Part One:

The day went by as expected, there were no surprises. The sky was the usual shade of gray, the outfits chosen for us were the usual black and white, school was the same as always, work went about as usual, and really nothing changed much. Tomorrow is Saturday, so I will do a full day’s work. Nothing will change tomorrow either, I suppose. Lights go out at 9:30, so I have seven minuets to bathe. I run the scentless shampoo through my uniformly brown hair, rinse the day’s dirt off my body, and turn off the water. I am dressed in my nightgown and in bed just as the lights shut themselves off. Who really needs change anyway?


“Good morning, Miss Parim.” I greet my employer with a respectful nod. She smiles at me; a cold smile that does not linger, nor travel any farther than her thin lips.
“Good morning, Dayna. Work hard today.” I nod to her, punch myself in and make my way to my bus. I will eventually take over driving my bus, but I am only seventeen now. That job will be mine when I turn twenty-one. For now I work with Miss Carter, checking passes and announcing stops. Miss Carter is not as cold as Miss Parim, but she is just as formal. No, wait, she is even more formal. Rather than a nod, she expects a bow at the waist.
“Good morning, Miss Carter.” I clap my arms to my side and give her the courtesy bow she is expecting. She smiles.
“Good morning to you, Dayna. You get a full day’s work today, so let’s get started.” She says. I nod and ascend the bus steps. The doors swing closed behind me and we take off, the buss’s engine purring healthily.
We drive route three, and it is our job to get people from home to work and back, because the only vehicles here are company owned. Our first stop is at 7:45 am on Miner Street, to pick up the miners for work. Following that we pick up the breakfast workers and take them to the mines at 9:00 am sharp so that the miners can have their breakfast. We eat with them. At exactly 9:15 we load the breakfast workers up and take them back to their kitchens.
At 9:30 am we drive down postal street, picking up the postal workers. We drop them off at their office at 10:00 am. Then we drive half an hour each way to pick up the lunch workers, and at 11:00 we drop them off at the kitchen. At 11:10 we are on Shopkeeper Street, picking up the vendors and taking them to their stores. They open their doors up at 12:30.
We head back to the kitchen and take the lunch workers to the mines at 12:00. We eat with them again. At 12:15 we take the cooks back to the kitchens. At 12:30 it is time for a job related lecture. This lasts until 1:30. From 1:30 to 4:30 it is up and down each domestic row, bringing the people of each street into the shops to get supplies for tonight’s dinner. From 4:30 to 5:00 we are given leave to fetch our own groceries for the night. Each night’s dinner is chosen for us, and we are given the supplies needed. Tonight is roast beef, spinach and boiled potatoes. We get what we need quickly and move on. From 5:10 to 5:45 we take the shopkeepers home. Then it's back to the mines to take the miners home. Then the bus is returned to the depot, and I walk to my house. It's only a mile from the depot.
I eat dinner at 6:30. Then I do my weekend homework, assignment one. Then a shower. Then bed. Nothing changes.
The next day follows exactly the same pattern, and then it is Monday again, and I have classes.
I walk through the door of my classroom, which is identical to all the others, and am greeted by my teacher, Mr. Graham. Without a nod or greeting he hands me my papers from last week. As expected, all perfect scores. Just like every other kid in the class. We spend from 9:00 in the morning until 12:00 doing school work. Then fifteen minuets for lunch, and off to work. I walk quickly and manage to get to the depot right on time at 12:40. Miss Parim isn't there to greet me. I swipe my card anyway, thinking how strange it was that Miss Parim isn't here. She's always here. My mind is racing, and my heart is pounding. What was happening. Why wasn't she there? As I round the corner into the large parking lot of the depot, I am already completely freaking out. I don't understand any of this. What is this pounding in my chest? What is this feeling threatening to engulf me and transform my brain into a useless puddle of chaos? I walk more quickly, I need to be on my bus with Miss Carter, running our route. I need normal. Now.
She's not there. I can feel my mind begin to melt into a puddle. I look around and then smile. I have found Miss Parim. My smile dies instantly as I see who she is with. Two men, taller than uniform and dressed in colors I do not recognize are speaking with Miss Parim and several others. A beast sits at their feet, covered in fur, a long tongue hanging from one side of it's mouth, large teeth exposed. I've never seen a creature like that before. To be truthful, I didn't even know there were living things outside of humans. And I've certainly never seen those colors before.
I am shaking now. Why am I shaking? That feeling is still there, and my mind is more rapidly becoming a puddle of chaos. I try to hang on to my senses. The creature notices me. It makes a noise I do not recognize.
“Quit yer barking, mutt!” One of the men yells, then he notices me. He lifts the corners of his mouth in a strange sort of smile. I bow in greeting, my knees buckling a bit. His smile widens as he reaches for the piece of rope around the beast's neck. Miss Parim notices what he is doing, and follows his gaze. Her eyes widen at the sight of me. What is that expression?
“Run Dayna!” There is a note in her voice I do not recognize, a strange note that makes me sure there is not time for questions. I turn and run as fast as I can for the gate of the depot. I hear the creature following me, still making that awful sound the man had called barking. My mind shuts down. The only thing I can think of is putting one foot in front of the other as quickly as possible. When I next look up, I am in a part of the country I have only heard of in class. The reproduction district. This is where all the mothers live. I wonder which one is mine.
The barking noise reaches my ears again, the beast is catching up. I stop thinking and start running. I look up as a massive shadow rises above me. A large wall. No one has told me about this. Why is this here? There is a hole in the wall. I bolt through it without thinking, hiding behind the structure of the wall, praying the beast wouldn't find me. I hear it sniffing a lot. Briefly, I wonder what it could be doing.
“Hey!” A voice sounds in front of me. I realize that the creature behind me may be the least of my worries, as I look forward to see another too tall man, sitting on the back of a massive furry beast. My mind goes completely black. I feel my back sliding down the stone of the wall, then, nothing.

