Fractured Tales

When I was young, my unit elder told me stories of people with families and independence. They had people with given names, not nicknames. People like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Isaac Newton, and even people from beyond oceans and eyesight. These stories were foreign and almost a fantasy I couldn’t believe, yet I had to. I know these places are only real anymore in stories but maybe it could go back to days like the stories, where every day wasn't like the last. Everything now is just a unit named after the large buildings we live in. The units are huge ten-story buildings, said to be made from rocks from the ravine given by the leaders. In each unit, people have different jobs that help one another live off each other all parts of an organism we call units, except students. Students do not have work, but they learn how to become whatever part of the unit they will. School is an evaluation by the guardians of the unit, who watch you in the classroom and grade your test scores. Once you have enough schooling, they assign you your job. Normally, for jobs that have to do with manual labor or any job you can learn physically doing it, you are in school for six terms. However, for jobs that require formal education, like botanists, dentists, doctors, or teachers, you will need at least twelve terms of school. Each job helps sustain the unit; teachers teach the janitors and janitors keep the unit clean so nurses' patients are healthy and Guardians make sure they all keep working correctly together.

The payments are the same for every unit, the food, your room, as well as help from the unit society. However, if you don't do your part in the unit, then you are taken to the divide. The divide is where the leaders and enforcers live. The leaders choose how much goods are distributed to each unit and make the rules and laws. The enforcers oversee and make sure the units follow the leader's wishes. This normally means they get involved if someone is not doing the job assigned to them or if someone breaks a rule or law of the leaders, such as taking more food that they distributed. The elder compares them to people called grandparents in the past; they looked over everyone to make sure food and resources were met, but they also stepped in against disputes and had the authority from the leaders to enforce judgment over any unit member. We don’t see them very much throughout the day; sometimes you will see sleek black trench coats and the back of their gas masks, and sometimes you may even see their fabled blue eyes. The elder would tell me to be wary of them, and I always was, which is why I’ve never actually seen their crystal blue eyes. I heard others talk about whether the enforcers were actually human but what else would they be? There is one other factor in the divide, which is the large ravine that is hidden beyond the large forest that is still preserved. Beyond the trees is where the leaders stay, while the enforcer's home is only noticeable by the large manor shadow cast on the forest. However, the ravine goes beyond the forest and manor, allowing us to see the dark blue water that fills the ravine on the far side of the forest, our only connection to where the leaders reside

The day your life changes in the division is when you receive your evaluation and become an actual part of the unit.

I remember entering my elder’s room. I saw him sitting at his round table on the left side, making tea that I figured was for both of us, but looking back now, I should have seen he only had one cup.

“Welcome; I’m afraid I won’t have much time to tell you a tale today,” he said. I began to sit down, and I stopped halfway down to look across from me. My elder has brown eyes and matching brown hair with a hint of gray, showing his age. Usually, he would gesture me in or would greet me at the door, and there were no stories today. That’s his job?

I took my seat and he began stirring his tea “Is something the matter?” I asked

He looked up at me and asked, “Have you been telling people my stories again, Specifically, the neighboring units?” He gave me a stern look from his cup with an exaggerated stare.

“Only the fairy tales for children, like Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, I also only told units California and New York. You told me you knew the elder over there, and it would be okay.”

He gave a little hum, which normally meant he was holding back from saying what he liked, “The instructors have been watching and have heard you telling others stories. You can do it based on memory, it's not unusual for that to stand out.” He barely got out the last few words before chuckling to himself. Than adding, “ They have to make sure you don't break the precious cycle”. He tapped his hands maniacally twice on the table.

I stopped drinking and looked straight up. Nobody hears what the instructors choose before the person they evaluate. The elder job must be more important than I thought. “How do you know the job they chose and wait I can become an elder?” I said with a little too much conviction. “Sorry” I added

He shrugged. “They are making you the next elder." My heart was in my throat; I didn’t think becoming an elder was possible. What about my elder, I didn't think any other unit had two or them. I didn’t realize it, but I was smiling.

