15.
 What seemed like hours later, the women came back. They were clearly excited at the new diversion in their midst. All wore generally the same long dress and apron. They left their straw hats outside someplace, Taxi figured.
On cue, all the girls undressed, putting their gray skirts and starchy aprons under their beds. Instead they wore deliciously rich-looking flannel night gowns that looked tight on top but flared out until they reached their toes. Anna handed Taxi such a gown. “Wow, look at this,” Taxi said. The girls watched while she changed. The flannel felt warm against her bare skin, but drafty between her calves. All the girls wore knee-high stockings, and Moira handed her a pair: “Put these on; it’s going to be cold tonight.”
Taxi sat down to put the socks on and yelped, for the floor felt cold to her butt.
The women laughed.
“You have to tuck the gown under your behind,” Jen said, like this. She demonstrated; more laughter, well intentioned, and Taxi took no offense. The flannel felt good under her seat, and the socks made her feet tingle warmly. Wished she had a few hundred pairs to wear on the outside.
“We make all our own clothes,” Moira said. “I could teach you how to make your own socks and things.”
“That would be cool, but you do not want to go out there.”
For a while, all the young women gathered around. Moira had clearly staked her claim, and they seemed to respect her turf. Moira’s little gang — dark Jen, blond Jan, dark-haired Anna with the blue eyes, and Japanese Shinko — formed the core of the group who sat around and asked Taxi questions. Dumb, ignorant questions. None of them had ever been on the outside. She told them about the outside world as best she could.
When Taxi began asking questions about their world, most of them grew bored and wandered off. Some sat on a bed and played cards. Others sat and talked. Moira and Anna remained at the end, and Taxi got a little sense of competition between the two.
Taxi asked questions: “Who are you? Why are you here?”
“We’re part of a government experiment,” Moira said.
“What government?”
“Well, we don’t know, but everything is so tightly regulated here, and we feel quite safe,” Moira said.
Anna said: “We don’t mind being part of a government experiment.”
“So what is this experiment about?”
Anna explained: “We are genetically pure.”
“That’s what they tell us,” Moira said.
“Who tells you?”
“Our teachers,” Anna said.
“What, some more Toons?”
Anna said: “No, the place is really run by humans. At least I think it is.”
“I think it is too,” Moira said. “We have parents just like you do on the outside. It’s just, when we become teenagers, the girls go to the Young Women’s House and the boys go to the Young Men’s House. We don’t have much to do with each other until we are ready to be married.”
“You get married? When?”
“When our elders say we can.”
“They tell you who to marry?”
The two women looked down. They seemed tense and apprehensive. Anna nodded: “It’s something each girl worries about, because our elders decide whom to match up.”
“And how do they figure that out?”
“A computer,” Moira said. “An old government computer. They have to match us a certain way to keep the gene pool diverse.”
“I can’t believe it.” Taxi held her hands to her head.
|
Thank you for reading. If you love it, tell your friends. Please post a favorable review at Amazon, Good Reads, and other online resources. If you want to thank the author, you may also buy a copy for the low price of a cup of coffee. It's called Read-a-Latte: similar (or lower) price as a latte at your favorite coffeeshop, but the book lasts forever while the beverage is quickly gone. Thank you (JTC).
|
TOP
|
MAIN
Copyright © 2018 by Jean-Thomas Cullen, Clocktower Books. All Rights Reserved.
|
