Got something to live for,
I know that I won't surrender

Persephone pushed the food on her plate around in a slow circle-it was an unappetizing mass of grey potatoes, too bright orange carrots and boiled beef-as she listened for a knock at their front door. She had seen the Guards and one of them had most certainly seen her-this wasn’t good…it was actually very, very bad. These Guards did not hesitate to go in to homes and pull people out by their hair, dragging them off in to the desert screaming and they never came back…ever. Would she be taken from her home? Would Persephone be removed, dragged by her curly red hair, and taken in to the desert to some work camp or worse-a breeding center?

All people, both men and woman, had between the ages of eighteen and twenty to find a mate, get married and begin to produce children. If they did not obey this law-whether because they couldn’t find anyone or they just blatantly refused-they were then sent to one of two places. The women were sent to breeding centers where they were forced upon by willing men-usually men who were known rapists-and were impregnanted, their children being given up to F.E.A.R and sent to work camps. The men were sent to be Guards, forced into a role that they hated and despised for the most part. It was terrible to think about and Persephone suddenly lost her appetite.


“Perry, please don’t play with your food.” Her mother said softly, but Perry could hear the warning in her voice and she quickly dropped her fork to the side of her plate. She looked up and she noticed that her mother, who was sitting beside her father, was looking at her with that disapproving look once again.

“S-sorry. I’m just not very hungry tonight.” She said and her mother only cocked an eyebrow at her eldest child and then looked away. Persephone would never be good enough in her mother’s eyes-she would never be Mags. Marguerite was the good daughter-the example that Perry should look towards, which was sad because Perry was older by over a year.

“How was work today dad?” Mags spoke up, breaking the terrible silence that had befallen their table. Perry smirked-good old Maggie knew exactly when to come to the rescue and she wondered if her younger sister had forgiven her for being outside earlier.

“It was okay-same old work on the can line. Bob Frazer has gone missing-no one has seen him since yesterday and none of the lights were on in their house when I walked past on my way home tonight.” Her father said with a sad tone to his voice and Perry felt her stomach clench at the thought.


This wasn’t anything new-people went missing all the time in Wickenburg. Usually it was because they moved away-headed towards a more promising city, but for some reason Perry didn’t think this was the case. She had seen Meg Frazer-the eldest daughter-earlier today in their backyard pulling up weeds out of their small garden. No, Bob Frazer had been taken…he hadn’t gone missing…someone knew exactly where he was.

The terrible part was that the Frazer Family lived right next door and now Perry felt terrified. She looked down, her eyes focusing on her ill fitting and baggy grey dress that had so many rips and tears in it that she was amazed it was still intact. They had worn grey uniforms-dresses for the girls and pants and shirts for the boys-ever since Perry could remember and she hated it. They all looked so plain…they all looked identical, but that was the point.


“Anyways, how did it go today at home girls?” Her father asked and Perry only smirked as she crossed her arms over her chest and looked across the table at her sister. Their days were filled with nothing but the same three things-cleaning, gardening and sewing clothes to be given out to new families. Keeping sand out of the house was sometimes fun, but then her lungs always felt like they were on fire and so Perry avoided that task the best she could.

“Well Marguerite and I spent most of our time today in the cellar going through old canned veggies and making room for the new stock we’ll have once the garden comes in.” Her mother said proudly in between bites of food and Mags looked just as proud. Perry said nothing as her cheeks just flamed red and she began to sink lower and lower in to her chair. All eyes were on her and Perry only laughed nervously as her father addressed her.

“Perry? What did you do today sweetheart?” He asked, his green eyes looking in to her own deeply and Perry only smiled softly. She had dreamt of a better life…far, far away from this hell hole.

“I-uh…sat in my room…and stared out my window…” She said the last part as softly as possible. There was no use lying-her mother caught her at it repeatedly and Perry only closed her eyes as she readied herself for the yelling. Her father said nothing, he only inhaled a deep breath through his teeth, which made a light hissing noise and she knew she was done for.

“Persephone! You know looking out the windows is forbidden! Why must you always break the rules?” Her father asked, his dinner all but forgotten as he had turned to face her completely and Perry noticed that his face was beet red.


Why did she always break the rules? A very good question and it was one that Perry asked herself on a daily basis-it was constantly on her mind. Even as a child-before F.E.A.R- Persephone had found rules silly and useless. Her mother was always running after her, yelling to get her attention or to just get the wild girl under control. But Perry hated control-she hated rules and sometimes she wished she had just been born a bird…been born with wings. Birds could fly-anywhere and anytime-and sometimes Perry would watch them flutter past her window, their blue wings soaring through the sky as they flew off to freedom.