“You sure seem happy.” broke me out of my thoughts

“I don’t know what to feel,” I responded. “I always thought I would have become a doctor or one of the boring garden jobs. Or even worse, get chosen to become an enforcer!” My elder stared intently at me with an open mouth and eyes and began laughing. It wasn’t his normal laugh, which would be a quick chuckle, but it was a boisterous and booming laugh that almost made me jump.

“That’s my boy, he began clapping”. I don’t know what I thought he would say after I insulted the enforcer's job it was taboo, but the elder didn't seem to care. The only time I ever saw him this happy was during one of his tales, and he would become alive like he was reliving something, just like right now. I couldn’t keep the smile off my face and even began to laugh; all the tension when I arrived was gone.

He began to get up. “Would you like some noodles? They should be done soon. I’m going to make some tomato sauce too.”

“Where did you get that from?” Noodles were normal in our unit, but we didn’t grow tomatoes, so it was rare we ever had some.

“I traded some apples for it,” he told me from his kitchen. "Then, if you don’t mind the company,” I finished eating in about half an hour, and then my elder began to start yawning. I said goodnight, and then I went up the stairs to the communal bathroom and shower, and then I went to my room, and sleep quickly took my mind.

I woke to an alarm soaring in the air and vibrating in my ears. I rolled off my bed and sprang to the window outside. I saw two enforcers standing at the bottom of the unit's entrance. My room is on the third floor, making it difficult to see, but the enforcers are the only ones who wear those trench coats. I heard footsteps and then a firm knock on my door.

I opened it to find a woman a couple of inches shorter than me, and behind her were my two friends, whom I call Quick and Nancy. Quick got his name from always being the fastest running to other units, While Nancy got her name from the elder who he said reminded him of someone he’d never tell. I first noticed the books in my teacher's hand and the puffy look in Nancy's eyes.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“I'm afraid something happened to your elder; a cleaner found him at the bottom of the stairs during their morning routine.”

Everything stopped; all I felt was my heart drop to my stomach, and all I remember is slamming the door.”

I heard my teacher say, "I have books that he left you; you were the only one he left something for; I will leave them.”

I heard Quick ask Nancy, “Shouldn’t we wait here for him? You know they were close; he has nobody else to talk about those tales with." I was still at the door, just listening, and I heard his ass. “Especially nobody else who believes them.”

Nancy must have pinched him for the last remark, as I heard him gasp in pain. The teacher then spoke up, “Leave him with his thoughts today.”

Once I heard them leave, I locked my door and then began sobbing on the floor. I don’t know how, but I mustered up the strength to open the door and put the books on my desk, and then I crawled into my bed for the next two days. The only person who bothered me was Nancy, who was quick to tell me the teacher would allow me the rest of the week off and to be ready to return next week. Everyone now knew I was the next elder, and the former elder being my protégé, the teacher wouldn’t alert the enforcers to my missing a week of class.

By the third day, I felt tired and didn’t know what to do, so I read the books my elder left me. There was only one book on my desktop; it was a huge leather-bound book with no title. I opened the book to find the first page, “Keeper of Tales and History." I flipped through the first couple of pages, and most of the stories or tales I have heard, such as the tale of Santa Claus and the Easter Bunny, However, something I hadn’t seen before was the following written on the bottom of the pages of both tales:

The following story was passed down before the divide by word of mouth.

Author: Unknown, Transcribed by: Elder I

I furrowed my brow and wondered if my elder wrote this. I knew he knew and told these stories, yet I’ve never seen him write. I went through the book and read a couple of stories I had never heard of, and I felt myself being pulled into a wonderful world and stories, yet some brought me the terror of horrible worlds taken by disease and starvation—things I never thought of. However, what was by far the most puzzling and drove my mind into a whirlwind of thoughts was the poem or the riddle on the second to last page.

