The Sanctuary

Rhett and I were on vacation in Florida. He had some business to do there. I figured we could use a get away so we arrived a few days earlier. We were there with Lula, our beautiful toddler girl. In the front of the hotel there was a playground which is where we sat to let her blow off some energy. An older boy got upset when Lula tried to play on the same slide and he squeezed Lula’s tiny hand to pull her away and she cried “mommy, ow!”. The boy's mother picked her up and handed her to me and enforced her son to apologize immediately. “Im sorry little girl”, he said with a pout. I comforted her and said “kids can play rough sometimes so that’s why it’s important we try to play nice, so no one gets hurt…right? I thought it would be nice if adults could learn the same thing. Lula looked up at me with her big green eyes and her shiny blonde curls and mimicked back “right mommy”. We had a flight booked at one am to go home. I got snacks for the plane and wondered why I was going alone with the baby while Rhett was going on his own flight the next night. Maybe Rhett could take her with him tomorrow where I was so nervous of planes these days. I am a homebody and I’ve grown to love that about myself. It’s not the women's job to raise a child alone but usually we do…well…more. I was nervous of the flight and bought a lot of caffeinated snacks. An energy drink was sixteen bucks in the hotels vending machine so I opted for m&ms with chocolate covered coffee beans. Air heads and other surgery snacks. I needed to stay awake to be there for my baby. I was an A-one stress eater. As tempted as I was to ask Rhett if we could all drive home from Florida because I did not want to go on the plane! I held my tongue. It would be more time off too I thought. I like time off. I love drives.

Reality set in and off we went to the airport. I had de ja vu looking down the runway to the small plane we were about to board. Lula was fastened in her baby carrier. She was pulling my hair as I lugged the suitcase in tow. I clutched my heart-shaped locket in the other hand, praying everything would go smooth. One by one single file they scanned us from head to toe, checking our vitals and our information. “Iona and Lula Cole,— you're welcome to enter the plane” the guard said as he scanned us through. He couldn’t help but smile at Lula as she jabbered and smiled back. It was time for her bottle and she was letting me know the only way she knew how. We settled in our seats and I watched her doze off bottle in hand. It’s hard to believe she’s almost two. I broke out the Starbucks iced coffee and made it a mission to stay awake for the flight. I needed to stay alert.

The higher up, the rich have controlled us for as long as I can remember. My family raised me knowing all to well how this world works.The way gmo’s change our food over time they also change us, our whole bodies are formed of new cells every seven to nine years. It was an easy way to control the population and just like they do for our food— they weeded out the diseased and weak humans too.

We lived off of the land, Me, Rhett, little Lula and our chickens. We had a secret sanctuary— a place we would survive off of our own food supply. We would create Electromagnetic blocker chips to throw off the vital scans that you get from authorities no matter where you go these days. Rhett came up with a way so that when they would scan you, they would get the exact information they need to leave you alone. Mind u we did have to make our monthly grocery online orders so we wouldn’t raise any suspicions to ourselves. The haul of groceries would end up being donated to the heard, the sheep that would think we are the crazy ones if they ever heard our theory. Over time the population has declined in an alarming rate. Our groceries was the way to get away with it. We needed to eat after all and they only allow us to order online with face recognition. It was all a game that we had to play along to survive.

Everywhere u go they would scan you to update your health records. All digitally now a days which is where my jewelry making skills came in handy. My locket would protect me and stop them from getting the correct information because I was sick and if they knew, I wouldn’t stand a chance. I’ve been illegal for far too long. You see they take the ones who aren’t physically fit, who are poor, and sick and make sure they get the food that will indeed kill them off. And only leave the strong, fit and healthy to procreate and survive this world. I wasn’t ready to leave my Lula. She needed me. I needed more time here.

My Husband was a scientist and luckily created a lucrative natural powder to sprinkle in our gardens to make natural healthy organic soil for us. He also created the Electromagnetic blockers that I would infuse into jewelry for men and women which would protect them from the scans if they were sick. If they wanted more time here and less control of how they lived, they deserved that choice. To the higher up authorities I made memorial jewelry. In reality it was protective and very much illegal. My husband created new plant species that would be able to grow in the ruined soil of the earth since the human race destroyed it. It could survive on little water too since there was limited supply. We did well at hiding thanks to him.

The rich ones would get the healthy food for a high cost and in general would live longer better and healthier lives. We had to stay fit and stay healthy to be able to live here on earth and that made it hard for those with bad genetics or low-income.

My Nana Laina was the sweetest person you would ever meet and this locket I clutched that protected me all these years was the very first prototype that worked and it’s all that was saving me from being taken away. She gave it to me on her death-bed. It’s all I had left of her and as she always did, she was still protecting me through this gold heart-shaped locket.

Rhett would be on a plane home tomorrow after he finished up with the business he had in Florida. Things would be normal again. Dad would be home working in the greenhouses and mom would be helping stock the greenhouse boxes we would deliver secretly to the sick.