“I’m going to tell mom you went to the barrier again last night.” Tati whispered when I put my dishes in the sink.
Scoffing, I grabbed an extra roll left on the kitchen counter. “How would you know?”
“You snuck out again.”
“That doesn’t mean I went anywhere near the barrier. It just means I was out of the house, Tati.”
“Mom won’t like it either way.” Tati laughed. “You are in so much trouble.”
I stuck out my tongue and proceeded to ignore her. Besides, I had gone to the barrier and I was probably going to go again tonight. I had seen something through the barrier this time. While I couldn’t quite figure out what it was, I was determined to see it again. Whatever it is.
Supposedly the barrier had appeared the year before I was born and no one had figured out where it had come from. Twenty years later and they still hadn’t even figured out why it was there. Usually I ignored it just as much as everybody. Well, most of the time. Mom said I have an unnatural curiosity about the outside.
It was the flash of light while I’d been rushing home for dinner that pulled me to it. And then I’d been stupid enough to mention it to Tati.
So last night I waited until everyone was in bed and quiet for at least an hour before I crept over to my window and eased out. The walk to where I had seen the light through the barrier wasn’t far and I settled down behind a tree where I could sit out of sight, between the barrier and the tree.
Prepared for a long night of waiting I was stunned when there was a faint flickering light just a few short minutes later. It didn’t move. I waited but I’m never very good at being patient.
“Hello?”
Immediately after speaking I felt infinitely stupid. I was calling out to a flickering light through an impenetrable barrier in the middle of the light. No one had ever seen anything on the other side of the barrier, ever since it went up. My one consolation was that no one would witness my weirdness. Ok, two consolations. There was also the fact that if it was a wild animal or something dangerous out there, it wouldn’t be able to get me in here.
“Don’t start jumping at freaky lights, Amethyst. You’ll never make it through the night.” I whispered to myself.
“Hello?”
If it hadn’t been a decidedly male voice, I would have simply brushed it off as my echo. It wasn’t. Some guy had answered my hello with his own. Glancing around the tree, I peered around the dark empty courtyard. No one.
After several minutes I settled back against the tree and nearly screeched when I looked at the barrier to find a face pressed against it.
Standing up slowly I looked closer. The face seemed smushed and contorted. Nothing else was misshapen when I looked through the barrier. Maybe there was disease outside the barrier that messed with how a person looked. Maybe that was why it was put in place.
“Are you real?” The man asked.
Nodding, I put a hand up against the barrier. He jumped back and his face immediately appeared normal. “Are you real? I’ve never seen any person outside the dome.”
“That’s because this land is said to be toxic, that it will kill any who come anywhere near here. There’s a whole elaborate wall to keep people out.”
“I don’t see a wall.” I peered once more out past the man. “I never have.”
He shrugged. “It’s a few miles away, through the forest. It makes sense you can’t see it. When it went up I guess there was lots of talk about hazardous materials and toxic levels and protecting people. That wall is crazy hard to get around.
“Yet you came in?”
With a shrug he looked back behind him. “I never was good at following the rules. Besides, this place has been off limits with no explained reason or cause for way too long to not be explored.
I gulped. “So are there many more people beyond the wall?”
He laughed. “Millions. Are you guys trapped inside?”
“No one knows how or why the barrier is here. And no one knows how to get out.”
“Crazy weird stuff. How long ago did it happen?”
I pulled at my sweater and looked up to the sky. “A year before I was born. Give or take a month.”
Once again his face pressed against the barrier and scrunched. “You don’t look that old.”
“I’m not!” I smacked at the barrier. “I just turned 19.”
He shook his head. “No way. This place is so old. That wall is even older than old. I mean. This place has been toxic and a danger zone for hundreds of years. It’s a legend. Whispered around over campfires. The lost city, of sorts.”
“Lost?” I settled back down against the tree. “We haven’t gone anywhere. We aren’t lost. We’re stuck but not lost.”
“But only 20 years? Not possible. My dad spotted the shimmer of the top of your dome shield when he was young. He talked about seeing buildings not aged with time. The problem was he just couldn’t get any closer. But I heard the stories though. Those stories are why I’m here.”
I couldn’t stop shaking my head. “When he was young? That isn’t possible. Everyone knows that it has been 20 years. We are having a big commencement in a few days.”
“What’s your name?”
Startled at the abrupt change I laughed. “Amethyst. What’s yours?”
“Flint.”
“Well Flint, this has all been incredible but the night patrol is coming by soon and I can’t get caught. So I have to go.”
Flint banged against the barrier. “Wait, don’t go.”
“I have to.”
“Come back tomorrow night?”
I hesitated. “Will you still be here?”
“I want to.” He glanced away from the dome. “I don’t know if there is anything that will keep me away.”
“Will you tell me about life outside?”
“Sure. Anything you want to know.”