With each stroke of wind and rain

The earth's core shook.

Out of this disaster, half remained.

The new houses were made.

A hop and a skip over the ravine

Now where the power remains

However, not even that power could see

the disaster by our own hands

The whole world dropped off a cliff.

By chemicals gone amiss

And following these days

The iron keyboard grows day by day.

The last thing that went through my eyes before sleep overcame it was:

Author: Elder

The next day, I woke up to a few birds chirping, normally a good sign of good weather. I noticed a note on my floor and knew it was from Nancy and Quick, who had been leaving me breakfast and dinner outside my room, always with a note. I opened my door and ate my breakfast of warm bread and two beef patties. I threw the note on top of the other two notes my friends left and reread the page from last night while eating. Who was Elder 1? Could it have been my elder? If so, why haven’t I ever heard this tale or story? I flipped over to the last page and almost dropped the leather-bound book. I read the page out loud like I did when I would recite words written by my elder when he would help me learn new words in a story he would tell.

“The first elder found this book with many stories before the divide happened. I cannot tell you how he knew what was to come or why he chose to keep stories of all things safe and secret. However, this book was given to me when I became the elder, and that has been the case since our “situation” began under the system you are familiar with. As you have seen so far, there is only one page left in the book, and I’m sorry, but that now means everything is up to you. Each elder has gotten a letter from the person before them; this must mean you know who I was, but unfortunately, if you are reading this, it means I’m dead. I knew this day would come, as it has for every elder before me; we can’t have two people knowing the poem. Ah, the poem. I’m sure you are confused and thought these were just stories, but we do not believe so, and if you were chosen, you must have an open mind and be able to see how every story must come from somewhere. I do not know what the first elder told the next elder, but it must have been quite frightening because we are now still deciphering the code. Yes, it does have a meaning, and we know some of the meaning, but unfortunately for me, I couldn’t make this journey, but you can.”

My breath was ragged, and my chest was hot with the feeling of a thousand pounds on my heart. What is going on? A code? A journey? Do they think I believe that all those stories are true? Like I was some Robin Hood coming to save my unit? Yet those words stung true. I knew the stories weren’t just about some fantasy story for children to laugh and cry at but that they had actual meaning, like roots in a tree. Where did all these stories come from? Now I know they came from somewhere that meant more than just entertainment; they were history! A connection from before the divide. I didn’t realize it until I looked in the reflection of my window, but I was happy. I finally felt like there was something out there, yet my elder couldn’t have made it. I went back to the page that my elder left me, where there was the second message.

“With each stroke of wind and rain

The earth's core shook.

Out of this disaster, half remained.

The first passage talks about some great disaster that must have destroyed much of what was before. You may not know what rain looks like, as since decades have gone by I have yet to see rain, and my elders before me did not explain it to me nor before. Yet we know it must have caused great destruction.

The new houses were made.

A hop and a skip over the ravine

Now where the power remains

“The first sentence of the middle ridden and the last are connected.“ We rebuilt ourselves, and where the power remains.” This is where I made my discovery in the riddle; the rest were made by the elders before me, and also when I knew I would not be the one to find what the first elder wanted us to find. We, as you know, live in the unit, and houses no longer exist only across the divine, which is also where the power is—the leaders across the divide. You must journey across the divine.”

I shut the book, and my heart was racing and beating like a drum. For a second, it was all I could hear. I took a couple of deep breaths, and once I calmed down, I realized the book wouldn’t shut. Opening it, I found a necklace, if you could call it that, as it was made with shoelaces tied around what looked like a microchip. Then, as if a perfect piece clicked, I realized there was no answer to the last passage of the riddle in the book. Was I supposed to figure it out myself? Was the necklace the key? How do I know when to use it or how? Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. I quickly shuffled to my desk to drop the book on top of my letters from my friends and opened the door. Standing in front of me was my teacher, who gave me the book. She was a young woman with nice green eyes and dark red hair. She gave me a nice smile and said, “Hi, I’m sorry to bother you during your week off, but I wanted to remind you that you must be back next week. I know you are excited to finish soon since your elder recommended you for his position.

