Looking Above

Chapter 1

Nobody decides to be born.

The smell of coffee covered the room. It wasn't out of place or time as it was breakfast time--early o'clock. Whether or not Geoffrey was ready his bedroom ejected him, forcing him to face the new day.

Without warning, he was tackled to the floor.

"Good morning Geoff," Carla said.

"Nice to see you're up." Geoffrey yawned.

Carla was the daughter of the owner of the orphanage. It was nice that she lived with the rest of us. It showed that he really cared for us as if we were his own children. 

Quickly, we got our bookbags ready and made for the school bus. The bus smelled of green (use your imagination), even though the bus was yellow. The smell was less noticeable in the front of the bus, but unlucky me sits right in the middle section on the right, pressed against the window.

The drive to school lent us a view of the outside. Full of fire and ash, the smoldering wasteland must have smelled like sulfur. The bus is built like a space shuttle, it kept us from smelling much less burning due to the fires outside. It is a hellish landscape. 

Today we present about the twenty-first century. 

"Theodor, what have you there?" Geoffrey said.

"Why, it's the latest app. It's called Tinder." Luis said.

"Oh, you need to start a fire? I'll help you out."

"No thank you. It's not that kind of app."

"So what is it for?"

"It's for meeting like-minded people and sharing photographs."

"Maybe I should get one cuz." 

"You'll meet a lot of people that way."

The presentation goes on that way about other apps on smartphones. That was the topic that Luis and Geoffrey decided to present on. It was somewhat drawn out and most everyone lost their focus. Up next was Carla and Tricia.

"Thanks to the wonders of CRISPR, there are now perfect people. Born to have above average in intelligence and chiseled features, CRISPR enhanced babies are the way of the future." Carla said.

"Bypassing ethics boundaries by researching and implementing it on Mars, the scientists that used it met virtually no resistance." Tricia said.

'Must be nice being perfect. It must mean someone wanted you around.' Geoffrey thought.

"It was in 2040 when CRISPR enhancement of embryos was finally made legal on Earth, though still under heavy scrutiny."

"It was due to the boldness and pioneering of the martian scientists that such a necessary part of the process of life making, CRISPR, was made available to the masses..."

Other projects included the invention of the flying car, anti-aging technologies, and VR memes. 

 After school, the orphans boarded their bus to go back to the orphanage. Every day--except for field trips and weekends--that's how their days went. Everyone except Carla. As she actually had a family, she also had after school activities. 

Living in the orphanage wasn't bad, but it wasn't the same as having a family surely.

Geoffrey didn't like socializing as much as he liked being alone holed up in his room. He found that spending his time reading and writing to be the most enjoyable and productive part of his day. Having no parents, he had no one to rely on but himself. He has always enjoyed reading and writing--might as well make a career out of it.