Legend
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I thought long and hard I had the "perfect kid" look all ready set up. Over the years I have put together what I want my kid to someday look like with magazine cut outs. All the kids were perfect in the magazines. I have been dreaming about this day forever! But now I wasnt so sure that's what I wanted........
Suddenly the floor opens up beneath me. I try to grab something anything to keep from falling but when I reach there is nothing there.
I close my eyes as I descend down what appears to be an endless tunnel of some sort. All my worst fears race through my mind as I let myself be engulfed in complete darkness.
Fear of Heights...Fear of Darkness...Fear of Isolation...Fear of Drowning...Fear of Death... The list went on and on until a voice interrupted my thoughts announcing Stage One Complete.
I snapped my eyes open while all my memories come rushing back. I remember who I am, Where I'm at. I also remember the person who put me here the person who I thought loved me.
We had met but a few months ago and instantly fell in love, though there was always something bothering me about this man called Xavier. I had confirmed this when after 5 more months had passed he proposed the idea of marriage and then soon after that, that we should have a child.
This should have thrilled any woman and it did for me, for only a moment, until I read the brochure of Human Gene Splicing .
I instantly got chills. The brochure just seemed too happy. There smiles looked permanent on there faces as if someone stretched there skin in 2 different directions and there was something about there eyes. It was as if they were nervous.
I shake my head to regain focus. What kind of drugs did they give me, I thought as I found myself now sitting in a recliner chair in a dark room with only a red flashing light and enormous tv screen in front of me. The light blinds me for a moment forcing me to squint to read the words displayed on the screen showing Stage 2 will begin shortly. I try to remain calm as I continue to guess how this child, my child, will turn out to be.
As I'm sitting there I feel my memories leaving me again preparing me for the next stage.
"Get a grip", I told my self "focus"
I see fabric fluttering from the corner of my eye. I look to the side. Nobody is there.
But someone had to be there. There is no breeze since the room is windowless. Fabric does not move on it's own.
I close my eyes praying that it's not him.
He still plaguesmy thoughtsl
I can't get rid of him.
But he isn' t here. He can' t be. He's been gone a long time.
It feels like a long time who knows how long I've been in this freak show he put me in.
I hear something. Footsteps. No. Not footsteps. What is it then?
It sounds like the rocking of a chair, but more prolonged. I try to follow the sound and find myself looking at a cradle. It rocks on its own. I start moving towards it but freeze when I hear the wailing of a child.
I was startled by the sound of crying. When I went up close to the baby I froze, that was the child I made up from the magazine!!!!!
how had this happened it so sudden.
The baby has a patch of black hair and it blinked at me with wonder in his deep blue eyes. I try to reach out my arms, to cradle the darling child that started cooing at me but I find myself sucked through the floor. I hit the ground with a thud and when I look up, the screen I was beginning to dislike stated, STAGE 2 HAS BEGUN and the ground shook beneath me.
*Quick Question...What tense in the story being written in...in some parts it is past and others it is present...?*A large metal box appears in front of me. In an instant, it is lit up with different tabs, buttons, and a baby's face with no features. "One moment," it says. Then, the face of child I saw in the crib, my dream child, fills in the face on the screen.
*I'd say present*The screen starts to dim and I hear a cackling from the speakers. Then the room engulfs in darkness. I try to reach out but come up empty handed. I blink in the dark and the next moment the room brightens with red light and water starts flooding from all around me. I have nowhere to go.
"One moment please," the automated voice says from above me. Above me. That is where I should go. I begin clawing at the walls when I find purchase. As quickly as I can, I pull myself up, looking for anything to grab onto.
The water engulfs me. I can't breath. I think of the desires and wishes I will be leaving behind. The child I yearned for. Finding the truth about the man who betrayed me. And something prickles inside of me. Maybe a memory. Maybe of that night all those years ago. I will never know. I gulp air inside of me and then let go.
A moment after I go under the water, it begins to drain out of the room, leaving me wet and...sticky? It wasn't water so what was it? "Stage 2 complete," the voice says.
The automatic computer voice opens a trapdoor beneath me and I fall down. Just as I'm about to hit the ground I stop. In midair.
"One moment," I hear that computer automated voice say. Then, as if someone is holding me on a string, I am lowered to the ground.
The screen lights again and I see a questionnaire before me. I blink and come closer to it, to find out what this is all about. But the questionnaire disappears and gallery of pictures come flashing around. All of people that I've met at some point in my life. This is all so confusing.
Back to the questionnaire. "Question 1: What is your favorite hair color?" there are a series of options below it.
Option # 1; Mauve with Green streaks like the person at work.Option # 2; Orange with a flaming touch like the girl that greeted you at the street.
Option # 3; Pink with Blue highlights like the cougar who stalks your neighbor's 18 year old son.
Option # 4; Grey with a series of Red at the edges like the Waitress that serves you decaf at the coffee house.
Option # 5; Yellow with a Black extensions like the man who flirted with you at the bar.
The list went on and I got panicked. The questionnaire stated the many people that I met everyday. It wasn't until I reached the end that I found that my worst fears were coming true. Because the last hair color option was...
Option # 34; Brown with a flair of Teal like the person whose body you drowned....
This wasn't happening. This COULDN'T be happening.
That is when I realized. The water was part of the test. They want to show me what my actions will cost me. All of this wasn't a hoax or some initiation through which I could be with my 'Magazine Baby'. This was 'them', taking revenge on me for my sins! I have to find a way to stop this!
"Ok," I say aloud. "Ok. Please. Just let me leave. I'm not ready. I'm not ready for a child."
I take a slow breath and sit down on the cold floor. I place my head on my knees and try to make sense of my jumbled thoughts. When I lift my head up, I am shocked to see that I'm in my house once more. So all of this was just a bad dream. There is a knock on the door, I go towards it and unlock the bolt. I open the door to greet an unexpected person, "Hello, June."
"Finn? What are you doing here? I thought you were out visiting family," I say.
"I was, but I had a feeling that the family wasn't complete without you," he reply.
I took a step back, still in the state I was in my dream.
"Are you ok?" he asks. "You seem kind of out of it."
"I'm fine," I just need to sort out my dazed thoughts and I can't do that with you standing so close.
"Do you want me to take you home? Call Brian?" he asks.
*I thought she was already home?*"No, I just..." she trailed off as she gazed at him. He hadn't changed. Not one bit.
"What's up?" He askes, concern in his voice. It's a little sickening.
"What?" I keep zoning off. "Sorry. I'm just tired. Today was the big day."
I step into the choosing booth, pulling the curtain shut behind me. Today is the day that I will choose the physical characteristics of my first child.