escaping ; in a nutshell

chapter 01

"Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?"

Bailee was careful not to touch the fence. There was a buzz of electricity running through the wire today, and she didn't want to get shocked. This was the first time the electricity had been turned on in years. There hadn't been any need for the fence to be turned on, not until now anyway. A boy had run away last night. If he had kept up a good pace, and was still alive, Bailee assumed he'd be far away by now. They didn't bother to send out a search party. They knew he wouldn't live for long anyway. Some people said he left in the middle of the night, while everyone was in their houses, asleep. They said he was yearning for change.

"Bailee!" Her sister, Chloë called, "Mum says that you have to come inside NOW or you won't get to the ceremony!" 

Bailee turned around and ran back to meet her sister.

"You know, running isn't very ladylike" Chloë stated, very matter of factly.

"Neither is shouting" Bailee replied, knowing that as always she had the upper hand on her younger sister.

I wonder what they have in store for me, she wondered, staring down at the barcode tattooed on her wrist.

When babies were born, they were tattooed with a barcode which is coded to hold every piece of information about them, all decided between birth and their first year of life. The names come first, or so Bailee was told, then their job, family, hobby and soul mates. It didn't matter which order the others came in, however, the area in which people live in always comes last, it was said they need a bit of time to work out the exact numbers in the communities.

"Thinking about the ceremony?" Chloë asked

"How couldn't I be Clo" She said, sighing slightly, "I've been waiting my whole life to find out who I am going to be and here it is, I can't help but think about it"

Bailee opened the door for her sister and they both stepped inside.

x x x x x

"Where are the diamonds?! I told the jewellers that I wan'ed diamonds on Bailee's jewellery" Bailee's mum shouted out in her rich southern accent to the many servants helping Bailee prepare for the ceremony. Many mutters and scampers were heard with occasional 'yes ma'm' being heard between orders given by Mrs. Evans.

Especially for those who were rich, the ceremony was celebrated in grandeur. It was one of a few times in life when they were allowed to celebrate the event however they wanted. For those with well holding positions, it was often seen as a form of bragging, but those who chose to celebrate simply could not care less. Money was barely ever needed. Because all members of the communities worked and gave back to their society, the society fed them and all members of the community had access to medical treatment.

Bailee didn't know how many people were attending her mothers ball that night, she couldn't really care less. She hated her mother's parties with a passion. There were too many people and quite often there was no point to them anyway - who really wants to celebrate one of her mother's friend's child's first birthday with a ball in the first place? Definitely not Bailee, that was for sure.

"I'm done dear, would you like to look in a mirror?" The servant who had been braiding her hair (or whatever else she was doing) smiled at her and pulled a tall mirror out of her bag.

"Thank you" Bailee said and smiled back at the woman. She gently grasped the mirror and set it up before her face. She was careful not to let out a gasp. Her hair, well it was hard to say what exactly had been done to it, but there were diamontes trailing down some fancy sort of braid that sat halfway down Bailee's back. Her hair, naturally a dirty blonde colour, had been thankfully left the same. Her makeup basically just beautified her features, with light glitter around her eyes and on her lips. Bailee had picked out the dress she was wearing herself. It was the one thing that she had been allowed to choose, and she was glad that she chose well. The dress was cream coloured and had a sheer boat neck at the top. The skirt part of the dress was made of tulle and sat at her feet. She smiled and twirled around in her dress, feeling a little like a princess.