I can still feel the coolness of the wall behind my back, but now something soft and warm is behind my head. I open my eyes. What must be the massive beast's nose is so close it is almost all I can see. I let out a yelp and back up against the wall even further.
“Oh, come on, Fay, don't scare her!” I turn my head towards the sound of a voice. The man is still here, but he has gotten off of the massive beast's back. He pats the animal's neck, and pushes it's nose away from me. “Please forgive him. Fay is harmless, but way too affectionate. I'm Shannon Mills. Nice to meet you.” He holds his hand out to me. What kind of name is Shannon for a guy, I wonder as I shake it. The soft object behind my head is an article of clothing, a sweater of some sort, obviously his. I hand it back to him.
“Dayna. My name is Dayna Cross. Pleased to meet you.” I say. The beast snorts. “What is that?” I ask, gesturing to this “Fay” creature. He makes a strange sort of noise and smiles really widely. I've never seen anyone smile so widely.
“Fay? Well, he's a horse, naturally.” Shannon answers.
“And what, pray tell, is a horse?” I ask. He makes that weird noise again. It's not aggressive, it's a happy sound, I think. And it makes me smile.
“Sheesh, they expect perfect grades out of you, but they don't teach you nothing.” He mutters.
“Who is they?” I demand.
“Not important. What is important is how you managed to escape. How'd you do it? And why?” He looks at me expectantly. His eyes are an unusual color, but it's a nice one. I wonder what it's called.
“Escape? What did I escape from?”
“The city.” He says. “Who told you there was a world beyond the city?”
“I left the city? I didn't know there was anything but the city.” Now I'm stunned. He is too.
“Well, why are you here, then?” He asks.
“I was being chased by that loud beast and there was this wall and I saw a hole in it and I hid there.” I say.
“What kind of beast were you being chased by.”
“The loud hairy one.” I say.
“Very descriptive.” He responds, making that strange noise. To my surprise a similar noise comes from my own throat, without my permission. He smiles widely. “So the city girl can laugh, that's good. Laughter's good for you.” Laughter, so that's what it's called. I think he's right, because it makes me feel really happy.
“Well, it had four legs,” I begin again, describing the creature better, “lots of black and brown hair, big teeth, pointy ears and a long tongue. I think somebody said the noise it was making was called barking.” He nods his head.
“It was a dog.” He says.
“A dog?”
“Yeah, I didn't know there were any in the city...” He trails off, obviously thinking about something.
“I've never seen one before. And it was with these two men, who were talking to my employers and teachers and a lot of important looking people.” His head snaps up when I said this.
“What did the two men look like?” He asks.
“I didn't see their faces, but they were wearing a bunch of weird colors, kind of like you.” I say. He smiles again.
“I can't believe you don't even know the primary colors.” He looks at me with a strange expression I don't recognize, but it seems sad. I just return his gaze. We are silent for a while.
All at once the silence is broken by loud voices. I turn to look through the hole in the wall and see Miss Parim and several other people rushing towards us.
“Who are you!” Miss Parim demands as she reaches my side.
“Shannon!” One of the men from earlier yells, as he joins us. “What are you doing here?”
“Nothin', really, what's it to you?” Shannon says, folding his arms across his chest. The two men stare at each other as a third man jogs over. It is the man who let the “dog” attack me. He has put the rope back around the beast's neck. He smiles at me again, that strange smile of his that makes an unusual chill run up and down my spine. I am overcome by the urge to get away. I can't help it, I take two shuffling steps backwards, towards Shannon.
“What's with you, honey?” The man leans towards me, his strange smile widening. “I jus' wanna get ta know ya.” He says. I back up another step, and he steps forward again. I want to run.
Before I get a chance, a hand wraps around my wrist. Shannon pulls me closer and places me behind him. There is a really dark look on his face.
“Let her be.” He says. The dog makes a low rumbling noise, it makes me want to run.
“What do you care, sir? You are but a humble weed, what gives you the right to care about a graceful flower like Dayna?” Miss Parim's voice is filled with an odd note, and as she says the word “weed” I see Shannon frown and cast his eyes downward.
“What is a weed, Miss Parim?” I ask. She smiles.
“He is a weed, Dayna. A man not suited to exist on this planet, he shouldn't even have been allowed to live.” She says.
“Did he do something wrong?” I ask. Shannon doesn't seem like a bad person.
“Yeah,” Shannon speaks up before Miss Parim can. “I wasn't uniform.” Was that really so terrible an offense to deserve death? Couldn't he become uniform?
“Just get away from that weed, Dayna, come on now.” Miss Parim holds out her hand to me. By all means I should go to her. Instead I move closer to Shannon. I don't know why. This makes him smile for some reason.
“Look, I don't want trouble. So I'm leaving.” He says, climbing back on to the “horse's” back. I look up at him, why is he leaving? He returns my look.
“The choice is yours,” Shannon says, “You can stay with them, or come with me.” So saying he reaches down his hand to me, offering to help me onto the “horse's” back. I look at Miss Parim.
“You have no right to offer her that choice!” She says. Do I want to go with him? There are so many things that I want to know, and I think he can teach them to me. I look back at Shannon. He's smiling. That smile fills me with a strange sensation. For some reason, I can't stand the thought of not knowing more about him. I can't imagine not knowing more about this strange new world I've run headlong into. I take his hand.
“DAYNA!” Miss Parim shouts. But it's too late. Shannon hoists me up onto Fay's back, and gives him a gentle kick. The “horse” moves forward in an awkward rocking gait. I have to wrap my arms around Shannon to keep from falling. I like this sensation. We disappear into the distance as Miss Parim shouts and chases after us. She will not catch us.


