Ignorence is Bliss

Mary and Devon sat down at the orange lunch table. “So, yeah, Sara and Jonny are totally going out right now. They’ve been trying to hide it but everyone knows it. I mean they were holding hands in the middle of class!” Mary chatted. Devon rolled his eyes. “I don’t get wrapped up in drama like that; I have to keep my attention on keeping away from the wall guards. They’re all out to get me I swear.” Mary nibbled on her cheese sandwich. “I really wish they’d give us better food. Cheese sandwiches are getting really old.”

Devon sipped at his milk. He looked about the lunch patio. Everyone was in their school uniforms, black long sleeved shirts with the school emblem on the front and back and black pants for the guys. Black short sleeved shirts with the same emblem and black, knee length, pleated skirts for the girls. Every table had their own clique entitled to them. The nerds, the Goths, the jocks, they all had their own table.

He looked to the right. Two tables away he saw that girl. She sat alone. Her face was ashen and emotionless. Her brunette hair shielded her face from the sun’s rays. But her eyes… the two green orbs were alive with thought. They stared straight ahead looking off into space. He looked away from her face. Her body was almost sickingly thin. Like her face, her skin looked as if it had never met the sun. Her bones were prominate but her muscles were finely toned.
He looked at her arms and saw the bruises. He had been told before that she was not allowed to attend regular classes because she was bad. She was punished regularly. She was escorted to a side room almost every day. It was sound proof but muffled screams were heard in the hallway occasionally. They were all taught to ignore it. She had made several attempts to escape before but she was always caught. She would be missing from lunch for a couple days after that. When she returned she usually had a black eye or bruises all over.

Devon had always felt sorry for her. What could this little frail girl possibly do to deserve all these beatings? She was petrified of people, and was never seen outside of lunch. She looked so scared, so alone. They were never allowed to talk to her. It was part of her punishment, they said.

Mary looked over at Devon. She followed his eyes over to the girl. “What ‘er you looking at her for?” the girl looked up and locked eyes with Devon. Her eyes so full of pain seemed like they were pleading him to save her. He quickly looked away. “Nothing.” They continued to eat in silence as others’ conversations washed over them. Devon broke the silence. “Do you ever wonder why she’s punished so much? I mean, really, what could she do that’s so bad?” Mary glanced around nervously. “We’re not supposed to talk about that. It’s not like it affects us. Maybe she’s crazy, I don’t know.” He looked over at the girl again.

Laura felt the black haired boy’s eyes on her once more. She smirked behind her hair. If he only knew. If only they all knew. She looked down at her food. She had meager amounts compared to the others’. Some oatmeal mush with a side of milk, yum-my. This was another “torture” mechanism the idiots used to weaken her. Starve her enough and she’ll talk. Right. As if cattle prods to the side weren’t enough. She shoved the crap down quickly enough that she barely tasted it. She had become fairly good at this.

There was still an hour in lunch so she started to go over the multiplication table in her head “2x1=2, 2x2=4, 2x3=6…” She found it amusing that adults twice her age would have no clue what she was talking about. The theft of the knowledge in the human race was devastating and left them to be slaves to an alien race similar to themselves. Laura could remember the day her planet was enslaved for it was only a year ago. Her mind replayed it many times in the night. The screams of her neighbors being dragged out of their house still rang in her ears.

It was a balmy spring day on a Saturday. Laura was outside with her friend, Devon. They had been walking around the neighborhood all day just talking, like they usually did on Saturdays. Their conversations ranged from what was on TV last might to what heaven might be like. That particular day they were talking about the strange electronic disturbances that had been happening lately.

“I think its aliens” Devon said. Laura rolled her eyes. “Right, it’s always aliens with you. ‘My homework’s gone. Aliens! My toast is burned. Aliens!’” “Maybe it was aliens who screwed up your face so bad” Laura shoved him playfully “You’re such a jerk” Devon smiled, “I know.” They continued to walk down the street in silence.

Suddenly a coffee maker crashed through a window and landed right in front of them. “Holy turds!” Laura exclaimed in surprise. A rat-like old woman’s head came through the window. “I hate technology!!!” She yelled in rage. “That darn machines sprayed coffee all over me and my kitchen!” “It’s ok Mrs. Johnson, just go back inside. I’ll call your husband.” Devon called. The woman’s face softened. “Oh, Devon, you’re such a dear. Thank you.” She went back into the house. Laura looked over to Devon, “‘Oh Devon! You’re such a dear!’ I think she has a crush on you.” Laura chided. “I doubt that.”
They passed the school on their way home. James L Sherman Sr/ Jr high school wasn’t a large school. It housed only a couple hundred students. It matched the close- knit community it served.

