Serva

1. Wild flowers.

"after him, she would never be the same again."

(Malia: mahl-lee-uh. Rhymes with... Somalia?)

Malia's point of view:

"They were seen in the city yesterday! They could be planning an attack." My mum huffs as she leans on the table, covered with a map of the surrounding one hundred miles of camp.
There's a group of men surrounding her, all with the job of protecting our group.

My Dad shakes his head, disagreeing completely, "If they wanted to attack, it would've happened by now." He drops his pen onto the table, "I just don't understand what they are doing so close to us." He runs a hand over his wrinkled forehead, his hair greying quickly from the stress of the job he gave himself ten years ago.

"Malia, leave us. You don't need to listen to this." He waves me away, not looking up from the table.

"Dad I'm nineteen, it's time I start getting involved with-"

"Malia Mae." He warns, telling me to be quiet and do as he says.

"Fine." I give in, not wanting to add more stress to his day and also because our arguments never end with me having the last word.

I decide to call Smithy instead, he'll be available to do something with me.

He picks up on the third ring as I walk to the clearing in the woods where we usually meet. It's like a ten minute walk away from the main camp, giving us enough privacy to bitch about our parents.

"Hey Malia."
"Hey, are you free? Do you wanna come to the clearing?" I ask hopefully, feeling completely and utterly bored today, like most days here.

Kids of revolutionaries have even more restrictions than those living under Serva, which honestly makes no sense as suppression is what we are fighting the Serva against.

"Sure, I'll be there in ten."

I hang up, and walk through the last of the woods, pushing the branches out of my way. Smithy has been my best friend since I was nine, when we formed this group.

He was my first and only sexual relationship. We aren't together, he doesn't want to be in a relationship in case something bad happened to one of us, which isn't as far fetched as it may seem in 2029. I'm not sure I'd want to be his girlfriend anyway, we're two very different people.

I reach the clearing, feeling the sun hit my skin immediately. I've always loved summer so much more than winter.

The wild flowers are in full bloom all over the meadow, meaning when I sit down, you can only see my shoulders upwards. It's a beautiful field really.

"Malia!" I hear his voice shout from the treeline, he waves his hand as he comes out, flipping his shoulder length blonde hair out of the way as he does.

"Hi Smithy." I stand up, giving him a hug even though I only saw him yesterday when I went to his cabin for dinner. He has pretty scrawny arms so his hugs aren't the warmest but I don't mind.

"You look cute." He smiles, gesturing to my flowery sundress that falls just above my knees. My dark hair is up in a ponytail and off of my neck, I can't stand the feeling of it on my neck when I'm hot.

"Thank you." I sit back down.

"What's going on?" He asks, sitting down next to me in the field.
I sit with my legs to one side so I don't expose myself, but also so I can fiddle with the bow on my shoes.

"Mum and Dad still won't let me get involved with revolutionary work. It's driving me insane." I huff, my attitude similar to that of a small child.