The Choice

Chapter 1 - The Regresratation Cards

              " Jade wake up!" I open my eyes to see my sisters face inch's away from mine.

 " What." I groan as I role over on my side so my back faces her. 

" It's time to wake up you lazy butt, we need to get the groceries for next week and ... the registration cards." says Erin, she says the last part really slow.

 My heart starts racing and my eyes pop open with the sound of the words "registration cards." Every 5 years the capital makes each family take a registration card for each of there kids to fill out, then they send them back into the capital. After a couple weeks the soldiers go from house to house taking the one kid that they choose, using the registration cards. Nobody really knows where they go but nobody has the guts to speak up against it even though they know that it is wrong. 

            I get up and get dress into the normal day clothes, grey shirt black pants. I walk out of my room into the kitchen smelling the oatmeal that my mom is making.

 " Good morning Jade." says may mom, she's trying to be happy but you can feel the tension in the room. Everyone knows what we have to do today. 

" Good morning." I replied trying to act as happy as her, I don't think it really worked. 

" Do you want any." she says as she gestures toward the bowl of oatmeal that she has in her hands.

 I shake my head no, because the thought of of eating right now makes me feel nauseous. I look out the window, it seems like even the weather knows what day it is today because it is dark, dreary and raining. I get my coat on and wait for Erin to finish her breakfast. once she's done she says good bye to mom and we head out the door. 

             As we walk Erin is talking about something our brothers did yesterday, I don't really know what because I am kind of zoned out thinking about the choice, thinking about how even if I don't get picked my life would change drastically. " Jade are you even listening to me!" says Erin  pulling me out of my day dream.

 " ya." I say trying to push the thought out of my mind.

 " No you weren't." she replies

" Sorry, I just can't get the choice out of my head, why do they have to do that to us? where do they even go when they take them?" I basically yell the last parts. Everybody in the town square turns toward us.

 Erin takes my hand and leads me away from every one. " I wish I could answer all those questions for you Jade but this is my first time to and to be honest I don't think anybody knows." she says all this so calm like it is normal. Its not normal it should never seem normal to anyone! All this just makes me so mad sometimes.

 " I know it just doesn't make sense." I say, with a little more calmness in my voice this time.

 " I understand Jade and your right it doesn't make sense. How about we go back to the town square and get the rest of the groceries and then the registration cards and head home." 

 "Okay." I say and we walk back to the town square.

 After we get the groceries we go to the registration card stand. There's this soldier standing behind the table, he doesn't look much older then me, he has blond hair and brown eyes, he would be really cute it I was actually looking. Erin goes up to him and says are last name and he hands her the envelope, but her hands are to full to I have to reach in and grab it from him instead. what I really want to do right now is open the envelope, rip all he cards in half, and stomp on them, but I know that I would be arrested and my family punished as well so I do what everyone is suppose to do, walk home and fill them out.

         When we get home mom is standing there waiting for us. We sit down together at the supper table. Erin takes the envelope out of my hands and slowly opens it.

There are 4 small one sided cards inside, Erin takes them out and sets three on the table, taking the fourth for herself. I gently take the card as if it was glass, and look at the questions that they want us to answer, there are only 6, they are all short and to the point probably like how they would want are answers.

FIRST NAME____________________________

LAST NAME ______________________________

AGE______________________________________

AMOUNT OF SIBLINGS_________________________

WAR EXPERIENCE? ________________________________________________________________

OUTDOOR EXPERIENCE?___________________________________________________________

These questions seem really strange and don't really have anything to do with each other, but with out asking questions I fill it out. Most of them are easy but a couple catch my eye, like amount of siblings. Do they only take kids from the family's with a lot of kids? I wipe the thought out of my head. I keep going, War experience? Outdoor Experience? They don't even make sense but I do have experience in both. My dad was a soldier, before he was killed from a unexpected attack. He use to let me shoot his gun sometimes. I don't right that down on the paper because it was illegal. I also love the outdoor, I always went out into the forest behind our house to play, think or sometimes write in my diary.

So for both I write a short "Yes." I hand the paper back to my mother so she could put it back in the envelope and get it back to the capital. The rest of the day I couldn't get the questions out of my head, especially at night.

I look around I don"t know where I am, it looks like a forest? That doesn't make sense! What's going on?

" Is anybody here? Can anybody hear me? " I yell trying to stay calm.

No reply, but a squawk of a bird. All of a sudden out of no where something jumps out at me and grabs me. I scream till my throat hurts but no one hears me it seems, I can't see where it's taking me, my eyes are filled with tears. I didn't notice I was crying till now, but now that is all I can hear.

" Jade! Jade wake up!" I wake to the worried face of my sister and my older brother Christopher, which came from his bedroom across the hall.

Christopher's long brown hair is a mess, it looks like I'm not the only one who hasn't slept well.

" Are you okay? Whats wrong?" whispers Christopher, trying not to wake up mom, if she isn't already awake.

" Ya I think so." I trying to convince my self more then them.

"It was just a bad dream I'm fine." I say, this time with more confidence.

" Okay, if you need to talk, you can come to me, I think I know how you feeling." says Erin still trying to wake up.