A Hole in Time

The Hole - Chapter 14 - Children. Marching. Army.

My bed seems to scratch my skin tonight. I cannot get comfortable. I roll from side to side, trying to find a comfortable position. My mind is racing, trying to figure out how I can heal the holes and how I can destroy the time technology. I would get up out of bed and continue studying, but there is no light. I must try and make myself sleep, so I start to count the steps from my room to the school in my mind. I fall asleep after I get out the front door.

I wake up a few hours later, listening to the noise of someone Outside. It is Duncan and his superior. I carefully get out of bed and walk to the window. Duncan is saying that there was something else in with the snow today. "Sir, there were three layers today. There was a layer of snow, a layer of green leaves, and then a layer of brown leaves." 

"Duncan, did you say leaves?" Duncan must have a handful of the objects, because I can hear rustling. "These objects, sir. Leaves. But green and brown together with a layer of snow? Those are three different seasons. The snow is winter, the green leaves are either spring or summer, and the brown leaves are autumn or fall. The gardening book shows us a cycle of the four seasons. So the presence of items from three seasons confirms my suspicions that there is a time hole above my street. 

"Sir, what would you like me to do with these leaves?" I can hear the man reply. "Scoop them all up and take them to the edge. The energy shield should vaporise them." The men walk away, and I am struck with a strange thought. If all actions are controlled through the microchips and the computer that runs them, why do we need verbal communication? Maybe the computer is too busy charging the microchips and assimilating the data received from the thought downloads. I do not know why, but Duncan needs to go to his superior to get instructions.

As I dress for school, in the dark, another thought hits me. Why do we need to go to school if our instructions are going to come through the microchips? I can understand that young children need to be made stronger and they need to grow, but why do we need instruction? I am glad of it, as I have no microchip to give me instructions. I can think for myself and I have had to learn for myself. That is it! Thinking for myself. The schooling years must be so that the Hierarchy, or the computer, or whoever runs everything in here, can make sure that the microchip is in full control. 

I am still pondering this when the sun projection comes up. I brush these thoughts off and save them for later. I need to focus on today, listen to my teachers and absorb as much information as possible. I head downstairs for breakfast, another meal of horrible gray slump.

It is strange to see my family acting as they always have, considering all that I have learnt. I look into the vague eyes of my family and I wonder, are they actually in there? Do they know who I am or who they are? When Liam and I find out how to turn off the computer that controls the microchips, will our families still know who we are? Or will we be lost, Liam and I alone, shepherding a population of people that do not know who they are, where they are, or how to do anything? These thoughts make me feel sad. I shake my head to clear away these thoughts. It does no good right now to wonder. First we have to figure out how to find the computer, before we try to turn it off.

Liam and Scarlett wait Outside for John and I to complete our goodbyes. John and Scarlett start to walk straight away. I stop and quickly look around to see if Duncan or anyone else accidentally left a leaf behind. I do not see any, so I turn and start to walk next to Liam. I can see other Healers couples walking to school. There are two lines going down the street. I do not know how I have known this, but I always have. The couples walk an arms-length apart in one line, and all singles or children under the age of ten walk in the other line. 

All children are told at the age of ten who they are to marry. Parents tell their children who they chose for them and they meet. In my case, I already knew Liam. We have lived next door to each other our whole lives. Being different from everyone else, we quickly formed a friendship at a young age. I can see ten year old couples walking side by side and they look just like everyone else. Couples from ten to 17 walk in the same line that Liam and I are in, all going to the same place. 

I could walk this path in my sleep. I close my eyes and allow myself to be carried along by the familiarity of my footfalls and the sound of heavy steps. Not one footstep is out of time. Everyone's steps are at the exact same time. I saw in one of my history books, the one about horrible things from the Outside, a group of people, all dressed the same way, walking in straight lines. All had their left foot raised to the exact same height and I knew they would put it down at the same time. I think it was called marching. Yes, marching, that is it. Something about a man named Hitler and how he raised children to be in his army sticks in my head. Children. Marching. Army. The thought hits me so hard, I flinch. Someone is raising every child to be in their army.