Laura waved good bye to her friend and started the climb up the hill to her house. A strong gust of wind blew up the hill after her. “POOOOOOOOPPP!!!” she yelled while she grabbed a nearby tree branch for balance. She heard some thuds and boots running. “Did a tree fall over?” she thought as she turned. She saw no tree on the ground but she saw men in black uniforms running from the school. Laura’s eyes followed their path and saw more men on the roof of the school. “What in the world?” She looked up and almost yelped in surprise. “You have GOT to be kidding me!” There was what looked like a spaceship above the school. “No no no, this can’t be real. It even looks like the old corny special effects in crappy movies!” It did have a certain resemblance to the movies she spoke of. It was in the “flying saucer” fashion and about twice the size of the school. Light blue lights flickered around it and it made a strange humming noise.

She watched their progress across the neighborhood and heard a scream form her neighbors’ yard. When she got sight of what was happening she sprinted up the steps and into the house. They were dragging Mrs. Samson out of her house by her hair!

“Moooom!!!! Daaaaad!!!! We need to go. People are being taken! I don’t know what’s going on!!!” Laura yelled throughout the house. Tara, Laura’s older sister, came out of her room upstairs. She looked over the banister. “What are you yelling about?” “People are being taken! There’s this thing over the school and guys are running around the neigh-” Laura was cut off by a black uniformed man busting down the door.

Tara screamed and ran into her room. Laura looked to the man and they locked eyes for a split second. She bolted up the stairs and into her room she looked around her room for a place to hide. Her room was usually a mess with clothes all over the floor and her junk all over. The mess was taking up all of the available hiding places. She looked at her bed. Underneath it was some clothes she never wore and a bunch of stuffed animals. She came up with a plan and dove under the bed. She covered herself with the clothes and stuffed animals. She heard her sister’s door busted open. Tara was screaming and pleading but Laura heard her being dragged out.

She heard boots clomp over to her door. Her heart was pounding and her forehead was damp. “Please don’t see me. Please don’t see me...” she thought. She heard the man’s heavy breathing. It became louder as he bent over to look under the bed. He lifted the blanket and looked about. After what seemed like hours, he decided there was nothing there. He stood up and started to walk out. Laura’s foot gave an unexpected twitch and crinkled a plastic bottle. The footsteps stopped. “Fudge.” Before she could react, she was ripped out from underneath the bed.

She yelled and hit and screamed but none of it seemed to affect the man. He started to drag her off by the arm but she curled into a ball and forced all her weight down and shut her eyes. The man stopped and looked down. Laura opened one eye and looked up. The man let go but, before she could run, he grabbed her and threw her over his shoulder so her face was to his back. Laura yelled and punched his back continually but it had no affect. He carried her out of her house and down the steps. Laura stopped hitting him in shock of what was happening around her.

All of her neighbors, all of the people she grew up with her entire life were being dragged or carried out of their homes. Even the burliest man was hauled out of his home. They were all being taken to the retro spaceship. She looked over to the men closets to school. They crouched down and bounded up the wall! Just looking at the action made her sick.
It soon became her turn to go up the wall. The man who was carrying her crouched low enough for Laura’s hair to touch the ground. He thrust himself hard off the ground. Laura could feel her stomach leaving her. “Ugh…barf…” Suddenly they slammed onto the roof of the school. As they landed Laura’s forehead smacked into the man’s back. “Poop,” she said as she rubbed her forehead. The man walked over to a group of men identical to him and stopped.

Laura lifted her head and looked around. She saw a woman yelling at the man who held her by her hair and a man looking defeated sitting on the ground next to her. “Shut up already. It’s not like your yelling is helping.” The man said sighing. The woman stopped to glare at him. “Well somebody should be doing something! Where’s the army? Where’s the police?!” “Probably the same place we’re going.” he said looking up at the spaceship above. Laura tried to look up but her head wouldn’t bend that far back.

All of a sudden, they were bathed in a florescent blue light. The ever present humming grew louder and identical men and the captives were lurched off the ground. They were lifted up by an invisible force into the spaceship.