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Author: Luna Divi\u0107, Srednja \u0161kola fra Andrije Ka\u010di\u0107a Mio\u0161i\u0107a<\/p>\n
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I can\u2019t stand my sterile room. <\/p>\n
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I can\u2019t stand the smell of white filling my lungs every day. <\/p>\n
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I can\u2019t even breathe on my own so the smell of disinfectant is ever-present. <\/p>\n
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I\u2019ll die if I go outside. I\u2019ll die if I don\u2019t put my breathing mask on. I\u2019ll die if I look at someone the wrong way. I\u2019ll die if I live long enough… Wow, I\u2019m already at the train stop? <\/p>\n
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I swear it feels like teleporting from place to place when I do this. (I know I\u2019ll never be able to afford teleporting. I can barely feed myself and pay tuition!)<\/p>\n
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Not that I wanted to be here. I can\u2019t go where I want if I like breathing. That\u2019s just the price of life today. And because of that, now I go from one cold, spine-twisting lonely room to another, trying to become something I loathe. A \u201cpeace keeper\u201d. <\/p>\n
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I don\u2019t know who came up with the name, but that person didn\u2019t have any clue what \u201cpeace keepers\u201d do. Duties in a range from neutralising threats to sterilising the air or cleaning the public spaces. But nothing to actually keep the peace! (Probably because there is no peace to keep?)<\/p>\n
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Ouch! Seriously!? This can\u2019t be happening again. <\/p>\n
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\u201cHey Atlas!\u201d says Jagger just after making me trip and fall on my face. He has been doing that since my first day here. <\/p>\n
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\u201cAre you here to learn how to pick up dog feces or is that too advanced for you?\u201d that little\u2026<\/p>\n
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\u201cJagger, I can see you\u2019ve learned to compose full sentences since I\u2019ve last seen you. Congrats!\u201d his face is so red with rage. I am panicking\u2026 <\/p>\n
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\u201cYou are dead!\u201d shouts Jagger from the top of his lungs, as loud as his breathing max will let him. <\/p>\n
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I have to get out of here, now. Why did I have to insult him? Jagger is the son of our employment manager. Now I really will be picking up dog feces for the rest of my life. <\/p>\n
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Thank God! There is Erin.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSee you around Jagger!\u201d I\u2019ve never run so fast in my life. <\/p>\n
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The grey and white of the underground city blurred together. Sleek and constantly visible screens and security cameras became one and red uniforms of the \u201cpeace keepers\u201d melted into an unrecognisable blob. <\/p>\n
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As soon as I\u2019m within speaking range I blurt everything out. \u201cI think they would put me in a house if I didn\u2019t have you Erin!\u2019\u2019 <\/p>\n
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\u201cHa!\u201d she says happily \u201cI know that, but let\u2019s be honest, you would die if I wasn\u2019t here.\u201d <\/p>\n
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We laugh at how true that is. <\/p>\n
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She\u2019s shorter than me, super strong from working on the farms and her hair is slightly curly and an astonishing shade of black which frames her face like the most marvellous painting ever. <\/p>\n
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And the way her cheeks look when she blushes! (I\u2019m proud to say I think I caused a few of those myself.) <\/p>\n
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No! I can\u2019t think like this! And I\u2019ve been staring for way too long\u2026 But she hasn\u2019t said anything about it. I think she\u2019s staring too?<\/p>\n
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When did we sit down? Where are we? What the hell is happening? This feeling is very illegal. We can\u2019t do this? For years I listened to people say that this feeling right here will send the world into anarchy. You may not agree with everything they say but they said this so many times and with such importance. It must be true? Why am I not moving then?<\/p>\n
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Move!<\/p>\n
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Do something!<\/p>\n
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Through my panicking haze her silky voice is the first thing I notice.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAtlas?\u201d she says as though she\u2019s trying to gently wake me up.<\/p>\n
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And then I overload. <\/p>\n
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The thick white that surrounded me was gone and I\u2019m laying in a field. Outside! Without my breathing mask! Smelling the delicate and subtle scent of grass and rain. This is what I\u2019ve imagined heaven is like. <\/p>\n
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But I\u2019m not dead. I know because I\u2019m not alone. She is here. Her small but strong hand in mine. <\/p>\n
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She is calm. She knows what\u2019s going on. <\/p>\n
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Finally, she speaks.<\/p>\n
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\u201cSo\u2026 You\u2019ve woken up. You were out for almost a day. This is \u201cthe Outside\u201d, it\u2019s not contaminated like they made you think. They lied about a lot of things\u201d, what?! I\u2019m so confused.<\/p>\n
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\u201cAnd I\u2019m so sorry I\u2019ve lied for so long too, but this is the truth. I work here with the rebellion and try to get as many people out as I can. And I\u2019m so happy you\u2019re finally free. I\u2019ll show you the ropes and explain everything in detail later, but I just have to tell you\u2026\u201d, she\u2019s suddenly quiet. <\/p>\n
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Strangely I believe every word she said. <\/p>\n
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\u201cI would totally understand if you didn\u2019t feel the same way,\u201d she speaks fast like her nerve might give out at any second, \u201cbut I never lied about myself and please believe me when I say I care about you. I really do\u2026 I\u2019m such an idiot. My feelings don\u2019t matter right now, you have much bigger things to think about.\u201d She waved herself off and I sat there dumbfounded.<\/p>\n
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And that\u2019s when I finally decided to do what I wanted to do, for the first time in my life.<\/p>\n
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I\u2019m going to kiss her. (God, I have no clue what I\u2019m doing!) I\u2019ve only read about it somewhere once. The words: \u201cCan I kiss you?\u201d came out of my mouth and she blushed the way only she does and gave me the sweetest nod in the universe. <\/p>\n
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I\u2019m so clueless and dizzy but ecstatic. <\/p>\n
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The moment my lips came close enough to her full, sunny, angelic ones in a whisper of a kiss, she is the one to close the space between us. <\/p>\n
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An outburst of glee, pleasure, bliss, elation, rapture\u2026 There aren\u2019t enough words to describe that moment. This is something that will invariably exist for as long as there are sentient beings in the universe.<\/p>\n
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