A Handmaid's Tale Fanfic

Abduction by the Guards

I must've fallen asleep. Not hard to do when reading that book. I awoke to a hard knocking on my door, and Mother coming in without waiting further.

Behind her was my Martha, holding a tray but her eyes on the floor. Mother walked towards me. The clacking of her shoes on the floor echoed on the walls.

"It's time to eat," Mother said.

Eat? I always ate at the table. She took the tray from my Martha and sent her away.

"I'm not really that hungry—"

"You will do as you're told!" Mother barked. She set the food down. It was a bowl of rice. Odd, seeing as how my Martha was just scrubbing potatoes.

I rubbed my eyes and sat by the bowl. The rice had an odd smell.

"I'm really not hungry."

Mother stepped towards me and slapped me hard.  "Don't make this any more difficult than it already is!"

I put my hand to my cheek. "I'm sorry mother. I'll read more of the Bible."

She threw her head back with an annoyed groan. "Eat!"

My eyes went from her back to the plate. I slowly picked up a forkful of rice and put it in my mouth. It tasted strange, sour with a chalky after taste.

I don't remember anything after that.

When I woke, I was still groggy. I was on an exam table, my feet in stirrups.
The doctor was not gentle. I felt like cattle bring prodded. Invaded. I jerked up but Aunt Rebecca was behind me and held me down.

"This will be easier if you cooperate."

"Aunt Rebecca, what is going on?  Why am I—"

"Silence!" She barked, and nodded to the doctor.

He asked me about my period, while writing notes. Then, he left the room.

"You have been given the honor of being a Handmaid, like OfPhilip was to you." Aunt Rebecca gave a smug smile.

My heart went through the floor. I was being screened for fertility. I was being drafted - kidnapped - to be a Handmaid.

I don't remember much after that. It was all a blur. I went from being an innocent child to a baby machine.

I was brought to a building in the area formerly known as downtown. It appeared to have been an office building, abandoned like all of the buildings. They led me to a room with beds, other girls my age were sitting on them. Some were silent, others were crying. How could mother let this happen? Father was an admiral, surely he had the power to keep me from this.

Another aunt came in the room and I rushed over to her. "My father is Admiral Jennings."

The Aunt pulled back her arm, gave a back hand to my jaw that threw me to the floor. "You have no father, Handmaid!"

Those words would never be forgotten. This must've been why mother's previous handmaid ran off with her baby girl. If a girl is fertile, she is to be a handmaid. They tell us it is an honor. My life has been reduced to the mechanics of my uterus. I could not understand how my parents, so loving at one moment, could cast me away in the next moment. It would be a while before I would see them again.