Two girls, one story. One girl has no powers and lives with normal people until she finds out her secret. The other girl lives in luxury because she has powers, but then she goes on a journey to find out her past and why she is so unique.
Chapter One:
5/12/2347: Monday
Sarah
One normal day, I go to a poorly funded school early in the morning. My school has brown paint peeling off the walls, stains like everywhere, and teachers who only make like $2 per hour. The elites want us to be poor to level up their social status. I don’t like walking to school because people always make fun of me even though I’m just like them. They shout stuff like “Poor girl” or “We can’t have someone who is adopted around here.” The worst thing they have said to me is “This girl cannot be from here. Look at her hair.” I wish I was like the elites, the ones who have powers like mind control, water, lighting, and even super strength. But I’m just stuck here, no powers, barely any friends, and always being picked on. At least I have one thing people like about me, but sometimes it’s also my downfall, my hair. It’s kind of hard to explain. Well I’m gonna try. My hair is like a cinnamon red with a hint of super dark brown. My parents say I’m lucky because I have this hair. I don’t care about my hair. I just want to be cool like the elites.
5/12/2347: The Second Monday in May
Lark
I walk to school in my itchy uniform. I wish my school provided comfy uniforms, but they just had to give girls itchy leggings. My school is really expensive because it’s one of the best schools in Devorah and the world. Well, the whole world is pretty much a wasteland outside of Devorah, the “last protected city in the world.” Normal day at school, still the same marble walls and white paint. I wish my school changed for just one day. Like how about we celebrate some of the old holidays before the world was sucked of almost all of its materials like water or trees. We don’t even have any real, natural trees. We only have moss and some species of flower. One of the only flowers we have left is a lilac, and that’s why my hairs tips are lilac-colored. Just in case the lilac flower dies out, I still have a faint memory of the lilac through my hair. Well, I guess I have to stay in school or else I won’t learn.
Chapter Two:
5/13/2347: Tuesday
Sarah
Today, in my school, I don’t know if I can even call it a school, we learned about why our city was called Devorah. Apparently, it was the last name of the couple who created Devorah, Jake and Marie Devorah. I think that’s a weird last name, Devorah, ugh. I feel like the elites, a.k.a. gods is what we call them here, used to be nice to people without powers before the world turned into a wasteland. I think the gods turned greedy, selfish, and mean when the world “failed.”
5/13/2347: The Second Tuesday in May
Lark
Today, we practiced our powers. Like everyday, people crowd around me because I have a very unique power, fire. After we practiced, we went to class, and I learned that the thing that sets us elites apart from humans is that humans have red blood, while elites have aqua blood. That’s why when a baby is born, just to make sure, the doctors do a blood test to see if the baby has red or aqua blood. The teacher wanted us to find our puncture scar. Most people’s scars were on their palm, but mine was on my ankle. I thought, Hmm how weird. I guess it doesn’t matter that much.
Chapter Three:
5/14/2347: Wednesday
Sarah
No fair, my brother got to go to the inner part of Devorah a.k.a “where the elites live.” He got to meet the queen, Jessica, because he makes spices for the royals. I still have to wait until I’m fifteen to start a job, and right now I’m only thirteen. When someone turns fifteen, the royals choose what job that person “deserves.” Usually, they pick bad jobs for people like wasteland adventurer where they can possibly die. But that was a different case for my brother. Since my mom is a really good cook, she taught us how to cook for ourselves. So the royals wanted my brother to make spices and crush them down for the royal cooks. Sadly for him, only girls can be a royal cook which means I have a chance! Well, at least the parade is this Thursday. I love the parade because we get to skip school.
5/14/2347: The Second Wednesday of May
Lark
This week, we get to set up for the parade because it’s this Thursday. There are seven groups of four because there are twenty-eight kids in my class. My group is making desserts! I’m making chocolate ice cream. Sadly, the ice cream is made with artificial dairy because we don’t have cows. My friend Kallie is making snow cones with my other friend Bloom. Lastly, my friend Kassie is making popsicles. I am so excited for the parade!
Chapter Four:
Day of the parade… (before the parade started)
Sarah
Yay! Finally, today is the day of the parade. I have been waiting all week for this. From 12:00-7:00 p.m. we have a giant parade to celebrate the creation of Devorah in 2047. That was three hundred years ago. We celebrate this holiday every year. This day is the only day people who are “humans” get to live kind of like the elites. Thinking about it makes me fidget in my chair.
Lark
Today is the day of the parade! We have to take a thirty minute drive to the parade area to set up. After we set up, we get to party at the parade! While we were in the car, I got to eat a snowcone. So good. We finally got here, and we have all the materials to make our stand, and we are building it right now. Yay! We finished building our stand and putting our tasty treats in. Now, we have to wait for a bit until we get to party!
