The Runaways

 

Chapter One: Wren

Many people in my society believe that everything needs to be perfect. But, there is one tiny, little thing they are forgetting. Nothing is ever perfect. Few families, including mine, remember this detail. We are known as the Runaways. 

With a strained voice, I said, “Pa, what’s going on?”

My Ma and Pa exchanged a worried glance before my father spoke up with a firm voice, “Wren. They are here.”

     *   *   *

I remember that day like it was yesterday. That was the day my brother, Caleb, died. He died proud, for he knew that he exchanged his life for ours. I was playing by myself, like always, but I never knew exactly why I never had any friends. Ma and Pa came into my room with panic in their eyes as Caleb rushed around trying to find the “runaway kit.” My family was talking in hushed voices, but when I strained to hear the voices stopped. How was I suppose to know what was happening with my 4 year- old mind? There was a strong pounding on the door and my family froze, all color from their faces draining. We were too late. We couldn’t escape from the “Boarders”, the society’s police. They made sure that everyone agreed with their terms and laws of in their definition, a “perfect” life. Caleb slowly rose from the ground where he sat organizing our belongings and walked to the door without hesitation. He opened the door and stood with enemy. The boarder asked if he was alone and he quickly nodded. They then asked for his personal information, including his name. When he agreed to everything with a firm “Yes.” Just with those answers, he was shot straight through the heart. Ma and Pa told me that he knew he would die just as he got up to answer the door. Caleb created a distraction so we could run out the back door. I knew I could never repay him for trading his life for our family’s. But Pa said that it just doesn’t work that way and that we have to stay strong for him so he knows he didn’t scarifies himself for nothing. Every time he tells us to stay strong, he always has to walk out of the room, cause Caleb was always his favorite. 

My Ma said he was always with us, even in our darkest moments. Pa talks to him every night, regretting for the loss of his son, getting mad at the Boarders, and even telling him about our day. I love Caleb, even though the memory of him was fading away with each passing day. The Boarders are targeting people like us because we “don’t agree with their terms.”Like, they forced us into a job, even though we didn’t like that profession. The Boarders believed that the only way to eliminate our kind, the Runaways, was to execute us. All these reasons didn’t seem like a big deal for the other members of the community because they thought it was a perfect idea, at least that is what the so called “ruler of our society” hammered into our brains. These “rulers” were husband and wife, Crater and Tammy. These people weren’t mean, they were malicious. But of course they never showed their true colors in front of the society. Only the Runaways notice who they really are, unlike the fools surrounding them. 

When we ran away we made it on our own in the wild forest. It is the only place that hides us. Pa keeps reminding us that we cannot hide here forever, and that worries Ma more than it should. I have to admit living in the forest is pretty nerve wracking. I’m always stressing that they will find us, and it shows; bitten down nails, constantly playing with my hair, and more. 12 constant years filled to the brim of worry, stress, and anger. My birthday is on December 2, but that’s another thing the Boarders took away from us. The imperfection of a birthday.