You can't escape Death <Frans>

CHAPTER 5: Ebott City

A Utopia.
That's what this city was.

Merely a creation of someone's interpersonal desires, and only their finifugal hierarchy of a society. It was the chaos of someone's mind.

But it was nothing but pristine perfection, in the end.
Because after all, the safest place you could be, was here in Ebott City.

"Are we sitting comfortably? Good. Welcome, citizens of Ebott City! A beautiful city, full of prosperous people only full of kindness and no ill ways of the regular society. Look outside, children, you see nothing but perfection. We only allow perfection here. There are simple rules to follow, but if you follow the 7 spoken rules of the chairmen, you will remain safe here."

Everyone follows the rules here.
There are no exceptions.

"1. There can only be three members to a family; a mother, a Father, and either a Daughter or Son.

2. No one is allowed to possess strong feelings.

3. People must remain with their assigned Partners.

4. People who have reached puberty or are older, must take pills to decrease any type of sexual urges.

5. You are not allowed to offend anybody.

6. Certain clothing is required to be worn at certain ages.

7. Members of the community are not allowed to leave the community.

In the act of breaking any of the following spoken rules, will result in the ultimate punishment. The releasing of a member. They are to be sent away from the community, and are not welcome back into the safe, warm home we have created for them. Everyone must adhere to the rules, because that is how we maintain our balanced society here in Ebott City.

As the Chairman of the society, we do appreciate the undivided attention for this evening announcement. You are safe here, in Ebott city, so do not worry, because we have everything under control.

This concludes the evening PSA.
And remember, you are always safe here, in Ebott City."

The TV clicked off like a light, and I turned around to glance at Mother and Father. Mother was washing the dishes, as she did every night after our evening meal, and Father sat relaxed in his chair, reading the newspaper after a hard day of work.

Our small, one story, rustic home was decorated no differently than any other house in our living community. We were required to maintain equality throughout everything, so everything was evenly distributed and fair.

It was almost March, and I was beginning to feel frightened.

No.

Frightened wasn't the right word. Frightened meant that deep, sickening feeling of something terrible about to happen. Frightened was the way I had felt when I was caught taking an apple from my classroom back in grade 8, and my teacher had given me my first warning.

You only got three warnings until you were released. For a contributing citizen to be released from the community was a final decision, a terrible punishment, and an overwhelming statement of failure.

Even the children were scolded if they used the term lightly at play, jeering at a teammate who missed a catch or stumbled in a race. I had done it once, had shouted at my best friend, "That's it, Blake! You're released!" When Blake's clumsy error had lost a match for her team. I had been taken aside for a brief and serious talk by the coach. Afterwards, I hung my head with guilt and embarrassment, and apologized to Blake after the game.

Now, thinking about the feeling of fear as I sat in front of our old TV, I remembered that moment of palpable, stomach-sinking terror when I had gotten my first warning, knowing I only had two left to go. It was not what I was feeling now with March approaching. I searched for the right word to describe my own feeling.
I had to choose wisely.

Apprehensive, I thought. That's what I was.

March was when I, upon turning 18, would get my position chosen for me in the community, and my partner for my life. It was only a matter of time before I would not be dependent on my parents anymore for any of the daily household chores.

I would finally be apart of the society.

It was strictly prohibited to feel strong emotions such as fear in the community, and I had meant to upgrade my vocabulary before I had gotten in trouble, but it had never happened. I never got around to it with both Blake and school revolving around me all the time.

"Anything new happened today, Frisk?" My Father asked me, as I sat on the small love seat in the middle of our living room. "What did you learn today?" He asked, looking up slightly from his newspaper.

"Not much." I said, shrugging. However, shortly after I had said that, Father gave me a dirty look of the use of my language, so, I quickly straightened my back and proceeded to correct myself. "Though I did learn very useful and important things according to my future position in life." I said, earning him a grin.

There was a small moment of silence, just the background noise of the sink running from Mother washing the dishes.

"Huh, " Father said, "SAT scores are a record high this year." He said, putting his reading glasses on to read the small captions under the large pictures. "Our educational systems just keep getting better and better."

I yawned slightly, standing up and stretching slightly, "Well, I am going to take a shower before bed. I'm rather exhausted from the day, and I believe taking a shower will relax my muscles." I said, walking to my room, before Mother stopped me in my tracks.

"Frisk," She said, making me turn, "If you wish to relax, I would take a bath, dear. Take a shower in the morning because it will wake you up." Mother smiled. I nodded, walking into my room and grabbing miscellaneous things, such as my clothes and shampoos.

We had one bathroom, and it was required for everyone to have their own toiletries. Which is fair, I would be rather upset if someone used my shampoo, rather than their own.

Stepping into the bathroom, I turned the water on and begun getting undressed, looking at my dry, brown hair, and my golden eyes. I stepped into the warm bathwater, and immediately felt a sudden relaxation of my muscles. It was soothing and made me feel as if I were to fall asleep right then and there.

I sunk all the way down into the water, feeling the warmth and the water hugging my body with the surface tension it liked to leave at the edge. The small splashes when I would make the slightest movement of my body grew to be an absence of white noise in the background, and it felt as it were lulling me to sleep. Slowly.

I could only hear the water, as my chin and mouth sunk lower and lower, breathing out small pockets of air to create tiny bubbles within the absence of color. When I looked down I could only see my legs and my stomach, completely submerged underneath the surface.

Within a few minutes into my bath, my eyelids quickly grew heavy, and I was enveloped by the darkness we called sleep.