Part Two:

It's hard to believe a week has passed already. It seems like it's been shorter than that, much shorter. In some ways, it also seems like it's been longer than that. We're going to what Shannon calls the “market” today. I can't wait. We're going to trade my old uniform for clothes like he wears. He says I'll get a lot for my uniform, because it's made from such quality material. It'll be good to have clothes of my own. It was really nice of Shannon to let me wear some of his clothes, but they swallow me up.
I've learned a lot in just a week. Like all the colors. I think my favorite's orange, or maybe purple. But I like blue and green and red too. I guess I like all the colors. I've learned what grass is, and what clouds are, and about trees and plants and flowers. I've learned about movies and all types of animals. I just love animals. The best thing I've learned about is music. Shannon gave me something amazing. It's a portable music player. I just put “ear buds” into my ears and this little box plays music for me. I like music. The only music I don't like Shannon calls “rap”. He says he doesn't like rap much either.
I've also learned about all sorts of new feelings. Like love, and sadness. I've always been aware of sadness, but I've never felt it. I also learned about jealousy, hatred, angry and a lot of other feelings. Shannon's a good teacher.
“Dayna!” Shannon is calling me. I guess it's time to go. I walk around the side of the house to where he's waiting.
“You ready?” He asks. I nod my head and we start walking. We walk in silence for a while.
“Did they ever teach you about the apocalypse?” Shannon asks me suddenly. I look up at him and shake my head.
“No, they never mentioned it.” I say.
“It's a really important part of our history.” He explains, “The apocalypse is the reason we have the towns. They were built in every country. It was a way to stop the constant riots that brought about the end of the world.”
“Riots?” I ask.
“Yes. People were upset because of the way the governments were ruled. Almost as one, they revolted against their governments. That is why the towns were created. Perfect cities full of perfect people that would never again revolt. And those of us who are not uniform are called “weeds”. We are exiled out of the fear that we will corrupt those who are perfect.” He sighs. It seems to be a touchy subject for him.
“So, what am I...” I wonder out loud.
“Well, for so long as you are with me, I suppose you are a weed too. Sorry. I'm sure you can go back and say I forced you to come with me, and that what happened at the edge of the forest was just an act. I'm sure they'd welcome you back.” He answers.
“I don't want to.” I state simply. He smiles at me and ruffles my hair. I laugh. We continue down the forested path talking about one topic or another, me badgering him with questions, him answering them dutifully.