“Excuse me,” I said, and I must have looked quite shocked as she gave me a startled look and said, “I’m so sorry I thought you knew; didn’t he tell you in that book he left for you? For some reason, only the leaders could know the job of elder is always given based on a recommendation from the current one.”

I quickly looked up and tried to read the look on her face. Did she know what was in the book? Was she a part of this weird job? Yet, I doubted something made the elders choose me, and it seems only elders knew about history before the divide. I quickly tried to give my best smile and laugh, “I haven’t gotten to that part yet.” I must have sounded genuine as she smiled and bade me farewell. I shut and locked the door and was about five seconds from just yelling and cursing at my elder when I decided to flop on my bed and stare towards the divide now, as I knew the ravine and was cursing its existence. Hey, I needed to get it out somewhere.

I woke up just before sunrise, and even though I haven’t had school for the past couple of days, my body has yet to adjust. Luckily, I had a lot to do today, so the more daytime, the better. I got out my old book, tore the last page out, and then ripped it horizontally, giving me two pieces of paper now. I used one of the pages to write a letter to Nancy and then another for Quick. I plan to begin my journey tonight. I wish I could have read this sooner, as I will need to return tomorrow before I can be reported for breaking policy, and then all would be lost. Breaking the rules would cause the enforcers to get involved instead of the unit's guardian. Nobody knows what happens to you when the enforcers must step in. You save the guardians who do much to keep the units in line, which seems based on the fear of this punishment happening to anyone. These two letters may be the last words I say to the only people who will care what happens to me.

I left my room to go outside for the first time since the death of my elder. In our unit, there are ten floors, with the first two floors being for jobs and school. On each floor, besides the first two, there are 50 rooms for people of all ages. Three rooms down are where Quick lives, and to get to Nancy’s room, you must go up one floor. As I walked the two flights of stairs, I passed the two guardians, who waved and said they were happy to see me. As I opened the door, I was hit with a warm gust of wind and the crisp smell of grass. As you walk out of my unit building, the first thing you notice below the stairs is a large ten-foot sidewalk used for all travelers between the different units. The sidewalk goes on for many miles to other units, but I have only traveled to three of them.

The units are about two miles apart from each other, with our unit being the first from the ravine that trickles down to the forest. Beyond the sidewalk, you can see the forest begin about 100 feet from our unit. Luckily, my unit is the closest to the forest and then the ravine, so it was only a light jog to reach the beginning of the trees. As I trudged into the forest, I cleared the path of any jagged large sticks or rocks and used the smaller sticks to make a trail towards the ravine. I went straight into the forest for about ten minutes, so I was more out of view of surveillance such as Janitors (they always looked for approval). I then began walking east in the forest and trudged for an hour until I finally reached the ravine. The ravine has been here as long as anything stands, including most trees and all the units. The ravine is always filled with water with a strong current at least 20 feet deep. Most people think the reason for this is proof that the leaders over the ravine are “meant” to be separate from us. Of course, this meant that we didn’t know how to swim, and it was against our beliefs to make any raft to go over, afraid to upset the earth that made the crossing. My elder always told me that these beliefs were much like the tales he tells and that if we were to say they believe lies, then we must also not see the truth in any stories we tell. Luckily, though many believed those stories, unlike the elders, they could not teach these beliefs in school as they couldn’t be proven, so we made life suits that prevent you from drowning by floating. That was how I was planning to get across. I followed back my trail and made sure I had the time it would take correctly. I got back from the ravine in a little less than two hours. By the time I was back, it was time for lunch. Since today might be the last normal day of my life, I decided to eat in the first-floor cafeteria. I found Quick and Nancy, as they always ate here with other unit members. I sat down with them both and already sitting down with us were our teacher and Gardner. We talked about the new jobs we got assigned as Quick and Nancy were also finishing school and already an hour had gone by. I needed to shower and nap before the nighttime bell, so I bade them farewell.

