little life forever.

As she was getting ready for work like every other day since she could remember, Ashely suddenly stopped mid-action. The empty look in her bright blue eyes disappeared, replaced by something lighter. It was something that was never there before.

"Why should I go to work?" Ashely thought as she put aside the coat she was about to put on. "I can just stay home and read books. Why do I have to work every day of my existence?"

The thought was as foreign as it was invigorating. Once it occupied Ashely's mind, she couldn't let it go. She couldn't release it into the ether the way she was taught to do with intrusive thoughts by the city authorities.

She didn't want to.

Thus, she lay down on the couch, browsing through her library of books that were available to read. The choice was limited by the governmental restrictions of what was proper, politically correct, and what was not. Still, she found something interesting enough to occupy her attention, and, in any case, it was so much better than work.

Just as she thought she might as well have a snack while lazing around the house for the first time in her thirty-five years of life, a doorbell rang incessantly, refusing to be ignored. As she got up, Ashely believed she knew what was happening, yet she was oddly unafraid. It was like the first glance of freedom gave her more courage than she ever dreamed she possessed.

To her surprise, when she opened the door, her mother and stepfather stood on her doorstep, looking businesslike and cold. It was clear they were not there for a social call, not that they ever were.

"Get dressed. We have to take you with us," Perdita, her mother, said.

There were no emotions noticeable in her steady voice.

It was as if they weren't there to deliver her to the authorities for disobeying the rules, for daring to be different. After all, that was the only reason they were there. Not because they worried about Ashely but because they were anxious that if they didn't turn her in, the government's retribution might involve them and their precious sons. Of course, there was no way they could allow that to happen, even if it meant sacrificing their daughter.

After all, everyone knew what happened to the people who broke the rules, those who dared to choose for themselves when there shouldn't have been any choice available. Even knowing that, they still showed no emotions.

Ashely didn't blame Adder, her stepfather. After all, they never really got along. They were more like strangers forced to interact by circumstances, but why her mother was so cold, she couldn't understand. Ashely refused to accept it.

Knowing what awaited her but fully aware that she couldn't escape it, Ashely put on her coat and followed them to the car that reminded her of a police cruiser.

Once she was in the backseat, she couldn't exit the car unless they allowed her to do so. It was such a claustrophobic feeling that Ashely started listening to music to alleviate her apprehension.

She started browsing through the forbidden library of music that was always part of her mind. The one that she never dared to access before because she was told not to. Now that she was already condemned, she didn't think it mattered if she broke one more rule.

"I really don't understand why anyone would dislike working," Perdita mumbled from the front seat. "Work is the purpose of life. There is nothing else except for work."