Chapter Five:
During the parade…
Sarah
Yay! The parade has started! When the parade was announced by the teachers, all the kids came flushing through the entrance. The parade has speakers and music and a dance floor. It feels like luxury! They have really good food like spaghetti, ice cream, snow cones, and tomato basil soup with meatballs. I love the tomato basil soup with meatballs that they serve because of its creamy goodness! Sadly, we have to use veggies to make meatballs because meat is so expensive. Ugh! I just got into a fight for the last piece of bread with my classmate Ferdinand. Ow, my cheek hurts. Ferdinand slapped it. Ugh!
I scream at Ferdinand, “I will hurt you so much you will regret that you ever messed with me.”
Ferdinand says in a confident voice, “Yeah right, you’re a girl!”
Then I get super angry.
I shout to Ferdinand, “Ughhhh! You will regret messing with… O-M-G I’m flying!”
Yay! I am getting noticed! Everyone is crowding around me. Ow, my hands are burning hot. I feel like they are on fire. Wait, wait, wait, am I an elite? My hands are sprouting fire! HELP!!! My head is super dizzy, what’s happening…
Lark
Party time! Woo hoo! Right now is slow dance time. With boys. There was always this guy I have always wanted to ask to the dance, but I never had the nerve to. His name is Giovanni. Ohh, Giovanni! His black hair is so wavy, and his eyes are so dreamy and a blue-grey color. He’s also really smart. I’m gonna ask him to the dance!
I ask Giovanni in a sweet voice, “Do you want to go to the dance Giovanni? I would love to go with you!”
Then I blink a lot.
Giovanni says, “I will never want to date someone like you. You’re so annoying. Also, I already have a girlfriend, so LEAVE me and my sweet girlfriend Sakura ALONE!”
Sakura says, “Yeah, what he said.”
Then, I run to the bathroom, and I sob my heart out for an hour. Tears are everywhere on the floor, on my dress, everywhere. Everyone is crowding around me and laughing except for my closest friends Kallie, Bloom, and Kassie. They are so nice. After that incidence, everyone will think I’m a dork, especially Giovanni and Sakura, the most popular kids in the school! When I come out of the bathroom, I see everyone crowding around someone. I overhear people saying it is a human. Why would people, even elites, be crowding around a human? I walk over to the crowd and see a human girl with a name tag that says “Sarah,” and she is floating! Only elites can do that! How is that possible? Is she an elite taking away from her family? How??? O-M-G her hands are shouting sparks of fire or ember! If she is not an elite, then how does she have a power? More specifically, how does she have the power that only I have in all of the elites?
Chapter Six:
Day after parade…
Sarah
I just woke up on a hospital bed in one of our makeshift hospitals in my village, The Forgotten Ones. The reason why our village is called that is because it used to be an elite town that was the center of peace, trading, and bonds between the humans and the elites that prosper there. My town used to be funded by the elites at the start of the whole world turning into a wasteland. It used to be a place where humans and elites lived side by side. The humans were the people making stuff for sale and trade, and the elites would fund us humans in return for our precious goods. But all that changed some 150 years ago, when more resources started disappearing and less trades started coming. The elites cut off our funding. And that’s why we are called The Forgotten Ones. I wish I lived and died in the good era of my village because I could have had a good life, but I guess the people in the sky decided something else for me. The hospital has ripped curtains, stained beds, unsanitary gloves, and no place to rinse your hands. If I led a hospital, I would at least wash my hands with our fake water, so the doctors wouldn’t spread bacteria from patient to patient. But this is a poorly funded, makeshift hospital, so of course it won’t have that kind of stuff. The doctors said that I have powers and that I fainted because I never learned to control them, and I did a “Power Overload.” They just need to figure out what causes it, so they can give me treatment.
Lark
So let’s talk about last night. First, Giovanni breaks my heart. Wait, also Sakura. Secondly, I missed out on the slow dance. Lastly, I saw a HUMAN flying and sparks of ember or fire. If I told people about any of this, they would believe everything (sadly). EXCEPT A HUMAN FLYING WITH STUFF COMING OUT OF HER HANDS! Even more attention got drawn to her because it was a shadowy, dark night. Her hands showed up as a glimmer of light from a far. It was only a glimmer because so many people were crowding around her, and you could only see the light through the cracks between people’s bodies.
Chapter Seven:
Earlier that day…
5/17/2347: Saturday
Sarah
I have to get to the bottom of this. How was I able to use powers? I’m a human, not an elite. I think I have an idea to solve this, whenever I bleed, my eyes get blurry, and I go unconscious. That means I have never seen my blood. I’m gonna give myself a paper cut. I’ll make the blood drip onto the paper and then hide the paper so no one knows. Then that will be the true way of knowing if I am an elite or human. If my blood is aqua, then I am an elite. If my blood is red, then I’m a human. I learned this fact because I saw this girl’s journal in the trash during the parade. The next day, it wasn’t in the trash. I guess before the girl left, she got her journal from the trash. When I was reading through, it she seemed like an elite girl, and I think her name is Lark. I got the paper, and I have my finger. I just cut my fi… Okay, I’m awake, now let’s see the paper. It’s under the bed. OH MY GOSH! MY BLOOD IS AQUA! I need to ask my mom if I’m adopted. THIS is life changing! I am an elite. I would never think in a million years I would have powers!
