The Riddle

Utopia

"Okay, Okay. I have a new one. What is brown and sticky?" She said and grinned, jumping around on the wood. I rolled my eyes again before answering her.

"Peanut butter?" I said with a blank expression on my face.

"No! It's a stick. C'mon Dana, you aren't even trying," She said, annoyed. "Atleast try to pretend like you enjoy riddles. This is what we are. Grow up and start acting like it."

"Well maybe you should give me a riddle that is actually interesting," I muttered, trying not to get her upset. Marie was the only person I knew who actually wanted to know me. I don't want to lose my only friend. Going bald already made me an outcast. Imagine what refusing to like riddles will do to me.

"Fine. What building has the most stories?" She asked.

I rolled my eyes again. I've heard that one before. "A library?"

"Yes! See, when you actually try, you can get it right."

"Yes, Marie. I see." I decided to let her have this one. I looked at the time and warned Marie, "You should probably get going now." I didn't have to say another word. She looked at the time and gasped, her dark skin getting goosebumps. Her wild bright-pink hair was moving around as she ran to fetch her things. She looked up at the sky and saw the black-zone forming. "Bye, Dana. See you tomorrow."

I nodded and I watched her leave before I ran into the cabin, shutting the door. 8pm is Riddleland's curfew. We all knew that we had to be in before 08:00pm. It was the second most important rule in Riddleland. If you ask me, it was also the second most stupid rule. Even though it was stupid, it had kept us safe. We had all heard stories about people who stayed out after 8pm and what the black-zone did.

I put on the lights and grabbed a beanie from my cupboard. It would soon get cold, as it always does a few minutes after curfew. The bigger the black- zone grew, the colder it got. We were told to stay away from our windows after 8pm as we would be the furthest from the black-zone.

I was curious, but I never dared to look out the window at it. I was a coward and everyone knew that. I couldn't even stand up for my parents when the men took them. If I didn't have anything to live for, I would have already looked out the window. I would have already been outside after curfew. But I do. I had to wait incase my parents came back.

I knew that there was a very low chance of it happening but I couldn't help but hope. It was the only thing keeping me rooted in this Godforsaken land. I sighed, wore my beanie and grabbed a blanket. I went to go sit by the fireplace, where the flames were getting higher and higher. My eyes became watery, but not because of the flames. It was because I missed my parents. I remembered how we used to sit around the fireplace in the other cabin, how they put me in the middle and told stories. Stories of how perfect the world was- and how perfect it would be. There was one particular story that they told me which I will never forget. I thought about the time they told me my favourite story and my mind wandered...

August 3006

"Come Dana, storytime," My mother said. I ran excitedly with a smile running from ear to ear. My mother put me on her lap and in no sooner than 5 seconds, my father sat down next to us.

"Honey, what story do you think we should tell her today?" My mother asked my father.

"Utopia," He said, and she nodded.

"A long, long, time ago before the black-zone appeared in the sky, there was a world called Utopia. Everything was perfect in that world- and everything was free," My mother said, playing with my pink hair. She looked at my father and nodded for him to carry on.

"You see, the people ran the world themselves. There was no such thing as a government or "the men" or taxes or riddles. They could do anything they wanted to do," He said, his deep voice comforting me.

"Anything?" I asked in my little voice.

"Anything," My mother said. "The black-hole didn't exist and you could be out till whatever time you wanted. You could sit on something they called grass and stare at something they called stars," She stopped, knowing I'd have questions. Before I could ask, my father already answered.

"Stars were little sparkly things in the sky. They were always there and they would always listen to you when no one else would. Grass were patches of something green. They were like small thin leaves on the ground."

"So the people were very happy in Utopia. There were no fights and life was easy. You could go anywhere you wanted because there were no boundaries. Utopia was a perfect place to live in until an evil clown came. He taught the people something called Riddles and captivated them so they couldn't see what he was really trying to do. Then right behind the clown, an evil government came and ruled over Utopia. They turned Utopia into Riddleland. A land of foolish people. Slowly but surely, the black-zone formed due to the evil actions of the government. No one has said anything because they are too busy with the Riddles. No one has seen what is really going on because they are blinded by the Riddles," My mum said sadly.

"Dana, promise us something," My father said, stroking my cheek. "Promise us that you won't forget the story of Utopia. Promise us that you won't conform to this government and that one day when you grow up, you will fight to restore Utopia."

"I promise, Daddy," I said, before falling asleep in their arms.

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A/N
How was it?
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