The Eden Compound

The Eden Compound (Chapter Five)

Chapter Five:

            Siobhan woke up startled, wondering why she was on the couch.

            Then it hit her. Oh yeah. Linn.

            Banishment.

            She noticed that the wallscreen television was still on. She remembered the night before, where she and Linn had dredged up the few home videos they could find and watched them.

            On the screen, a little girl- nine maybe- was onstage in a checkered dress, saying some lines you couldn’t hear. Siobhan could see her younger self in the background, spray-painted silver; she was supposed to be the Tin Man.

            That was the year I was in the play, she noted. She was surprised her parents had that taped.

            She got up to see if Linn had crashed on one of the couches, too. She had. Her blonde hair was splayed all over the pillow, and she was snoring loudly. Siobhan was surprised it hadn’t woken her mom up. She padded down the hall to her parents room.

            The bed was empty. She frowned. Where could she be? After a short inventory of the house, it dawned on her: her mother had left. Just up and left Siobhan. It felt like a hole had opened up in her.

            Oh, God, I’m upset about her finally leaving me. Bet she’s crashed in some bar right now. Maybe a hotel if she’s lucky. She went back to the living room. This time the camera showed a happy family, the father playing with a little six-year-old and the mother proudly holding a small baby. Siobhan turned it off, disgusted. What happened to us that I’m not surprised when Mom abandons me the day before I’m supposed to be banished? She probably left last night after we fell asleep. Bitch.

            Linn sat up with a start just then.

            “Whozere?” she muttered, rubbing her eyes. “Oh… oh.”

            “Nice,” Siobhan said. “You were snoring there for a while.”

            “Shut up,” she said, rolling over and sliding the blanket over her head. “I’m going back to sleep.”

            “Have fun.”

            “I will.”

            A few minutes later she was snoring again, leaving Siobhan feeling oddly lonely. She looked at her watch, wondering if she should get something to eat. 10:00.

            There was an odd noise outside her house, like someone shouting. She walked to window, wondering what it was. As far as she knew nobody kept pets that made sounds like that.

            There were people with signs on her lawn.

            She scrambled back to Linn and shook her.

            “What now?” Linn asked.

            “Protesters,” Siobhan said, her eyes wide. “On the lawn.”

            “Crap, how’d they know?” Linn asked, getting up quickly.

            “No idea. Unless it’s on the news or something-” Siobhan broke off, realizing what she’d just said. The shouting grew louder. Linn looked at her watch, her eyes fearful.

            “10 o’clock. The news is on right now. Hurry, switch it to the channel!”

            Siobhan pressed a few buttons on the remote and the screen switched to a perfectly put-together newslady. The headline underneath her read “LOCAL GIRL TO BE BANISHED”