The bubble

The bubble

“Mother, why do we have to stay in this giant bubble? Look out there! Look at the birds flying! What do they sound like? Yesterday you told me those four legged animals are deer, they are so pretty! The trees are so huge, the grass so tall, why are they swaying and dancing?” Pointing beyond the glass bubble, wiping it from the condensation of my breath.

My mother took my hand, and did not look through the glass. She put her head down looking at the ground. She looked at me and said “Sally my dear, you know why we are in a bubble. Your father and I have told you a million times. The air out there is polluted from the dust that a meteorite hit earth fifty years ago,” looking at me now with a smile.

“I know mom, but surely there are people who have survived the great collision, and storm that followed.. The trees, grass, birds and deer are living! Why wouldn’t people?” I looked outside and the trees stopped dancing and now tilted to one side, the rain so hard, now lightning( I think that is what is called) and it’s so dark. I felt the ground shake as another flash lit the sky on the other side!

I look away from the world outside and look down the street, every house looks exactly the same, the same yard, the same fence, the same sized tree. It was perfectly queuing like the fence posts, the same height, the same length, the same distance apart. So boring!

My great great grandfather was the present of the US one hundred years ago when NASSA made a discovery that a meteorite would hit earth fifty years in the future. So the top leaders in the world secretly started to plan to build a huge glass dome in the middle of the country hundreds of thousands of miles from the oceans. Once built, the temperature would be regulated, watering systems to go off at the same time everyday, robots would trim grass, tress. Food was a tablet of any desired taste was made before that time so animals, vegetation, gardens all of it wouldn’t be needed, as well as there would be no garbage. Water was from wells then purified. The plan was to make the bubble for the rich only. Electricity would be from solar panels. The rest of the world would die in the harsh climates from climate change and litter would be everywhere as the world run out of space for it.

I looked out the side of the glass everyday hoping to see more wildlife, enjoying watching the trees dance, watch the flowers grow and learn about the four climates, which was mesmerizing to watch from afar. I was told about the four seasons and wondered how cold the snow was. I could feel the glass and it was cold. If I put my hand on it it felt cold, and my imprint of my hand would appear after taking it off of the glass. School was taught on the perfectly cut grass. I would daydream and wonder what it would be like to feel the wind on my face, to feel rain, and step in a mud puddle. I wondered what a real pizza tasted like. My parents would be sad when I asked them so many questions.

One day I looked out the glass at the end of my street and noticed something shiny in a tree, I wondered what it was as it wasn’t there before. I kept wiping the condensation off of the glass to try to get another glimpse. When I saw her, I couldn’t believe my eyes, I saw another girl my age out of the bubble. Her skin was so pink, her eyes were full of life, and she wore many layered of clothes including something covering her head and hands. I watched her run through the grass, and lay on the ground. She looked at the shinny thing one day hanging from the tree and held it up looking at it. She turned around fast like someone spun her like a top. She started walking towards the bubble. She looked at the shiny thing again and kept walking towards me. I wanted to hide, but I was curious. She looked at the silver necklace again then reaching in front of her and her hand touched the bubble.

I could hear her knock on it. I could see her lips moving and she was staring right at me. She held the heart shaped locket, opened it slowly and put it up against the window so I could see. I squinted my eyes and I couldn’t believe what I saw.

I felt dizzy, confused, my heart was racing, I could feel droplets of sweat on my cheek, I felt like I was in slow motion and ran. I didn’t know what to do. Should I talk to my friends, or parents. My legs felt week and just made it to my room before I collapsed on my bed. My breathing was laboured, then it hit me I must be dreaming. How could that girl be on the outside, how could she see me, and what did it all mean. I closed my eyes and hoped I was dreaming.

The next day I went to the edge of the glass and saw the chain hanging in the tree, and I could barely see it, but it was heart shaped. I wondered if the girl would come again, and wondered if we could communicate. I decided not to tell anyone about what I saw. I ran back to the house to get a notebook and a marker. When I got back to the edge of the bubble I searched for the chain-where is it? I looked around frantically when I saw the girls nose to nose with me. I jumped and screamed suddenly. I was not expecting her there. She looked at my pad of paper and ran away. I wondered if she was scared to, but five minutes later she was there looking at me with a paper and a marker.

I printed “what is your name”?

She printed “Sally”, what is yours?

No, this can’t be happening I thought to myself. Then I answered her. I printed, “ do you have any siblings?

She nodded, and pointed her index finger, and wrote Bryce.

My heart felt heavy, my breathing became erratic, and I could feel my body twitching, I looked at the paper and it floated out of my hand like I was in slow motion. I could hear voices in the distance, it sounded strange but I could recognize the voice, but I didn’t want to wake this time. I wanted to go back to sleep and dream of the girl that looks like me and has the same name. The voice again getting closer, it was my mom pleading with me to wake up. When I finally woke up I could see that my mom was crying, then she hugged me. I asked her how long this time was I asleep and what happened.

She said,” I found you at the edge of the glass fainted, with a marker in your hand but couldn’t find a book or paper.” I looked at her then at the doctor and asked “ how long doc, how long do I have before I die?”

I have a very rare blood type and my kidneys are failing. My brother had the same rare blood type as me that was determined at birth but Bryce died at the age of one from the same kidney failure, he was to little to operate. I wondered if the girl behind the glass was my blood type and wondered why she looked like me, but healthy . I couldn’t wait to get out of the hospital to ask her more questions.

I wondered why her name was the same as mine, and I was puzzled by the locket. The picture inside was a picture of my brother. On one side, and on the other side was me. How! How could she have a picture of us. And my forehead started to sweat again, and my body felt so cold. My mom wrapped me in blankets, and the nurse came in with a very worried look on her face and tried to smile. My breathing became laboured again. And thought is this the end?

I cried looking at my mother, and my dad was in the chair beside my bed. I didn’t realize that he was holding my hand crying.

I closed my eyes and could see the necklace, the picture of my brother, and then the necklace fall from my identical twin. She looked back and I could see a silhouette of two people getting closer to her. She smiled looking at me. She turned her head back again and the two people were getting closer.

My heart was racing, I needed to see who they were. Could they save me? Could the place outside the bubble be safe for us to be free? I could barely have the strength to keep my breathing steady. I had to see, who they were.

Just as I was closing my eyes for the last time I heard a knock on the glass and I could see my parents on the other side. Bryce was chasing a butterfly and Sally’s cheeks were pink. They were all playing. I looked at my mother through the glass and she was crying. She fell to her knees and reached for the glass. She looked down and saw the locket and held it to her chest! That is when I must have collapsed, it’s coming back to me as I’m trying to remember what happened.

Did they clone us, all of us under the bubble to see if we could live in a controlled environment, with no fresh fruit or vegetables, no sun ? Is that why both of kids, and all the kids born under the bubble have some kind of disability and so many are dying? My head was spinning and thought how cruel, was the great collision so bad that every family died on earth like I was told? Or did people have masks to breath into, or were there enough shelters underground with supplies to last until the dust settled? I had so many questions, but I couldn’t talk, I feel so week.

Or, was I looking into the future looking out of the bubble, did my parents brake free from the bubble and had a boy and a girl. They named them after us. They must have been sick but got better. I new the outside was better than the bubble. Perhaps that is why my mom sobbed looking at me today holding the chain. I new then that it was going to be ok. My parents were going to be ok. I breathed in one more breath, my final breath and hoped one day my mom would tell Sally all about me. I said ”goodbye”, and smiled at my parents.

I will leave the ending up to the readers.

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