5/17/2347: The Third Saturday of May
Lark
I can’t deal with these lies anymore! I can’t handle this! I’m going to figure out what happened to me, my origin. I know my blood is aqua. I’ve seen it before, and I have powers. So that rules out being a human. I’m going to the central government office. That place has all the documents about all the people who live in Devorah. The documents start when that person is born and end when that person dies. That’s why each family in Devorah has a document writer who writes documents about all of their family members and themselves, then sends them to the central office. They also have document writers for people who work at any workplace. Like schools, restaurants, and even the office buildings. Then, the editor looks over the documents and edits them. They even have the founding couples documents in there. All I have to do is sneak in there and look at my document, or since today is volunteer work day, I think I’ll just volunteer as an editor. Yeah, that’s a better idea. I don’t wanna go to jail.
Chapter Eight:
Later that day…
5/17/2347: Saturday
Sarah
I’m gonna ask my mom. I’m walking to the kitchen right now.
I ask my mom, “Mom, am I adopted?”
My mom, Chesa, asks, “Why would you ever say that, Sarah Mahalia Chrysanthemum?!”
“Because I am! Look at this piece of paper! It shows the color of my blood!” I say.
Shocked, Chesa looks at the paper, and she sees the paper has aqua blood on it. “You, you were never supposed to find out, honey. How did you know that your blood would mean elite or not, honey?” says Chesa.
“During the party, a girl named Lark threw her journal in the trash. I got interested, so I looked at the journal. There I learned a lot of information, including how elite people’s blood is aqua, and human blood is red. I also think Lark is an elite. But the day after, when I was in the hospital, while you and the doctor were talking, I snuck outside to check if the journal was still in the trash, so I could keep it. But it wasn’t in the trash, so I snuck back into the hospital and made it look like I never moved,” I say.
“Wow okay! Well, let me tell you how you are adopted and the story. So you know your brother, right?” says Chesa.
“Yeah, so?” I say.
“Well, I gave birth to your brother. I didn’t adopt him,” says Chesa.
“Wait, then how am I adopted?” I say.
“Well, I’m about to get there, so can you not talk till I’m done with the story?” says Chesa.
“Okay,” I say.
“Okay, well after I gave birth to your brother, the doctors told me I used all my energy to give birth to your brother, so I couldn’t give birth anymore. So when I heard that an elite couple was having twins and that in the elite world you can’t have twins, they said on a secret telegram ‘I am letting one human family adopt my baby girl because twins are forbidden in the elite world. So can you meet at the alleyway between the elite and human world if you want her. But you cannot tell her she has powers.’ And since I’ve always wanted a daughter, I went there. It was the one of the happiest times of my life,” says Chesa.
“One of the happiest times! You don’t love me the most!” I say.
“No, honey, it’s not like that. I love you and your brother equally, but having your brother was also one of my favorite times. Also, I said no interrupting. Anywho, back to the story. We changed your name right when you came home. Your name used to be Lilac, but to protect you, I renamed you Sarah. I thought you were never going to find out till that party where you did a ‘Power Overload.’ I knew you were going to find out. Oh, and your sister is Lark. Just in case, if you wanted to know why they wanted to put you up for adoption, they said they did a game to see who stayed with the couple, and in the end Lark was chosen to stay,” says Chesa.
“Wait, that girl’s journal I found was my sister’s!” I say.
“Yes, Sarah, yes,” says Chesa.
Then we hugged.
3/17/2347: The Third Saturday of May
Lark
Okay, I was chosen to go help being editor. We are lining up in front of the office. Right now, they’re telling us all the rules. They’ve assigned me to the group where we throw junk mail. They seperate us into partners. One group goes to families, one to work offices, one ‘other stuff,’ and one for illegal. Only the two oldest get to do illegal. I am the second oldest, so I can do illegal. This is where I can see my illegal family documents, if we have any. They are categorized by first name, and since my dad is a document writer, it must be under his first name. “A” where are you? Found you! Now all I have to do is find Andrew Mendoza. Found him! Let’s see the documents. Twin birth! What’s this? Let’s check. This is what the document says: “My wife has just given birth to twins. Names Lilac and Lark. Since twins are forbidden, I must release one of them. Lilac has gone to a nice, human family while Lark stays with us. I wish I could keep both daughters.” Who could be Lilac? Lilac is my sister? I can’t deal with this. I’m going to the human side next week. I need to find my sister.
The End
The story of Lark and Sarah will continue in Forbidden Sisters: The Journey