The Rebellion Era

Chapter Ten

                  
I seriously don't know what to say. I am utterly sorry for the unexplainable delay. I have been through a tough mourning period that was followed by examinations. Just when I was finally going to sit before the screen and write, our internet was disconnected for an awful while. 

Hola! I am back at last!

                                       ***
I touch the cotton mattress. I feel it's thickness underneath me, kilos of feathers separating me from the closest iron bar. My back aches from a memory, the tough ground I stretched myself on for years. I can't even recall a time when I pained; the rocks go back to as far as I remember. It was what's normal to us Gardeners and this cozy bed is what I used to call a spoil.

Sarah fumbles for spare clothes in the wardrobe. It looms tremendously above me, bearing tenths of the same outfit. However, as she drifts through the rack, I only see a blur of black. There seem no color in this dreary building.

The only color that seems to be there is the white of the walls. I cannot even imagine a room with black paint. I myself would have felt suffocated like the walls were closing in on me. Needless to say, it would be a bad omen.

Sarah passed a collection of doors with different labels. I was only allowed to follow her, and Assem was ushered by Raneem who had a scowl plastered on her face. It appears she has strongly dissuaded our stay, and it also appears she has failed. I caught Raneem leading Assem to '217A' room on the other side of the building, before Sarah pushed me into my own, '217B'.

I stare downs at my slippers, one string torn now, as I try to put everything that happened in the past few hours in order. I reached Kayote Square. There was an attack. I was injured. Assem followed me. People in black cured me. People in black turned out to be the Uprising founders. They are wanted. There is a place across the other side of the borders called The Insula. Life there is horrendous.

I won't go home.

I also attempt to put the chaos ensuing back in the lane in order. Mrs. Eman must have discovered Assem's disappearance. The first sensible course of action will be to hare to my dweller, and chastise Assem for hanging around with me again. "You are too old now." She would say with an accusing glance thrown in my direction, if he is found in my presence. "You cannot fraternize with a woman unless you plan on marrying her." Assem would turn to me, waiting for me to answer this for him. Because while he does intend on wedding me, I absolutely and clearly do not. I never truly put a finger on whether Mrs. Eman did this out of a grudge for rejecting her son, or because it was really illogical to hang out with big girls. But he wouldn't be in my dweller, neither will I. Mrs. Eman would absolutely urge mother to find us, to catch us amidst whatever taboo she will think we are doing. They will never find us though and from here mayhem will break out in the Gardens: The daughter of Lavenders' hakim ran away with her secret lover one day after the death of her father.

"This is how close to your size I could get." Sarah says, drawing me back to the Base.

She carefully places a folded heap of cloths next to me. It is black gear. A jacket, a T-shirt and trousers. She holds a pair of black snickers. She wipes her hands in the air to let go of the dust. From the twisted look upon her face, I can say she is not a worker herself. She must have had a team of maids under her demand.

"If you are going to lock me up here until all this is over, can I at least contact my family?" I ask. Just when I had a flare of hope, her looks attacks it with its prongs, like a burning poker melting cold ice.

"Absolutely not."

"They will think I defected away from the Gardens and abandoned them!" I surge. Not to my benefit though, for adrenaline intensified the pain. I wince, not knowing which part of my body I should hold exactly.