Retribution

Chapter 2

March 2098

Well, I guess you're probably wondering who this is. My name is Laurana. My parents said they named me after some tree named Laurel or whatever. Anyway, I'm 16.

There isn't much I can tell you about the people here. My parents told me that when they were teens the high schools were still open, they aren't now. So I often sneak up to the attic and look at their yearbooks. They looked so happy when they were younger. Their smiles were so big and they actually looked like they were enjoying their lives. I wonder if I'll ever get to experience that or even see those stupid smiles on their faces. Now all I ever see is fear and worry plastered on their faces. Sometimes I hear other kids outside running around and playing.

The government doesn't like us to be in an area where there are a lot of people so no one is allowed to do public gatherings. They don't even allow us to go shopping for our own groceries. The soldiers get the best food then when they are done they send people to hand out their scraps to the neighborhoods. When I listen to the stories that my mother tell me that her great- grandmother told her mom it's hard to believe that this world used to be so beautiful.

She used to tell me how there were lots of people at parties every weekend. There was also a holiday on December 25th where parents would wrap presents for their kids and tell them tales of an old fat dude who delivers presents to all the good children of the world in one night. Then on the fourth Thursday of November, there is some day where all of your family and friends come together squeezed in the kitchen baking cakes and cooking turkey and ham and then everyone sits down at a large table and eat while talking about what they are thankful for.

No matter how many times she tells me about these holidays, I can never seem to get enough.