Does She want out

The outside world was unknown to her, but she could see a glimpse of it through the window in his room. It had a spacious green landscape. It was very pretty but she had no desire to walk through the window. She knew some of the advanced tenants were allowed out there. The building she resided in was not bad. With the pillows and plants, his room was the best. He was the therapist. It was the one room in the house that was supposed to promote comfort and trust. She had weekly sessions with him. With him, she discussed all the fear the rest of the house generated. She could have lived in this room. The window was like another picture on the wall to her, not a desired destination.

She was the artist of the house. Her paintings decorated the house and the homes of people in the outside community. She was one of the few tenants who had her own money. It was one of the criteria for moving out, but she did not understand the other factors well enough to really worry about the possibility.

Today he was sitting on the bed when she entered. She gave him a hug and went and sat next to him, wrapping her arms around him. He smiled, he knew he would have to break her of this, he enjoyed her company, but she needed to reserve herself for her chosen. She was not going to follow the path of most of the woman tenants. She had been chosen, she would represent the colony as the wife of the leader's son. She could not frolic with all the good-looking men.

She was surprised when he silently took her hands off of him. He didn't even want to sit with her. He went and sat in a nearby chair. She was frozen in confusion. And then he showed her a photo of a young man, She felt like snapping in anger, but she had been well-trained.

He noticed her response, but he ignored it. His counseling was not going to help the situation. Tenderness would just make the separation harder.

"Who is he?" she asked. He responded " He is going to be your new husband. He noticed you and your artwork. He thinks you would be a good representative of the colony."

She stared, she had no plans, yet alone plans for marriage. They were always telling them to take life day by day. She now had future days to worry about. She wanted to leave, and all of a sudden the window looked like a good escape, she knew better than to look at it. Her thoughts were suddenly interrupted. There stood the young man in the picture.

She gasped, he was good-looking. She tried not to laugh, his clothing was so formal. Nobody in the house dressed like that. She cast her eyes down as she had been taught. Her husband-to-be laughed. " Hello, Anna, I am Tom, I thought you might like to formally meet me." She smiled, not quite sure what to say. He continued " Life with me will be different but good, have you ever wondered what it would be like in the world outside the window? I will come and show you around tomorrow. You will have your own section of the house to do your artwork. We will have a shared bed of course." Before she could come up with a response, he had left.

Anna didn't know what to do. She had never since her arrival when she was two been out of the house. Her natural parents had wanted to get rid of her because she kept crying. They thought something was psychologically wrong with her. Today for the first time she agreed with them. She didn't know what was wrong with her. Her feelings were very confused. She felt as if she was being tossed around like a rag doll. She curled up on the bed in a tight ball and fell asleep. It was not a sound sleep. She dreamed of wild winds which tossed her through the sky from one man to the other. She awoke to an empty room. There was a dim light on. Just enough light for her to start her path to her own bed.

The next morning she awoke to an alarm. She leaped out of bed, shocked by the noise. On a chair was her outfit, for the day, and on a nearby table was a complete egg breakfast.

She had eaten, bathed, and dressed by the time her husband-to- be arrived. He had her twirl around for him, so he could see how the outfit looked. He was very pleased with his selection.

Anna had always thought that the window was the only way to the outside world, but he had a key to a hidden door.