A Road To The Next Universe

Leaders

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I sat in class in a room that was meant to hold at least five times as many people that were in here. I sat between Aston and Pheobie in the middle of the row of eleven other students. The only other students in the whole school.

I had gotten used to being a part of such a small crowd but I couldn't help but miss my old school where you could go anywhere between lessons and hardly be able to hear yourself think or you could skip a lesson unnoticed and wander the silent, empty corridors. Here, that was impossible because, not only are there so few children, but it was so difficult to avoid the other teachers when only one of them would be teaching.

On the wall behind Ms Stanley were two maps of the world. One of them was labelled with names like North America, England, Australia and Japan - names that I had already learnt before I was dragged from the outside world and dumped in this place. However the other map was covered in numbers, 1-12. 1 was in the north of Africa, 2 was in the south of Africa, 3 was in England and Ireland, 4 was in the east of Canada and 5 was in the west. 6 was North America, 7 was South America, 8 was Australia and 9, 10, 11 and 12 were spread over Russia. There weren't any numbers in any of the poles.

Ms Stanley said, "This map represents what the world will look like in three years, when the war has ended and you will have all turned eighteen. There are twelve numbers and twelve of you. By now, after spending two years here, I am sure that you are all familiar with the number that we have given you.

"Each of those numbers are displayed on this map, showing where you will go after the war. You are probably wondering why we will be sending you there and we feel like now, just as the war is coming to its end, it is time that you are told." She paused, brushing a piece of her dirty blonde hair out of her face, before continuing.

"When you turn eighteen years old, the war will have ended and the world will be restored to its former glory, with the addition of some major improvements. We have discovered a method that will decrease the amount of poverty, homelessness and conflict. This solution will, hopefully, be a very effective and a permanent one. That, is where you all come in. Each place, from one to twelve, will have a leader that possesses a certain trait. Then, each person will get to choose which place they want to live based on their personality. It will be a flexible system and people will be able to leave and enter each place as they choose, starting from the age of eighteen.

"You twelve will be the leaders of these places. The future of our world rests on your shoulders." She beamed at us, her thin lips stretched in to a wide smile. She looked hopeful and her eyes twinkled with excitement.

After a few moments, she walked over to her desk and retrieved a sheet of A4 paper with writing on one side. "Now," she said still smiling, "This is where you find out what we have chosen you to lead based on your most prominent characteristic.

"Place one, of intelligence, will be lead by Lucy Norman; place two, of peace, will be lead by Liliah Landau; place three, of power, will be lead by Kaitlyn Mortimer;" Kaitlyn smirked and held her head high, challenging anyone to disagree with her chose position, of course, no one did, "Place four, of honesty, will be lead by Aston Decaro; place five," Here it is, I thought, this is the moment I finally find out what people really see me as, "Of creativity, will be lead by Electra Pier;" I couldn't stop myself from grinning ear to ear. It was obvious to anyone who looked closely that I had an obsession with anything fictional. Me and Lucy were the only people who had extra books piled up on our bedside tables but, whilst hers were textbooks filled with general knowledge, mine were brimming with fantasies and out of this world adventures. Ms Stanley carried on listing the names, "place six, of bravery, will be lead by Pheobie Christofi; place seven, of cunningness, will be lead by Victor Perce; place eight, of kindness, will be lead by Luke Palato; place nine, of persistence, will be lead by Owen Zinberg; place ten, of activeness, will be lead by Megan Ferris; place eleven, of indecisiveness, will be lead by Nicky Ephron and, finally, place twelve, of diversity, will be lead by Connor Clayborne.