The market is a busy place, full of lots of people and colors. Shannon leads me to a stand run by an older looking woman with dark skin.
“Hey Shiphra!” He greets her. She smiles at him. “The young lady here is in need of clothes.”
“Hello, dear.” She smiles at me next and looks me over. “You must have come from the city.” She says. I nod. “Well, I assume you've brought your uniform to trade me. I like getting these, because the city pays good money for them. They're made out of some of the most expensive cloth there is, you know.” She examines the uniform I have handed her and smiles.
“The city pays you for uniforms? How do you get them?” Shannon asks.
“Well, when weeds are sent out from the city, they are sent out in their uniforms and they trade them to me for other clothes.” She explains as she leads me and Shannon into another room of the shop. “I feel really bad for new ones like her, their entire memory's been erased, they do that using some sort of drug. Anyway, they say they do it to make the transition smoother, but I think they just don't want us normal people knowin' what terrible deeds go on in there!” She seems to be talking mostly to Shannon as she hands me three pairs of pants, three shirts, a dress, a skirt, underclothes, shoes, a coat and pajamas.
“I never said she was a weed.” Shannon says. Shiphra looks up in shock.
“She isn't?” Shannon shakes his head. “Then how'd she get here?” She demands.
“Well, someone shot a big hole in one of the walls. A couple of men were in there, probably collecting weeds, and sicked one of their dogs on her. Probably for fun. She tried hiding behind the wall, and I found her there. She decided to come with me. The first escapee ever.” Shannon answers. Shiphra stares at him, and then at me.
“You mean...you still remember...?” She keeps staring. I nod. “Well, why did you leave? Won't your mother miss you? Don't you miss home?” She has a lot of questions.
“I left because I was curious about Shannon, and this new world outside of the city, I don't miss the city, either. No, my mother won't miss me, why would she?” I answer her questions, feeling like I am being interrogated.
“She's your mother, dear, of course she'd miss you!” Shiphra exclaims.
“No, we never meet our parents. It's not permitted.” Her eyes widen in horror.
“That doesn't sound like a nice place.” She says, wrapping up my clothes in a messenger bag and handing them to me.
“See why I don't miss it?” I say, for the first time noticing that I wasn't missing my home at all. I hardly even thought about it. And I knew that I would never agree to go back.
More customers walk into the store. Including a dazed looking young boy. He is wearing a uniform. I feel bad for him. I left by choice, and he was thrown out.
“Well, there's all you'll need for clothes here.” Shiphra says. “Enjoy your freedom, my dear, and come back 'n tell me all about life in the city some time, hmm?” I nod in agreement and she turns her back on us to tend to her new customers. Shannon and I exit the store and he leads me to a street where they are selling food. We shop for quite a while, buying fruits, meats and veggies. I look forward to meals with Shannon, because food here tastes so much better than any food we ever had in the city. Food in the city was always bland.
After shopping we walk home. I can't stop staring at the mountains in the distance. They're so beautiful. And sometimes, when the sun sets, it casts a pinkish tint across the snow. Sunset is one of my favorite times of day. I feel eyes on me, and notice that Shannon is watching me, grinning.
“What?” I demand.
“It's fun to watch you marvel at everyday things.” He says.
“Well, they may be every day to you but to me they're brand new!” I say with a laugh.
“You have a good point.” He responds, chuckling.
“Your eyes look exactly like the sky.” I point out a moment later, suddenly noticing the similarities in color. He grins.
“I'll just take that as a compliment and say thank you.” He says. We walk in silence the rest of the way.
When we get home, it's time for Shannon to make dinner. I decide to go groom Fay and Rae, his horses, while I wait. I can't believe creatures like them existed without my knowledge. I love them so much. I like the way their velvet noses feel on my skin, I like the silky feel of fur between my fingers, and I like the softness in their eyes. They're my favorite animals.
Fay lifts his head from grazing and wickers in greeting. I smile and duck into the tack shed, fetching the brushes. Rae is ignoring me, but she's just like that. I ignore her and halter up Fay. He stands still as a rock, and his eyelids begin to droop as I run the curry comb over his neck and back. As I reach his chest he stretches out his neck as if to say “”Ooh, yeah, that's the spot”. I laugh at him. I start humming one of my new favorite songs as I switch to the mud brush. It's a tragic love song, and I wonder why it appeals to me so much. Fay seems almost asleep as I continue to run the brush over him, carefully working the mud out of his fur. Once finished with that I take a comb to his mane and tail and patiently pull out the knots. He's a hair less relaxed, but tolerates the treatment without a fuss.
I'm just turning Fay back out as Shannon calls me for dinner.
“I'll be right up!” I yell back from the tack shed. I run up the hill into the house and wash my hands. “What's for dinner?” I ask over my shoulder. Whatever it is smells really good.
“Fried chicken, ever had it?” He replies.
“Nope, but it looks great!”
“It's one of my favorites.” Shannon tells me. We sit down to eat and I can immediately tell why it's one of his favorites. It's delicious! We discuss various topics over dinner. At one point Shannon asks me if I would like to go to the beach with him tomorrow.
“What's a beach?” I look at him curiously. He smiles.
“It's hard to put to words, maybe I should just show you. But I think you'll like it.” He says. I nod my head. So it's set, we're going to the beach tomorrow, whatever a beach is.
As soon as dinner is done, I take my music player outside and lay down in the grass. With music playing in the background I could just stare at the stars for all eternity. I jump as Shannon flops down beside me.
“Watcha doing?” He asks me.
“Looking at the stars,” I answer, even though it's pretty obvious.
“Do you know what stars are?” He asks me.
“Yes, you taught me about that two days ago. Did you forget?” I say.
“Oh...I guess I'm getting old...” He jokes. I chuckle and hand him an ear bud. As we lay there watching the stars and listening to music his fingers wrap around mine and an electric heat rushes through my entire body. I begin to wish this night will never end.

