Productive

Tintern Hall

I pulled the rough feeling blanket off and sat up, looking around the room it reminded me of a sort of dormitory you get in boarding schools minus anything personal, each bed was identical, wooden frames with green woollen blankets and white pillows, each bed had a small table at the side with a small plastic glass and at the end of each bed was a small chest of draws and that was it, there was four high windows all with thick green curtains hanging open, the room had the same strip lighting as the hospital room I was in when they did the tests and gave me the results, the floor was wooden and worn like it had been laid many years before, at the end of the room was a door that was slightly ajar and from where I was sitting I could see it led to a bathroom, the only other door in the room was a large metal one which I figured was the exit.

I stood up and looked around for my shoes, but they were nowhere I opened the draws at the rear of the bed, it was full of white shirts and Gray skirts like a sort of uniform, I really was in a boarding school, the metal door opened behind me I turned and saw a lady in her late thirties enter and smile at me, “ah your awake, are you? My name is Mistress Ruth and that is how you will address me, is that clear?” a little taken back by her introduction I replied “yes”, Mistress Ruth stepped forward looked me over then SLAP, she struck me across my face with so much force my head turned, “said you will address me as Mistress Ruth, let’s try that again, is that clear?” “it is clear Mistress Ruth” I said through gritted teeth, “good, now welcome to Tintern hall, this is where you will be staying until your 18th birthday and you are selected to progress to conceive, carry and give birth to a precious baby, it is one of six schools dedicated to the survival of the human race, we currently have 170 productive girls here, many like you were scared but they have blossomed here and some are nearly ready for the next stage like you will when you are 18, while you are here you will continue with your education along with medical tests that will be done as and when they are needed, we have strict rules you must follow or you will face punishments, the rules you will find in the bottom draw, here”, she pointed and reached down and opened the draw, she stood and handed a folder to me, “you will have the rest of the day to read through this and be refreshed and ready to start tomorrow, you may leave this room and explore, please do not disturb any of the girls you may see, socialising is strictly confined to the evenings, if you have any questions please locate a member of staff to help you”, still holding the folder I looked once more for my shoes, “Mistress Ruth, where are my shoes?”, I asked making sure I addressed her correctly, “just outside the room there are lockers and each locker has a number that is the same as your bed number, which is 14, you will find a pair of shoes and a jacket and that is where they will be placed each evening when returning to this room, now if you excuse me I believe Samantha has woken I must go through everything with her, if you have any questions for me please use the paper and pencil provided outside my office and I will respond in due course”, Mistress Ruth turned to the girl in the bed next to me and begin sternly telling her to get up and that it was rude to lay in bed when someone was talking to you, I didn’t stay to listen, i quickly dressed and left the room to find locker 14.

Learning all the rules was a challenge,

1.you are to be polite, attentive, and courteous to all members of staff and maintain eye contact at all times.

2, you must walk in silence in all hallways and walk in a single file, no unnecessary stops unless it is permitted or for emergencies.

3.you must arrive prompt to every lesson, meeting, health screening and mealtimes, if you arrive late without prior warning, you will be sent to Mistress Ruth for punishment.

4.school uniform MUST be worn at all times and be worn correctly, clean, and ironed, no unauthorised alterations may be made, shoes will be clean and smart and stockings/tights will be worn at all times while in uniform.

5.no socialisation will be permitted outside the hours of 5-7pm during evening down time and to be kept to a minimum.

6.you must stay within the grounds of Tintern hall and have permission before you go outside.

7.all medication will be taken under the supervision of a member of staff.

8.contact with immediate family will be made once a month and information regarding Tintern hall is strictly prohibited, no other outside contact is prohibited and will be seen as a breach of rules, and you will be punished severely.

9.food will only be consumed at mealtimes, and everything must be eaten in one sitting, you will not be excused from the dining hall until your plate is empty, any lateness due to this is not considered a good enough reason to be late.

10.you will use evening down time to either study or complete homework, reading or personal care, if you are found lazing around and not doing one of the above a member of staff will set you a task to do.

11.you must be awake, and standing at the end of your bed at 7am every morning unless prior permission has been given due to illness that has been confirmed by Doctor Phillips.

The rules went on for another two pages and were all basically telling you what you can’t do and that they controlled everything. But being a group of teenagers, we found ways to do things, like using the showers as cover to talk in hushed voices to communicate with each other, how to hide the disgusting food so it looked like we had eaten all of it.

The punishment’s were harsh, even for the most minor of things, I once called a member of staff by the wrong name, and I had to stand facing the wall of the classroom for the entire lesson then complete a test on what the lesson was about.

We never mixed with the other girls outside of our age group, our meal times were separated, our lessons were held on separate floors, the only time you saw the other girls was through the window when they were outside for sport, or on the mornings someone was selected and left Tintern Hall, the only other time we were ever near the other ages is when one of the girls had tried to make a run for it, we were made to stand and watch her being brought back.

Life was lonely here I think they made it this way as so the girls don’t rebel or something, if they keep us isolated we can’t plan anything, but that didn’t stop a number of girls trying to escape, I had been here for about two months when a girl who had just turned 18 managed to climb out of her dormitory window in the early hours of the morning, she scaled the wall and made a run for it, they caught her, of course they always did, after we lined up to watch her being returned we saw her through the window being taken away again and not of her own accord.

Another time a girl called Mel got out and wasn’t found for three days, she never left the grounds, she hid in the disused basement and hoped after a while they would stop looking for her and then she could leave, they found her after a caretaker noticed a seal around a door to the basement was broken, they dragged her literally kicking and screaming, unlike the other girl we never new what happened to Mel she was only 17 and wasn’t ready to be selected so we didn’t know where they took her.

Contact with my family happened every month, we were allowed a 10 minute call, my first call I spent much of it crying as did my mum, I was punished after as I would not end the call when asked, I spent a week locked in a single room where my meals were brought to me and I was escorted to my lessons and had a member of staff with me at all times, it was hell.