Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Fiction 2020complete | Page 120

Just… Why Me?
Harrow International School Hong Kong, Logue, Ishbel - 11
A sound rustles near Ivy’s head. They've come. Alert with panic she dives under her bed, her heart
pounding furiously; she is certain they can hear it. Footsteps thunder outside her door. Ivy holds her breath,
hoping they won’t find her...
Ivy jolted awake, sweat beads on her forehead and her pulse racing. Ever since her peculiar sister had told
her a story about scientists stealing children, she’d been having relentless nightmares. Grumbling, she
lumbered out of her room, cautiously stepping over the delivery drones holding all of her belongings that
she hadn’t unpacked. It had been weeks since they moved, but Ivy hadn’t touched the drones. She knew
this concerned her mother but she wasn’t ready to make Alpha (a region in the Greater Bay Area) her new
home. Her old house had burnt down because of a hover vehicle proto-type that went wrong.
Ivy’s deep thoughts were disturbed by her sister, Cyrellia, sauntering down the corridor. Ivy was glad she
wasn’t afraid of heights because her floating home was hundreds of metres high, made entirely out of
darkened glass and greenery, somehow growing over the top. Her sister gave her a meaningful stare and Ivy
nodded in response. Cyrellia didn’t often talk to Ivy instead using glances and gestures; they understood one
another this way
That night, when Ivy snuggled into her bed pod, she couldn’t sleep. Thousands of petrifying thoughts from
her sister’s take were flashing through her mind, sending icy shivers down her spine. The seriousness in her
sister’s voice. The warning that had sparked in her eyes. Through her window, she could see lights flashing
across the skyline as workman journeyed home in their polished aircrafts, but this didn’t comfort her. The
feeling of dread seemed to creep up from inside of her, like a monster creeping out of a cage. With haste,
she shoved these feelings down, afraid the monster would swallow her completely.
Without warning, footsteps thundered outside her door. Diving under her bed, she struggled to remember
where she had seen this before, a memory hidden inside of her that she tried in vain to dig up. With a
horrifying creak, her door opened as the memory suddenly surfaced. The dream! She thought. They’ve
come! The last thing Ivy felt was an unbearable pain in her head. Then everything went black…
Voices are roaring at Ivy like daggers inside her brain. She can’t even think straight! Where is she? What do
these people want? There are too many voices. They sound angry. Frustrated. Are they shouting at her?
Pain lingered in her head as Ivy slowly came back to consciousness. Voices still nagged her brain, but they’re
not shouting at her. As she peeled open one eye, she got her first glimpse of her surroundings. She almost
choked. Around her were thousands of other kids lying in pale, hovering bed pods, wearing robes in the
same colour. Hesitantly opening her other eye she realised she is too! Scientists were dashing around,
howling at each other and dragging other stunned kids out their pods. Through the window, Ivy could see
all of Alpha below her, shimmering in the breathtaking early morning light. But now was not the time for
admiring sights.
A young, female scientist hurried up to Ivy’s cot and typed in a special code, which opened the pod’s roof.
Grabbing Ivy by the arm, the woman dragged her across the room, nimbly avoiding the chaotic crowd.
Through the next door was what looked like an old fashioned dining hall, where real people served the
food! Ivy’s golden-brown eyes looked around desperately for her sister’s hazel hair and pale skin, but was
dragged away once again and given a plate of nauseating green sludge. Looking quite disgusted, the scientist
hastily strode back out of the room. desperately, Ivy scanned the room once again, finally in control of her
own body. At last she found Cyrellia sitting alone in the corner.
Sliding next to her sister on the chilly, metal bench Ivy whispered, “How did you know?”
“School,” Cyrellia replied, “I heard the teachers talking about it, how they would soon go out of business.”
Trying part of her weird sludge, Ivy felt a zap of energy go down her spine, clearing her head and letting
her remember everything she ever learnt, right from her first day of school!