“Wake up, lazy.” I hear Shannon, but I decide to attempt to moosh myself back into the covers instead of listening. “Dayna,” He knows I can hear him. I blink my eyes at him groggily, and snuggle back into my pillow. This results in him tickling my foot, which was protruding from the blanket. I scream and end up on the floor. Shannon is laughing. I glare at him.
“That's what you get for bein' lazy...” He says.
“It's not even light out yet!” I exclaim, throwing my pillow at him. He starts laughing even harder and flees the room. “Just get dressed woman!” He yells on his way out. I sigh and do as he says.
Once dressed I go looking for him. He's not in the kitchen, his room or the bathroom, wandering into the living room I see him through the window. He's tacking up the horses. I wonder exactly what that man has planned at such an ungodly hour. Pulling on my coat I wander outside to join him.
“Good morning sunshine!” He greets me with an overly enthusiastic smile. I glare at him some more.
“Where are we going.” I demand.
“I told you, I'm taking you to the beach.” He answers, tightening Rae's girth.
“At this hour?” I exclaim.
“You'll see why sooner or later.” He mutters. “For now, let's ride!” He holds out a hand to me. I take it and he brings me over to Rae's side. Apparently I'm going to ride all on my own. Shannon must notice my apprehension.
“Rae's the calmest, slowest horse you'll ever meet. She'll take good care of you.” He reassures me. I nod my head. “Put you're foot in the stirrup.” I do as he says. “On the count of three, jump and swing your leg over her side. One...two...three!” Just like that, with a lot of help from Shannon, I'm on Rae's back. He swings up onto Fay's back and pushes the other horse close so that he can instruct me.
“Pick up your reins,” I do, and he rearranges my hands. “Hold them like this,” He tells me, “It'll be more secure. Now when you want her to go nudge her with your heels, if you want her to stop say 'whoa' and pull back on both reins, but for the most part you'll just be following me.” I nod and he nudges Fay forward into the lead. I find that Rae does just follow them and I relax and let her do the navigating. She isn't the most affectionate horse, but she is calm and it's infectious. Presently I hear a strange whooshing sound.
“Hey Shannon?” I say.
“Yeah?”
“What's that sound?”
“That's the sound of waves.” He replies. Waves? I wonder what waves are. As the trees give way to what can only be the beach, I get my answer. Water is rushing to the shore and then retreating, these must be waves. Shannon dismounts, and I clumsily follow suit. We lead the horses to a large, tan log.
“Driftwood. It floats in on the tide and is left here.” Shannon explains, tying the horses' reins to it.
“What is the tide?” I ask.
“That's when the ocean water either flows towards the shore or away from it. Right now the tide is coming in.” He says. “Come on, let's have some breakfast.” He pulls a blanket out of his saddlebags and spreads it on the sand. Food containers appear from the saddlebags as well, and plates too. He lays them out on the blanket and settles down to eat. I take off my shoes and sit down as well. Wrapped in tin foil are bacon and pancakes still warm. I love bacon. Pancakes are good too, but I love bacon. As we're eating he points out over the water. I look towards where he is pointing. It's gorgeous. The orange, pink and purple sunrise is reflected perfectly on the water below.
“Red sky in the morning, sailors take warning.” He chuckles.
“What?” I ask without looking away from the beautiful sunrise.
“It's a saying. A red sunrise is supposed to predict bad weather, but I don't believe it.” He answers. Slowly, morning turns into afternoon. We look for shells, ride the horses through the surf and eat lunch. As we are wading through the shallow water, gazing at some of the unique sea creatures living there, I notice that the sky is darkening. When I point this out to Shannon, he looks up and examines the incoming weather.
“What was that about not believing that old saying...?” I joke. He smiles.
“Maybe we should head back, eh? Don't want to be caught in a rain storm.” I agree with him so we put our shoes back on and mount up for the ride back home. I keep casting glances and the ever darkening sky on the return trip. We just barely manage to get the horses in their stalls when the rain hits.
“Great timing!” I say.
“Yeah,” Shannon agrees. “We managed to beat the rain!” We toss some hay into the horses' stalls and try to run between the raindrops as we head for the house. Needless to say, it didn't work, and we are wet and cold by the time we reach the door. We burst into the foyer, laughing and shivering.
“Man! The weather sure can turn fast here!” I say to Shannon.
“I think it's possessed.” He replies as he peels off his wet sweatshirt. I pull off my own wet coat and my hair is laying wet against my tee-shirt. I shiver.
“Maybe you should take a shower.” Shannon suggests. I can't help but agree, so I shiver my way up the stairs and into the shower. The warm water feels good and quickly chases away the cold.
Regretfully, I climb out of the shower and dry myself off. With a towel still around my neck, and just wearing my pajama pants and a dry tee I wander downstairs. I find that Shannon has dried himself and is dressed similarly, except he's decided that the shirt is optional. He's in the kitchen, preparing dinner for tonight. I can't help but stare at his strong shoulders and back. His arms look sturdy and well muscled too. I wonder if he works out. I shake such thoughts away, not understanding them, nor having any idea what they would lead to.
“What're we having.” I ask, and he jumps. Apparently he didn't hear me coming.
“Don't do that!” He exclaims, placing a hand over his heart. “..we're having spaghetti. Want to help me make it?” I grin and nod my head. I really want to learn how to cook. He gestures for me to join him in the kitchen.
He shows me how to dice tomatoes and hands me the knife. He watches me intently, then, deciding I'm not going to cut myself, hands me a few more veggies to dice and heads over to the stove. I dice them carefully. When I'm done, we mix the veggies together with a few other ingredients and spices to make the sauce. We put it aside for later.
“What next?” I ask. He pulls down a box of noodles.
“Well, you can break these in half into that pan of water I have boiling over there.” I take out the whole box of noodles and, holding them over the pot, attempt to break them in half. I fail to do so and can hear Shannon laughing behind me. I give him a questioning look.
“You can't break them all at once.” He explains. “You have to separate them into a few hand fulls, like this.” He takes a few noodles from me, and breaks them in half, dropping them into the pot.
“Oh, I get it.” I say, and do as he did. Before long the noodles are all snapped in half and boiling. We stand there chatting and taking turns stirring the noodles. When they are soft and fully cooked, Shannon drains them in the sink. Then we mix the sauce, some browned hamburger and the noodles all together and put them on the stove at a low temperatures.
“Now for the important part.” Shannon tells me. He pulls down some french bread, some butter and some garlic. “Garlic bread. Can't have spaghetti without it!” He shows me how to spread the butter and garlic evenly over the bread, and I copy him. We put the bread in the oven and set the timer. While we wait I set the table, and soon enough the timer goes off. Shannon puts the garlic bread into the bread basket and I transfer the spaghetti into a serving bowl.
“Thanks for the help.” Shannon says, as we sit down to eat.
“Thanks for teaching me.” I respond. We dig in. We eat in silence tonight, not talking but enjoying each others company. We wash the dishes together when we are finished, and put away the leftovers.
When all that is done, I walk over to the window seat in the living room, and sit there watching the rain. When the first growling noise reaches my ears, and a flash of blueish light races across the sky I jump a bit. But as this continues I realize it's not going to hurt me, and watch in awe.
“Are you afraid of thunder and lightning?” Shannon asks, settling in across from me. He's referring of course, to the storm. I shake my head.
“No, it's beautiful.” I answer.
“Most city kids are terrified of their first storms. You really are something else.” Shannon tells me, stretching out a bit more on the window seat. He watches the storm with me for a while. When I can barely keep my eyes open, I bid him goodnight and head up to my room.


