83

Life before conception

This is a short story about my life before conception. My name is 83 and I'm a baby😊. We weren’t allowed to have names because, well, that is the rule over here. I lived in a city we called Shimayim. It was inhabited by babies (that’s what they call us). It was a very peaceful place. We really don’t do anything there because we had everything: toys, milk, soft white blankets, you name it. One by one, we were selected and sent to Earth to families to be a “bundle of joy” as they say. But forget about all that. Let’s focus on me. As I said earlier, I’m 83. I have dark skin, the cutest brown eyes you’ve ever seen and dark curly hair plus I’m a girl. I was teased by the others because let’s just say I was special and maybe a tinsy bit stubborn. I never obeyed the rules which always got me in trouble and well caused a lot of trouble. I named myself Lily. I know, I know, we are not allowed to have names blah blah blah. I was just sick and tired of being called 83. It was a secret though. So SHHHHHHH!! DON’T TELL.

We had guardians. They were the sweetest people that ever lived.  Then there was their leader.  We called her Madam B. Let’s just say she was our disciplinarian. She made sure that no rules were broken. She was chubby, had pink rosy cheeks and a big smile plastered on a face. She looked like an angel but when she was angry, OH Boy!.

I always got in trouble because I liked to day dream. I always dreamt about how my future family was going to be like. Would they want me? Would they love me? Would I have siblings? Would they teach me how to ride a bike? Would they name me Lily? On this particular day, I had fallen asleep in our orientation class. Mummy was looking down at me smiling heartily as she held me in her hands. “Lily” I said, clapping my little hands. Mummy laughed and said “That’s right, you are my Lily”. I was smiling dreamily when suddenly I felt someone poking me.

    “83!!!” whispered 84, my annoying bestfriend, as she poked me repeatedly.

     “Lily” I murmured dreamily as I opened my eyes. 84 was staring at me wide-eyed. Behold, looming over me was Madam B, her face was red with fury. I could literarily see steam coming out of her nose and ears as she stared at me.

Before I could utter another word, Madam B dragged me out of the class and into the hallway.

      “Did I hear you say Lily? What did we say about names?”, she shouted. I looked left and right, looking for someone to rescue me. “Answer me 83!!” I was dumbfounded. She dragged me to the Penalty Room, a dark room which looked more like a prison. She picked me up and placed me inside and locked the door. I cried and screamed for her to come back. I told her I was sorry but no one answered. Hours passed and I heard a small knock on the door.

     “83?” I heard the voice of my best friend. “I’m so sorry you got locked up all alone. I wish I was in there with you.”

I leaned against the door and sobbed silently. After a few beats, I said “Thanks 84. I saw mummy today, she’s so beautiful, she had pretty eyes, and her skin was like gold.” I heard her sniff on the other side of the door.

    “I wish we could be called together so we’ll be, you know, besties forever” she said. Although I couldn’t see her, I knew she was smiling. We both sat there for some time, separated by the cold steel door.

    “Me too, 84, me too” I said smiling.

I woke up to the loud noise of the door being opened. I realized I had fallen asleep against the door. The bright light streamed into the room and I had to shield my eyes to avoid being blinded. Madam B was standing outside, hands on her hips, looking at me. I looked down at my hands and muttered “I’m sorry.” Then I noticed someone next to her, her head hung low. It was 84. She looked up and met my gaze and I noticed there were tears in her eyes. Everyone turned away and went about their businesses, even Madam B, leaving me and 84 alone in the quiet corridor. I ran to her and engulfed her in a big hug. We stayed there together, crying for what seemed like hours. Finally, we broke apart and wiped each other’s tears and started off towards our shared room.

Fast forward to two months later.  

     “What if we were called to Earth together? I mean we could be twins!!!”, 84 said looking at me and smiling giddily.

     “That would be amazing. We’ll be sisters and best friends forever” I said as I intertwined my fingers with 84’s. “But what do you think Earth is like?”