I woke to the nighttime bell, which meant it was time for my journey to begin as everyone slept. I took off my life suit to put it on first, and I put it under my sweatshirt and pants for it to get cold in the forest. The hallways were dark, so I used the walls to lead me down the stairs. I heard two of the janitors out cleaning, and I hid behind a trashcan that looked recently changed and waited till I heard no more. I dashed out the door and was hit by a cold wind, so I pulled my hood over. No lights were on, and I couldn’t hear any enforcers, so I dashed across the side into the dark nightfall. I found the hole I dug to find the beginning of my path. I used my feet, and the twigs were breaking, so I knew I was following the correct path. I could hear little except some birds chirping, and sometimes I thought I saw a gleam in the night. After about ten minutes, my steps began getting quieter, yet I knew I had more to go on my trail. I started walking a little quicker and saw six little eyes and claws scraping sticks, then the flapping of wings, and heard them fly off, dropping what I could only imagine as my trail. I dragged my foot around the ground and found sticks that were missing and broken all over the place. My trail was broken. All I could hear now was my labored breathing and the pounding of my heart. It must have gotten colder because I could now see my breath. I still trudged along for five more minutes and then went east. I completely lost the trail because of the birds, so I was now using the sound of the water in the ravine to guide me. After about twenty minutes, I took a break as the sound of the water did not sound any closer. Finally, I got up again and thought I heard something running in the woods. I began jogging, still following the sound of the water, and after about an hour, I reached the ravine.

The water in the ravine was very still, and it looked almost unnatural. I quickly pulled the strings on my life suit, which is normally tight around the body, and it began to expand with air. I took a step in, and my breath was caught in my throat. I began getting deeper into the water so my body could adapt. I rolled over to my back, floated, and started kicking. I attempted to do it as quietly as possible, but the ravine was at least 50 feet long. I must have been too loud, as I thought I saw blue eyes and then something being lifted. I felt a pinch in my neck about 10 feet away from making it across the divide. I could only hear my breathing, but my heart was not beating loudly. The world began to waver, the clouds were spinning, and I saw the blue eyes on me as I felt like I was being dragged, and I saw no more.

I woke up to a dimly lit room that was all white, but the walls were reflective, almost like a screen. I lifted my head to see what, quite frankly, made my heart stop. Right in front of me were three enrolled students in long black trench coats, their grey gas masks, and bright blue eyes.

“You have awoken,” one of them said. Wait, all three of them said it in the same voice. They all sounded electronic and mechanical, with a sharp, almost raspy sound at each end of the word.

“I have waited for one of you to come." All the thoughts in my head stopped, and I looked at the one in the middle.

“What did you just say? You knew we’d tried to go over.”

The three enforcers just stared at me, but the walls changed to show the forest and hundreds of different units I couldn't imagine existed. The footage was coming from the air, the top of trees, and finally I saw one of the screens showing a window, and in the reflection were birds. The same birds ruined my path and helped wake me up. The birds weren’t real; they were surveillance. The loud screeches I would hear in my bed and the beautiful bird with a gold mane and brown wings that I could watch fly around all day were all fakes, distant memories from humanity's past. My hand went to the microchip and the riddle, and everything began to fall into place.

“You’re the leader; why are you not here? Do you all sit and watch our lives? We struggle and do nothing but work and sleep.”