“Shannon!” I race down the stairs one morning, freaking out. Shannon meets me at the bottom, his eyes worried. I hold up a fistful of my hair. “What's wrong with my hair!”
“Don't worry, it's natural.” He says, placing his hands on my shoulders and encouraging me to take slow breaths and calm down.
“How is this natural?” I ask, once I'm calm.
“It's just turning back to the color it really is. The chemicals the city puts in your hair to keep in uniform are fading from your system.” He explains. “Looks like your hair color is black. It fits you.” He runs his hand through my hair, examining the darkening strands. “Your eyes are changing too.” He looks up into my eyes. “But I can't tell what color they'll be.” I nod. So this is normal. I thought something was wrong with me. Giggling with embarrassment, I go back upstairs to get dressed.

My hair is now fully black, and my eyes have become green instead of gray. Shannon says Shiphra must be psychic, because all the clothes she gave me really make my eyes stand out now. I'm apprehensive about all these changes, but Shannon says he likes it, so this must not be that bad, right?

It's been several months since I left the city. I've never once wanted to go back. I've really settled into life here. I can cook, clean, ride a horse by myself and have even learned to go the market by myself. Today Shannon says he'll take me to the Library. He told me there were lots of books there. Apparently he noticed that I had read almost every book or magazine in the house.
I tack up Rae and he tacks up Fay. Rae is in a rarely affectionate mood. She's been more and more loving to me sense we met. She rests her nose on my collar bone as I adjust her bridle, and her warm breath tickles my neck.
“She really likes you.” Shannon's already mounted, and he rides up beside me. “You must have a really kind heart.” I laugh and pull myself up into the saddle.
“You think?” I say.
“I try not to, it hurts my head too much.” Shannon responds, taking the lead and riding off down a trail heading west. We ride for what must be over an hour through thick and seemingly endless trees, and finally come to the mouth of the trail. Beyond the forest is a cluster of houses and larger shops. Shannon and I ride through the bustling area to a building marked “Public Library”. We tie the horses and walk in.
There are shelves upon shelves of books and I have no idea where to begin. Shannon visits with the lady behind the desk for a while, and I fiddle with anything in sight. He walks back to me and takes me by the hand. He leads me to a section of books.
“This is one of my favorites.” He hands me a book with a horse on the cover. It's beautiful. Before he can blink, I've disappeared into the story. I don't hardly notice as he makes a stack of books for me to read. He leads me to the check out area, literally prying the book from my hands to scan it, then returning it to me. Taking my by the elbow, he gently guides me back to our horses.
“You know, you can't ride and read at the same time.” He forces me to lower the book and look at him. I glare in response. He laughs and brushes his lips across my forehead. “When we get home you can read all you want.” His voice is unusually soft, and I can feel all the heat in my body rushing straight to my cheeks, and I'm thanking God that he's turned his back and doesn't see the redness in my face. I put the book in my messenger bag, and mount up.

