Circa 2014: Delving into unoriginal YA lit
An Unfortunate Change of Circumstance
She did not want to sleep, but this was a test, she couldn’t struggle. She had been anticipating this for her entire life. She knew that this was the culmination of everything she had trained and practiced for nearly two decades. As they pressed the mask over her face, she counted backwards from ten and willed herself not to dream.
Mallory woke up quickly from the test. Her mother Lilly, who had sat by her bed in anticipation, now stood over her daughter, beaming. Mallory realized she had passed the test as she looked down from her mother’s gleaming white smile and saw the black wrist band. Lilly had always reprimanded Mallory for being too free-willed and constantly reminded her of the dangers of creative thought, but now Mallory had the identification to prove that she was as obedient and ignorant as any member of society should be. She had shown full commitment to the State. Her light eyes reflected in her mother’s dark ones as she peered in to them hoping to see pride. Although so opposite that they shared no real love for each other, Lilly and Mallory now shared a moment that encompassed their entire experience together and marked the end of Lilly’s sole purpose in her daughter’s life. Through sixteen years Lilly had starved, beat, and yelled at Mallory to help her squelch all free thought in order to pass the test she had passed today. Mallory had not felt more appreciation for her mother than she did in this gaze.
She knew that Lilly would soon be taken away from her, their pleasant suburb, and her life as a teacher to be put in a labor camp until she died. Mallory felt little sadness at this thought for that's just how it goes after your child is inducted as a member of society and your service as a provider is no longer needed. She knew she would miss the regular beatings that kept her from thinking too much; she wasn’t sure if she could stay in line without her mother’s abuse. Mallory’s mood lightened some when she considered that she would soon be assigned to a vocation by the State. She might someday be required to become a parent, but she would take that sentence gladly knowing she was contributing to the success of the State. To think that after years of anticipation in just twenty minutes she had passed the test that had allowed her life to go on! It had been so simple and yet she had been so worried. Mallory had thought she would fail because she often thought about life before the State and how life would be if you could do anything you wanted. She was just glad to have woken up.
The door to the room began to open and Mallory watched as Lilly glanced as the woman who had come to take her away. In an attempt at a kind gesture, Mallory patted her mother on the hand as if in consolation. She then looked back down at her wrist band to feel another wave of relief pass over her. Seconds passed and Mallory looked back up in confusions as the woman in the doorway continued to stand there. She couldn’t figure out why her mother still stood by her side and had not been dragged away screaming as Mallory heard was common. Maybe, she thought, they had gotten a sympathetic Undertaker who was trying to give her and her mother more time. Mallory looked at the woman and told her that it was okay to take her mother away, they had said goodbye long ago. Instead of grabbing her mother, the woman walked briskly behind Mallory’s bed and began to push it across the room. She was a little concerned, but since the facts of the test were not widely shared Mallory concluded that this was just part of the process. The woman continued through the door. Mallory looked back at her mother and saw Lilly’s wide, glistening, alabaster smile. Mallory turned to look at the Undertaker in horror. As metal restraints began to confine her to the bed, Mallory realized her mistake. Sometime during her short test, she had dreamed outside the will of the State. Her penalty would be death.