“Oh, come on! I know you hate history but you could at least listen!”
I snapped back into reality at the sound of my friend Abby's voice. I hadn’t realized I was zoned out...
“Sorry. I just don’t like this topic very much.” I laughed.
“How do you not care for this topic? It’s the history of our world! We need to know that it was the Unnaturals that started it, not us!”
I’m not really sure that’s how it went down. Naturals are rather.. biased. According to them, every Unnatural is a freak that deserves to die. Everyone here thinks I’m one of them.
Unfortunately, they’re wrong. But of course I can’t say that out loud, I could get shot! Or maybe worse, expelled! What would I do then?
“You’re right, sorry Abby. I didn’t sleep very well last night, I guess I’m just too tired to listen to Mrs Holt's boring
voice... “
We laughed together, making fun of our teacher until the bell rang, signalling the end of the day.
"Did we have any homework for history? I, erm... wasn’t listening...” I asked as we left the school, entering the courtyard.
“No, but we do need to start thinking about our project. Ugh, it’s going to take forever...”
I couldn’t help but laugh as we parted ways. Abby was going home, but I was heading towards the forest just outside our gates. Mom and dad know I don’t like people so they let me go there after school every day to wind down.
I’ve always loved the forest. I was 5 when I discovered I could hear animals and plants, but I was smart enough to hide it. Surprising, considering I was 5!
I know that if I’m found out I’ll be killed. Everyone is hyper aware of that... Which is why I need to be careful out here.
I stayed out in the forest doing homework until the moon rose, and then I made my way back home. The city Laws say that nobody is allowed outside the gates when night falls.
The next day I was woken up by a robin singing what I think is a Taylor Swift songs. Birds love her songs for some reason. I left the little thing some bird seed and headed downstairs for breakfast.
I greeted my mother, “Hi Mom! I’m getting the bus today with Abby. My ticket is still valid from yesterday.”
“Hello May,” she replied. “That’s okay. I need to take our neighbours' kid anyways, so that’s better.”
I smiled in return and shoved my lunchbox into my bag. Then I grabbed a few buttered slices of toast and made my way to the bus station.
As I walked, I took notice of the wind whistling. It sings songs too, but not like birds – the wind doesn't like Taylor Swift – it sings songs of the future. Sort of. It doesn’t really sing; more like whistling merged with words. Normally the words are undecipherable. They are today too.
A few leaves trailed by through the wind's song. A rare sight in here; there are no trees anymore. The last one died when I was 7. The animals outside my window cried for days.
We have no guardians or spirits here to help us thrive like in Unnatural cities. We have food and water thanks to technology and advancement, but we'll never have our nature back.
The sky was a dull grey, probably going to rain later. Maybe after school. Rain is pretty common. Dad always said that it’s the ancient souls of water guardians crying for the world. Maybe he’s right, who knows!
There were no cracks in the ground. Of course not, the government would freak out if there was. They love to preach about how advanced we are compared to “the mutants”.
YOU ARE READING
Crossfire
Fantasy"A long, long time ago, the world was not split in two. Naturals and Unnaturals did not exist. Some people were blessed by gods and awarded a Gift - these people are known now as Unnaturals. Eventually, the Naturals grew jealous. They were jealous...