As soon as F.E.A.R had taken over, new rules had been enforced and they had made everyone miserable, although no one would admit to it. No more going outside, no more playing or being loud. All of those silly songs that her father would sing to her to help Perry sleep at night-no more-and the outside world all but began to fade away.

Eventually Perry had learned the schedule for the changing of the Guards and by learning that she now knew when she could break the rules and not get caught for it. This also meant that she could look out the windows-see the world for a little while and forget everything that was wrong in her life. She would sit there at her bedroom window, perched on the sill like a small cat, with a piece of scrap paper in her hands and she would just sketch for hours and hours.


“Persephone! Your father asked you a question!” Her mother’s shrill voice broke the silence that had fallen over them and Perry’s head snapped to attention. Everyone was looking at her again and she only sighed.

“I-I’m sorry. I just miss being outside and I only look out of my window when I know that the Guards won’t be around. I-I learned their schedule and I know when they change shifts, how long it will take and where they come from…” To Perry this sounded like a good bit of reasoning, but by the look on her father’s face, she knew she was dead wrong.

“That is no excuse! No more looking out the windows Persephone! You could get us all killed…” Her father was so red in the face that this was the most color their house had seen in fourteen years. Perry almost laughed, but thankfully she was able to keep it in.

“That’s not all she does…” Mags said under her breath and Perry felt her eyes grow wide. Was her sister really going to rat her out right now? Was this really happening right now or had Perry smacked her head against something?

“What are you mumbling darling?” Their mother asked and Maggie instantly groaned and shot Perry a ‘I’m sorry! I didn’t think they were paying attention to me…’ look and Perry only smiled softly. She understood-Mags had some sarcasm to her and sometimes it would come out at the very worst time.

“Um, nothing…” Maggie said quickly, but it was clear their mother wasn’t buying it. She crossed her arms over her chest and glared at her two daughters. Maggie had stuffed a forkful of food into her mouth and was chewing slowly, but Perry had locked eyes with her mother and only cleared her throat.

“Sometimes I sit outside…” Perry said quickly, crossing her pale arms over her chest. Her curly red hair was getting in her eyes and Perry quickly moved to tuck it behind one of her ears.

“You WHAT?!” Her father was in a rage now and Perry just adverted her eyes. Her father was not usually an angry person, but if anything got him going…it was F.E.A.R.

“Dad I-“ Perry stopped talking as she looked up and met his eyes. He actually didn’t look very angry, but he did have that disappointed look on his face. That was worse than being angry and Perry only continued to sit there silently.

“Upstairs. Now!” Was all he said and without and word to anyone, Perry placed her napkin on her plate, pushed back her chair and stalked up the stairs to her room.


No one said anything or even looked at her as Perry left the table and moved to head up the stairs. Her bare feet-they weren’t allowed to have shoes to keep them from running away-smacked against the dusty floor boards of the steps. As she climbed the stairs, Perry looked at the family pictures that lined the faded and dust lined walls. They all looked so happy in those photos-a five year old Perry laughing and playing in the waves of a coastal beach somewhere. That had been the summer before everything had changed-that had been their last vacation as a family…it had been the last time any of them had left Wickenburg. It was the summer that Perry liked to call-The Summer of Freedom.

Perry entered her room, flipping on the light before she flopped down on her stiff bed. Maggie and Perry had separate rooms-thankfully-and Perry had tried to make her room as bright as possible. She had ventured in to the basement one day when she was fifteen and after digging through some boxes she hit pay dirt.

Big pieces of paper with bright art on them-her father called them posters-, scarves and other decorative things lined all of her walls except for one…the one that her window over looked. That wall had to remain undecorated just in case the Guards looked up and saw her curtains open-like today. She loved the color and to Perry it made her life a little less miserable.

Perry looked up then and noticed that she could see the stars and she knew it was probably pretty late in the evening. Glancing at her small white clock, Perry noticed that the Guards wouldn’t be changing over for another hour and that was plenty of time.Quietly Perry walked over to her window and slid the pane up as silently as she could-her family was done with dinner and her mother and father had the ears of hawks.

Soon enough though it was up and Perry was sitting out on the roof, her head titled up as the breeze blew across her skin and her hair flowed behind her like a great flag.
Suddenly Perry opened her eyes, the breeze had stopped and as she looked around, Perry realized just how close her house was to the desert. All she had to do was walk down the sidewalk, across the street and then she would be free. She had no idea what was in that desert, but something in her just told her that there was something more out there…something more for her.

She scanned her eyes over the horizon until finally Persephone landed them next door-the Frazer House. There were lights on so someone was home and as she looked up to the window that sat right across from hers, Perry held a scream in her throat. There was a shaggy haired boy in that window-Reese Frazer the only boy in the family- and he looked terrified as he motioned to her and held a sign in his hands.

Perry read the sign and as she did so, she felt her heart begin to pound-“Help Us!”

Notes

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