Immortal Mistakes

how long would they keep her here alone?

Chloe stared at the pregnant moon hanging low in the sky. She shivered. It was cold in the desert at night. She should head back down but she didn't want to be alone in the caves anymore. Sitting and waiting for something to happen. For someone to come. She tapped her hand and tried to connect but she knew it wouldn't work. No messages. No words from the outside world. 

Were they safe still, her friends?

What were they doing in her lab? What happened when they realised she was gone? Did the Minister for Science appoint a new director who paraded Chloe's story in front of the staff as a warning: Do Not Step Outside The Boundaries.

That's what Chloe saw.

And she saw Henry, running beside her, high on the fear of what they were about to do. The school director had left to go and check on another school, another compound full of children, and her office door was open, Henry said, now was their chance. They had heard there was some sort of hologram computer in her office that talked to other students. Students who lived in far away places with snow instead of sand. Chloe didn't know if it were true but she wanted to find out.

They pushed open the door. Another Chloe stood in the middle of the room. She didn't move or look at them as they entered. Chloe gasped and Henry shut the door behind them. She crept up to the second Chloe and stood in front of her. "Chloe?"

The Chloe didn't move. Didn't blink. Didn't breathe. Chloe reached out her hand, and hesitated, before touching her arm. Her hand kept moving, swiping through the other girl's body.

"A hologram," Henry said. "It's real."

"But why does she look like me? Why isn't she moving?"

Henry came over and moved his hands through the body. "I don't know."

###

The hologram was long gone. The office was an empty cave now. Chloe wanted to scream in frustration. How long would they keep her here alone?

Thanks so much for reading. I don't know what it is like for you as a reader, but for me as the writer, this story is messing with my head. I've written so many versions now that I can't remember whether scenes, sentences and ideas have been deleted or still exist in the published version. It's such a surreal sensation of shifting realities and is exactly what I was trying to create for readers - so please let me know if I've succeeded, or just managed to create a giant, confusing mess.