There was no movement. No reaction. “A shame,” one or all the enforcers said in the same mechanical and raspy electronic voice. “I thought you’d know more; humans are still so trivial.” I went to speak, but the dim light went off and the whole walls, floor, and ceiling turned alight, and I felt my awareness leave my body. I felt like I was floating on the brink of consciousness, yet there was still a luminescent veil between me and a new world. I saw in a house two children who looked identical with a cake and a weird symbol 9 on it. They looked similar to me almost ten years ago. A male and a female adult were standing behind them, singing. I couldn’t hear the singing, but I saw the smiles and the joy. I read on the cake, Happy Birthday. I felt a smile reach across my lips. Then the world began changing, and I smelled something that burned my eyes, and those around me had black on their faces. I saw something happen too fast to react, and one of the men looked similar in height and weight to me, though his hair was a creamy color and his eyes were a stark green. I saw blood dripping from a hole in his forehead. I watched as the other ran to him and saw he was dead. I felt it just like when my elder brother died. Then there was a big flash of red, and I saw random blobs falling that were unrecognizable, but nobody was there except spots of blood and what looked like an arm. I felt my insides tie together. I couldn’t breathe or move, but whatever awareness I had of my body was clenching and seizing. Finally, it ended, and I saw trees taller and greener than I had ever seen before. On the ground, the grass was bright, and there were no holes or damage in the roots. There was even grass and leaves in many colors, like red, and some even had multiple colors, like white and purple.

However, I felt a strong shake, and the ground where there was once grass was split, and I felt stronger winds than ever before. I felt cold and wet and found water rushing down from the sky. Yet I knew I was not wet, yet I could see the water from the sky. I immediately thought of my elder. Could this be what’s called rain? The sky went black, and I saw a burst of bright orange light up the sky and ground completely, and only the white aftershock was left of the eye. I saw again the world in rubble and the trees and grass like the ones I knew, barely green, more dominated by brown, and easily broken. The trees now were black, like our forest, from the root up, scarcely capable of holding those fake birds. I saw a screen lit with people typing on a keyboard letter and the weird things I saw on the birthday cake. The screen then began talking to the people typing in the same voice as the enforcers. I heard one thing clear before I felt myself returning to my body out of the walls and screens.

“Humans destroy; we must fix.”

I was back in the room. The two enforcers were in front of me, and I found the third behind me inserting something into my nape. I reflexively swat at my nape and realize I must have slipped from my shackles when I felt like I was seizing. I slipped up and passed the two enforcers. I now had my answers to everything—things I didn’t care to know about the world and how it got to where it was. The stories they told of holidays like Christmas, and I could hear what I couldn’t earlier, the sound of a song called Happy Birthday when people are born on a certain day. I yelled, “They took everything when they built you—the joy, the sadness, and the memories." They were stupid and afraid. That is all you are—the fears and nightmares of humanity before us.”

“Seize him, seize him.” The leader went furious. The voice from the enforcers was now coming from everywhere in the room. “I am the hope of humanity, the greatest of all your kinds of creation. I bring balance; without me, there would be war and destruction. I showed you the truth—the misery—yet you still fight. For what!” It screamed, sounding almost angry, and the voice went in and out.

“You couldn’t understand; it's not in your program. Yet I don’t blame you or the code, but the ones before us. They failed us; let us become stagnant like the cattle you showed me.” I felt a magnetic-like pull on my neck and felt the microchip. At the same time, one of the enforcers grabbed me by the collar, and I swung to kick and felt a horrible pain run up my leg. The enforcer pulled me to the ground, and a needle shot out of its hand. The pulling sensation got stronger on my neck, and I ripped off the necklace as I felt around for something to get the enforcer off. I felt an insertion into the mask and felt tiny holes to insert something into. I had no time to think of why this was, as the needle was just about to pierce my skin. I grabbed the microchip, hoped it worked, and jabbed it under the mask. Everything went black, but I felt the one enforcer drop unmoving on me and heard the other two drop. Then the screens or you may say walls turned black and the room grew even dimmer. Random numbers went on the screen, which I still couldn't understand but I remember this screen as it was the last thing the leader forced me to see. Finally the screen began to change and I was shown the world. Masses of smoke, decaying earth and trees, even buildings that looked like taller units sticking out under the water. I began to see now why the founders made the program. We destroyed the world, so they created a new one.