     “I don’t know, we’ll just have to wait and see”. She shrugged and we continued skipping down the hallway.

Suddenly we heard the loud chimes of bells. It was Call Time. I looked at 84, nervous and happy at the same time. This was it, I was finally going to Earth.

We took our seats in the large hall, fingers crossed, waiting for our numbers to be called. The large doors opened and Madam B appeared, a wave of silence swept over the hall. I looked over to 84 who was seated next to me and I couldn’t help but giggle. She was shivering and sucking on her thumb.

Madam B walked past and mounted the podium. She cleared her throat and began to give her long boring speech about being of good behavior, blah blah blah. Then she started calling out the selected numbers.

       “97, 96, 95………87, 86, 85 and 84! That’s it for today.” She closed looked up from her monitor and signaled to the guardians to begin preparation. Everyone in the hall started murmuring. Some squealed, some pumped their fists into the air and well, some burst into tears. I turned to 84 and gave her a big hug.

 “I’ve been selected. 83, I’m going to Earth!!!”, she said laughing and crying at the same time.

I was so happy for her, her dreams had finally come true. But then it dawned on me. She was leaving me here, all alone.

“Soooo, I guess this is good-bye.” I said to 84, biting back tears.

She looked at me sadly and hugged me once more. I started crying, allowing the tears to flow freely. I was going to miss her.

She stood up and began to walk up to the guardians.

“Wait!!” I shouted after her. She looked back at me with sadness in her eyes. I looked at Madam B. “What about me?”

    “I’m sorry 83 but that’s all for today” Madam B said, walking off the podium.

    “Please, I don’t want to stay here any longer. Do something please.” I pleaded, .

84 began to cry as her guardian took hold of her hand and lead her towards the portal. 

  “Good-bye 83,” she managed to say between tears. “Promise me that you’ll take good care of yourself.”

  “Don’t leave me here 84” I cried running towards her. I was about to hold on to her hand when two hands grabbed me from behind, preventing me from going any further.

I kicked and I screamed trying to free myself and hold on to 84. I watched as they carried her away, crying and screaming my name, stretching out her hand towards me.

  “Wait!!!!” Everyone stopped and looked in the direction of the voice.

It was coming from one of the guardians.

  “Something has happened. Something has changed in 84’s assignment. It is …..t-twins” she stuttered. She looked up with tears in her eyes.

   “What!!!!” Madam B said as she rushed towards the monitor. “It can’t be.”

After a few beats, she looked up at me and for the first time, she smiled at me. My crying suddenly seized and I was dumbfounded.

   “Well, I guess miracles do happen. 83, you have been called.”

I squealed and ran towards Madam B and hugged her legs. She looked down at me and patted my head softly.

   “Thank you Madam B, you won’t regret this” I said, tears of joy flowing down my cheeks.

   “Run along now my child, your family awaits.” She bent down and kissed the top of my head and motioned for my guardian to come and take me.

Instead of taking my guardian’s hand, I ran towards 84 who was already crying tears of joy. We hugged each other tightly. After what seemed like minutes, we broke apart and held hands.

   “Together forever” she said and I repeated it after her.

We looked up at our guardians and they motioned for us to follow them. They stopped in front of our portals and gestured for us to enter.

84 looked at me and said “This is it, are you ready?”

   “I’m ready” I said giving her a big grin. We both hugged our guardians and stepped unto the platform. I glanced back at Madam B who was wiping tears away from her eyes. When she saw me, she gave me a heart warming smile and blew me a kiss. I waved at her and turned back towards the portal.

I closed my eyes, still holding 84’s hand. We stepped into the portal.

I felt myself being lifted up and consumed by a bright light. Slowly, slowly, I began to fade. All the while, I kept thinking about Madam B. Her smile was so genuine and her eyes were filled with love. I smiled as I felt myself disappearing totally.

   “Maybe she wasn’t so bad after all” I whispered as I slipped into darkness.

Hey guys, hope you enjoyed the story. Part 2 will be out very soon. Please kindly subscribe.