The Identity Thief

Lin was three when the world ended in 3052. She was found in the streets half dead due to dehydration. She was clutching with all her might a scrap of blanket with her name embroidered on the corner. The kids who took her in and became her “family” weren’t much older than her. Lin would spend years with them, scavenging like the artful Dodger in Oliver, so that they could survive.

Lin hated neighborhoods because they looked like they were missing families like she was, but they had all the best stuff. That is where she found it. It was on top of a dresser in a bedroom. Lin took it; it might be gold. She decided not to open it; it's not a good idea to get sentimental.

From that day forward, everyone would be able to identify Lin by the heart shaped locket around her neck. Lin lived by the motto of “Don’t get sentimental,” but when it came to that locket, she was as sensitive as a baby. Even when she had all the gold in the world and power beyond imagination, that locket meant the most to her.

Lin put on the locket so as not to lose it and kept searching the house. She found rings and bracelets, all made of gold. The house had obviously belonged to rich people before the End. Right after that house, Lin went to Maraza. Maraza was a place where any scavenger could sell their goods at a not so good a price. Lin made some decent money on the jewelry, but she forgot about the locket. When she got home she still didn’t notice until she fell asleep. She had her first dream that she could remember in all her life.

She was three again and she was looking at the heart shaped locket hanging in the air like someone was wearing it, but there was no one there. She could hear laughter; it was sweet.

She woke up crying. The last time she could remember crying was when she was five. She almost died due to a plague that ravaged the streets. The only reason she survived was because her “family” had constantly poured water down her throat.

After several more dreams, Lin decided to open it. If it could make her dream, maybe it deserved to have its story known. But she couldn’t open it; the locket was rusted shut. Lin thought that maybe that was a sign; maybe she wasn’t supposed to learn about the locket.

A week later she decided that signs weren’t a thing. She found some tools and pried the locket open. The photo inside was faded but not terribly. It was a photo of a happy family: two parents smiling and a little baby laughing in the middle. There was an inscription on one side that said, ”Lindsey, April 27, 3049.”

Lin had been found in late 3052. The kids who found her knew she was three because Lin had told them. They were impressed with how much she knew, so they let her join their “family.” After Lin looked at the locket’s inscription, she ran to get the scrap of blanket. It was terribly torn but the embroidery that said Lin was still intact. There could easily be more to the name “Lin” than just that. In fact, it looked like there was more based on the rip right next to the n.

From that day forward, Lin knew that she was Lindsey; no one could convince her otherwise. The sad truth was that she was wrong. Her full name was Linn Martha Tornki, but the confidence she gained by being “Lindsey from the rich house” saved her life a number of times in the years to come.