The Dome

I laid in a flower pod, resting with my pod mates.

The flower pod was a hard plastic shell. It had a round center that spread out in 5 pedals like a daisy. It held me and my pod mates immobile during resting times.

I could hear my pod mate's steady breathing and watch them lay on their backs. They did not move or wiggle. They lay immobile. Did they dream while they slept?

I lay in between #1 and #4. I tapped #4's foot. Her pink foot was warm and soft. She did not respond. She did not move. She ingored me. I curled up next to her. The hard white plastic shell was uncomfortable. She was warm and soft. I used her as a mattress and slept.

The noise of grinding gears woke me up. The heavy white pedal lids lifted, revealing a white light world. The pedals opened and my pod mates sat up.

Pod mate #1 exited the pod. Pod mates #2, 3 and 4 followed. I was last, always last. Pod mate #1 was blasted with steam until liquid dripped off her pale thin body. We followed, in a line one by one we were streamed then shaved, every bit of hair removed, then dried and each covered in a white formless toga.

Pod mate #1 stood like a statue. She sucked on a clear plastic tube that hung from the ceiling. The tube dispensed a white tasteless substance that was pre measured and provided complete nutrition. Her throat moved as she swallowed. The rest of us followed taking our turn at the tube. The exact same routine every morning and evening.

I could hear hundreds of pod mates, their breathing and their footsteps. But I couldn't see them or touch them. Their bodies hidden in a dense fog. My pod mates disappeared into the fog, leaving a formless, silent void.

I took 2 steps forward and 1 step sideways, my spot. I was gently lifted up until I lay on my back staring at the screen. The screen turned on. It made cracking noise, with bits of dancing black and grey dots. I waited for class to start. The same old boring classes every day.

The screen adjusted. Shades of green, brown, aqua, orange and yellow joined the dancing dots. The crackling noise broken by the sounds of a chirping bird and running water. The video started.

I hummed. Were the guardians watching today? I hoped not. I wiggled my feet. Nothing happened, no guardian ordering me to be still. I rocked my body side to side. No response, no punishment. Good the guardians were not watching today. Would the others come? The others only came when the guardian were gone.

A picture appeared on the screen, a tree with green leaves and brown bark in front of a blue sky. A bluebird sang. A yellow butterfly flew in circles around and around. This story again! Oh yes, the story was written about bad humans, who were greedy, mean and cruel. How humans destroyed and killed everything, trees, birds, fish, lakes, mountains. Murdered the earth. BORING! Until the guardians came and saved us.

I hummed. I sent out vibes, questions and answers. I mentally searched for the others. The ones who placed ideas in my head when the guardian was gone. It was quiet, too quiet.

I stared at the screen. The bla, bla, bla story of the death of trees, birds and butterflies. The screen filled with pictures of dirty air, blue water that turned ash grey and rotting animals. Fish, frogs, birds lay dying or dead. Until nothing remained but brown earth and grey sky.

The guardians felt pity. They saved us. They placed us in the dome and kept us safe. You could not see, hear or touch a guardian. They only entered your head. Outside the dome was death.

Oh please would the others come today? Just a thought, just a nudge, just an idea, anything besides this lousy boring death history. I hummed. Something brushed my face. It was not warm. It was not dry. It was something new.

"Can you hear me?" I heard in my head. The others were here.

"Yes! I hear you. "

"Would you like to play a game?"

"What's a game?"

"Hum, keep humming till I find you. "

"Why would you want to find me?"

"That's a suprise, hum."

I hummed. I listened. Only the rambling of the screen. The new sensation felt like the stream but not warm. It covered my body. My toga grew heavy and stuck to my skin.

Something solid and warm brushed up against my foot. "Hello."

"I found you, suprise."

A dark brown hand grabbed my foot. It felt warm and not soft. The hand traveled up my leg and hugged me. A dark face with white teeth breathed on me. The face was covered in black curly strings. (Hair?) It lifted me up and carried me. It felt sticky and did something odd to my nose.

"Shoo, be quiet, or the guardian will punish us."

I shut up. No need to be told twice.

The light changed, it turned yellow. The fog thinned. The room grew huge. I could see pod mates hundreds laying on their backs, suspended in the air, staring at the screen. In-between them moved hundreds of the dark hairy creatures. The creatures tapped, poked and prodded my pod mates but received no response.

An opening appeared in the ceiling. There was blue sky and a streak of fluffy grey? I was roughly lifted up and shoved through the hole. Bright yellow light hurt my eyes. Loud noise hurt my ears. I closed my eyes and covered my ears.

"Run." Voices echoed in my brain. Someone carried me. Cold air rushed past my body. I was jerked around and slapped by foreign objects. New sensations, most that I had no words for, collided with my body, to get my attention.

Suddenly the light was gone. Was this dark? I heard heavy breathing. I was set down on something cool and damp. It crumbled in my hand. I struggled to sit upright. The air felt heavy. I heard a jumble of voices.

"Any casualties?"

"Not sure. "

"Did the guardians see us?"

"Not sure."

"Do you know anything?"

An angry deep voice yelled. "Yes! Those children were oblivious. They did not respond. They floated in the air like drifts of clouds."

"It was creepy. The gates opened damned easy. Not one guardian tried to stop us. "

"I tried to carry out a child but it was like trying to catch a breeze."

I opened my eyes. Where was I? Creatures surrounded me. They looked like my pod mates but different. Their skin was in shades of pink, brown and black. Light glistened off their skin's slick surface. Stringy stuff (hair?) Covered their bodies in shades of red, yellow, brown and black.

"Hello. Where am I?"

Heads turned and stared. A mystery creature (human?) Answered me. "Your safe. You're outside the dome with your own kind."

I screamed. "You lie. OUTSIDE THE DOME IS DEATH." I tried to stand, but my legs wobbled. The air was heavy! I pounded the floor with my fists. Pieces of it flew up in the air and stuck to my skin. "Liars, liars, liars! The guardians would never allow me outside the dome." My head felt heavy, my body shook violently. The world grew dim.

I woke up dazed and confused. The front of me was hot, my back cold. I opened my eyes. Yellow and orange tongues danced wildly. Where was this place? The floor was cold and loose. The air was dark and moved. Something rough and heavy covered me, it was not my toga. Something odd and grey mixed with the air entered my nose. I coughed.

Where was my flower pod and mates?

Above me were sparkling white dots of light. The tongues danced but kept their distance. Creatures lay on the ground around me. Was this really outside? I hugged myself and listened to strange noises.

The sky tricked me. It turned from black to less black, then grey. Something huge rose in the distance. It was shades of orange, pink and purple. It filled the sky. Twinkling lights disappeared. Birds flew. Odd noises increased. The creatures woke up.

One of them approached me.

"Be careful, don't want her insane."

This one was a she. She wore a long striped toga. "Good morning. Did you like the sunrise?"

"Is this outside the dome?"

"Yes, welcome. "

"How, why, is everything not dead?"

She smiled. "So many questions. My name is Lela. Let me get you some breakfast. Would you like that?"

She didn't wait for a reply. What was a name? What was breakfast? I was so confused.

Several of the creatures stared at me. Some were small, children. Who were these people? How did they live outside the dome?

My head hurt. To many questions. To many odd things. Did the guardians lie? Or was this a test, a new lesson? Was I outside the dome or laying in my pod dreaming?

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