When we get home we eat leftover spaghetti for dinner and settle in on the couch to read. I sit down, get comfortable, and start reading only to have Shannon flop down with his head in my lap, and remove the book from my hands again. He turns on the TV.
“There's a movie I got at the library you HAVE to see.” He announces. He turns it on. It is the funniest thing ever and we laugh all the way through it. My sides are aching by the time the credits roll. I look down at Shannon, whose head is still in my lap. I can't resist, I run my fingers through his messy mahogany hair. He looks up at me, his eyes warm and full of affection. I feel the heat return to my face, and I look away. He reaches up and trails his finger across my cheek. I look back towards him, and he props himself up on his hands. Our noses brush against each other, sending strange shivers down my spine. He presses his lips against mine. The kiss is feather light, but full of fire and electricity. I sigh and close my eyes, wondering how my people could ever live without this sensation. He breaks the kiss and lays back down on my lap, handing me my book. I find it hard to get into, but read anyway. As long as we can stay like this, I'm happy.
Eventually it's past midnight, and we have to go to bed. He kisses me once more in front of my bedroom door, and I wind my arms around his neck, wrapping my fingers in his hair. His arms wrap around my waist, and he holds me close.
“Good-night,” He says when we break apart, foreheads resting against each other. With a final glance in my direction, he trails his fingers down my chin, and backs away.

Somewhere in the night I wake up to a loud roaring over head. I run into Shannon's room, but he's not there. He must be outside. I burst out the door in time to see a metal bird fly over head, roaring loudly and spreading a strange fog over the land.
“Shannon?” I walk up beside him, and he wraps his arms around my waist.
“It's an airplane.” He says. “It's sure smoking a whole lot though. Maybe there's something wrong with it.” I nod my head and snuggle closer. We watch the plane until it's no longer visible, then he picks me up and carries me inside.
“I can walk!” I stutter, my face flushing again.
“I know, but I want to carry you.” He says, his grip on my waist tightening. I don't fight him. He flops down on the couch, stretching out and pulling a blanket over us. I start to protest, but he shushes me and settles down, his arms around me, holding me tight to his chest. Before I know it, his breathing is even and he's asleep. I sigh, apparently this isn't optional. I settle in and follow Shannon into the world of sleep.

We sleep late, and I wake up slowly. I don't want to move. I'm warm and secure here in Shannon's arms. I snuggle closer, and his arms wind more tightly around me. He's awake too. I open my eyes, and lift my head to look at him. He smiles sleepily and presses a kiss to my nose. Eventually we get up and make breakfast.
“Do you want to go into town again today?” He asks me. “I forgot to do a few things yesterday.” I agree to go with him.
We tack the horses up and ride into town just before noon. He points to a building labeled “Animal Shelter”.
“You said you wanted a dog around the house, right?” He says. “Go on in to the shelter and pick one out, I'll be in soon, I have a few boring things to take care of. Go on.” He nudges me towards the door. I give him a little wave and walk into the shelter.
“Hello, ma'am.” The young man behind the counter greets me, “My name is Casey, can I help you?”
“Yes, please. I want to get a dog.” I tell him.
“Certainly, follow me miss....”
“Call me Dayna.” I tell him, filling in the blank.
“Alright Dayna. Well we have lots of dogs to choose from, all non-aggressive and house broken. Feel free to go into any of the cages you want, and just call me if you need anything.” So saying, Casey lets me into a large wing of cages and disappears. I guess I'm on my own. I visit with every dog here in the shelter. I think it's going to be a hard choice until I come to the second to last cage. The label reads “Mack” and says he is a German Shepherd, only one year old. Looking in I see that it is the same breed of dog that chased me out of the city that day. Even though that dog had been scary, I was grateful to it. I wander into Mack's cage. He wags his tail and stands up to greet me. His fur is soft, his eyes are kind, and by the time Shannon finds me, I'm completely in love.
“So, who's this?” Shannon asks.
“Mack.” I tell him. Petting the dog again.
“Is Mack coming home with us today?”
“Yes, as a matter of fact he is.” I tell him.
“Very good.” Shannon runs his hand over the dog's ears. “I like him already.” We sign a bunch of paperwork and then Mack is ours. Ever intelligent and loyal, Mack runs right beside Rae the entire way home. And when Shannon bullies me into sleeping on the couch again, Mack sleeps right beside us, sprawled out on the floor. What a good dog.

I wake up the next morning to the sound of coughing. I sit up and cast a worried glance at Shannon. He gives me a weak smile and goes back to coughing. I pat him gently on the back and get up to fetch him some water. He drinks it gratefully and tells me it was nothing. Somehow I don't believe him.
Business goes on as usual for a few days, and then Shannon collapses while we are tending to the horses. He's been coughing a lot and I thought something was up. I help him inside, wrap a blanket around him and tell Mack to keep an eye on him for me. After leaving plenty of water within Shannon's reach, I tack up Fay, being the faster horse, and ride into town in search of a doctor.
The sound of coughing fills the streets in town, and it is a long wait before the doctor can ride out with me. The doctors name is Brooke Hauck, and she smiles tiredly at me, coughing slightly.
“It seems everyone is sick. I'm the only one of my colleagues who hasn't caught this bug yet. Let's go take a look at your boyfriend. She and I ride double on Fay, but it seems like forever until we get home.
I lead Dr. Hauck in to the living room and introduce her to Shannon and Mack, who are lying on Shannon's bed. She examines Shannon, then leads me out into the hall.
“This is a sickness I do not recognize. Some sort of strange weapon the city has been working on for some time, in hopes of getting rid of all the weeds. They think we'll be problematic. At least, that's what we all think. Did you see the planes flying low over us, they were spreading it. You and I aren't sick because we were still in the city when they were spreading the vaccine through the water. We're safe. Most of the weeds will die though.” She says sadly. “I'll give you something to keep him comfortable, but I can't cure him.” I nod and accept the pills she gives me.
“How were they spreading the vaccine?” I ask.
“Through the water supply. You and I were drinking it without even knowing.” She explains. I give her a ride home, already formulating a plan. I know where the city's water plant is. If they've been putting the vaccine in the water, then I already know where I can find some.

