resilient

eighteen

My eyes awaken as the rays of sun shone through the cracks in the window. Ever so slowly I awken from that inbetween state of slumber and alertness. Heart pulsating, I remember the day I am in. June 18th, 3000. It's my eighteenth birthday. Today is the day.

Welcome to the After-World. After the End, this is all that remains. We as a society tried to put back the rubble and create a new system, but from what I know, it's completely different from what this world used to be. Perhaps, today will help me see that. Every time one of us in the After-World turns eighteen, we get to go to this room for a stimulation so that everyone can see the End. They say it's to help us become one with the future, and perhaps, be mature enough to share the world the way it is. Adults are forbidden to say anything about the procedure, so nobody knows what really goes on. 

Either way, today is the day.

I await outside a door on a small chair. Theres a door on two of the walls, and nothing on the other two. There's one bright luminescent white light above me and nothing but black walls around me. I'm alone. An hour ago I waited in a much larger waiting room with everybody else that was filled with everybody else celebrating their eighteenth birthday, but now, I was alone. Parents aren't allowed to be there. It's a sign of becoming an adult, so we are all forced into solitude. Like I said before, it's a procedure.

Suddenly, the door swung open from the side I came in on. That's odd. I thought I was supposed to be in complete solitude. There stood a man in a stark white long trenchcoat and shiny black dress shoes. He looked to be in his early twenties. Definately not another one of the eighteen year olds, but not old enough to be an administraor. What was going on? I tried to remain calm. Adults remain calm.

"Astrid Wallace." He said while practically staring into my soul. "I must give you this before you are called for the procedure." Without any notice, he pushed a medicated needle into my left arm. I saw the gooey yellow slime enter into my veins. 

"It's a medication for the side effects. Do not tell anybody that this has been injected into you. Whatever you do, keep quiet after the simulation and tell them that you went to the battlegrounds just like your supposed to. Am I clear?"

Without really taking into account what was going on, I nodded my head. 

"Echo Whitewaters. Find me when you're done. Here is my card. We can chat with tea."

Echo gave me a shiny card with random numbers glistening on it. I took it, but by the time my eyes looked up, he was gone. Alone in the room I was. Aloof and confused, I stared at the blank black wall infront of me until I heard the click of the other door.

"It's time, Astrid."

Slowly, I found myself walking towards the room which was completely white with a black cieling and a much more comfy bed in the middle. Slipping the card into my sweater pocket, I sat on the chair and prepared myself for whatever was next. 

I was ready for the End.