ONE
The night was thick and heavy. The scent of
boiled
cabbage flowed outside. Winston was walking home. His life seemed a
waste. But
not to him. He loved Big Brother.
Then, Winston saw someone standing in the
road. He
thought nothing of it at first. But then, she turned. She had a pale
white
ghost face with thick red lips and piercing blue eyes. The girl had on
a black
jacket, black jeans, and black boots. Her black hair was pinned up
neatly. What
Winston found striking was the girl had no scarlet sash around her
waist. She
clearly wasn’t from London. But who was she?
Then, the girl held out her arms with her
fists
clinched tight. She parted her lips and mumbled something. What it was,
Winston
could hear her. If was like watching a TV on mute without a remote.
Then,
gunshots rang out and the girl fell to the ground in cold blood.
Winston raced
to her and held her tight. The girl mumbled something inaudible again.
And
then, she died.
Winston awoke in a cold sweat. This was the
fifth
time he had this nightmare. What did it mean? Then, he just bushed it
off as if
it wad just dust. Dreams were a thought-crime and useless. But that
soon would
change…
II
The tube roared through the clear morning. A
young
woman of nineteen years sat in silence. Her face and hands were snow
white. Her
lips were a deep red. Her black long coat seemed to swallow the rest of
her
body whole. Aside from her black attire, the girl’s piercing blue eyes
made
everyone take a closer look at her. The girls at her boarding school
called her
a vampire because she was so pale and always wore black.
The girl’s destination was Oceania. Her
boyfriend of
four years finally proposed to her three weeks ago. She didn’t want to
have the
wedding until she met her father and by chance invited him to the
wedding. She
got a hint from her mother that he lived Oceania.
The girl looked at her engagement ring. It
was a red
diamond on a silver band. Her loved worked for two summers to buy it
for her.
She decided to take good care of her ring.
The tube stopped and more people got on. An
old man
sat beside the young woman. He was dressed in a nice suit with a white
tie. He
smelt of cheap mothballs. The old man looked his new companion up and
down.
“Oh, what’s a little thing like you doing all alone?” he asked.
The girl turned and answered, “I’m going to
meet my
father for the first time.” The old man seemed happy. “That’s great!”
he
exclaimed. “Where does he live?” “Oceania.” the girl said bravely. The
old man
fell silent. “He won’t claim you…” he said in a low voice. The girl
kept the
glow in her pale face. “What do you mean?” she asked. Her fellow
passenger
looked pale.