I wait until Shannon is sleeping, because I know he would never allow me to do what I was about to do. I take Mack with me, thinking that he might be useful to have around. Riding out on Fay, with Mack at his heels, I head out in the direction of the city.
I thank my lucky stars that the hole in the wall isn't patched. I wonder why on earth that is, but it doesn't matter. I have a way in.
After tying Fay to a tree, where he'll be out of sight to anyone passing by, Mack and I slip through the hole in the wall. We follow the wall for five blocks, then slip out of the cover of shadows. There's no one about. It's past curfew, everyone is asleep. It's improbable to them that a thief would ever dare roam the streets. Anyone living here is too well conditioned, and those on the outside are frightened into submission. I'm the first thief the town has known. For some reason, I'm proud of this.
Mack and I steal our way through the city, following the perfectly straight and symmetrical roads until we find the water plant. There are no guards posted. I shake my head at the city's foolishness. But I'm grateful. That's one less obstacle I have to go through. The door is not locked. This city takes foolishness to a whole new level. Then again, I recall that none of the buildings have locks on them. What idiocy.
The vaccine is in a clearly labeled yellow case with a sturdy handle. I check the contents, and all seems right. The city's inexperience has made this all to easy. Not having experience theft or crime before, the city was defenseless. As the sun peaks over the horizon, I am mounted on Fay's back again, the case tied securely to my saddle. We ride first to Dr. Hauck's home office.
I pound on her door, feeling regret for having to wake her. She answers the door, bleary-eyed and dazed. I hold the case out to her, and as she reads the label, her eyes widen. She invites me in.
“How did you get this?” She demands, relieving me of the case and offering me a seat.
“I went into the city last night.” I answer. “They don't even know what a lock is there, so it was made really easy for me.”
“Shannon's been alone this whole time, then?” She asks. I nod.
“Go take care of him. I'll bring my stuff out to your place and we can work on reproducing enough of this to cure everyone.” She says, leading me to the door. “And Dayna,” She calls as I'm walking away.
“Yeah.” I reply over my shoulder.
“You're amazing, thank you so much. As a doctor, not being able to cure all those sick people broke my heart. And now there's something we can do.” She waves me off and I ride home quickly.
Once inside, Mack runs off into Shannon's room, and flops tiredly onto his bed. Shannon wakes up at the noise.
“Where have you two been.” He asks me.
“Oh, nowhere.” I say nonchalantly, not wanting to worry him. I stay with him until Dr. Hauck arrives. We set up an office in the living room and get to work right away.

Between helping Dr. Hauck and taking care of Shannon, a week passes by quickly. Shannon's condition hasn't changed much. We are making progress on the cure. It's almost ready to be administered. I'm working in the living room with Dr. Hauck when obsessive coughing catches my attention. I head into Shannon's bedroom. Mack is in his usual place, lying up against Shannon's side. I sit down beside Shannon and offer him so water. He thanks me when he catches his breath, and sinks further into his pillows. He isn't looking too good.
“Will you hold my hand.” He asks.
“Of course.” I take his hand, and in his palm is a hard, rounded object. I try to pull my hand away to see what it is, but he shakes his head. We don't talk, Shannon's too tired. It's late at night, and I hear Dr. Hauck closing down shop and going to bed. Shannon drifts of to sleep too, and, resting my head on the bed, I follow suit.

I wake up in the morning to a silent house. I lift my head, and Mack wags his tail at me. Listening more closely I can hear Dr. Hauck firing up the machines and getting to work. The one thing I cant hear is Shannon's breathing. I shake him. His eyes don't open. I shake him again and call his name repeatedly. Then it finally dawns on me. Shannon's fight is over. I pull my hand gently from his, biting back tears. In my palm is a golden band with the words I Want You To Live

carved carefully into it. He must have know how this would end. I put it on my left hand, and decide to honor his last wish. By now I can't stop my tears, they fall like a waterfall and I don't do anything to stop them.

It's been almost six months since the disease hit. Most of us survived, and only a few are still sick. The able bodied men are readying for a war with the city. I am still working with Dr. Hauck, tending to the sick. My spirits are low, and I feel as if a part of me died with Shannon, but I am honoring his last wish. I take care of the sick, I ride the horses, and I am slowly but surely learning to live again.

Impressum

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 21.10.2011

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Widmung:
This book is dedicated to the memory of my grandma, who always supported and loved me. I know she would have been behind me in this as well. Rest in peace, Grandma!