The Many

Same walk, different shoes...

“Same Walk, Different Shoes” is a community writing project that Ben Wakeman organized as a practical exercise in empathy. The premise is simple. A group of writers anonymously contribute a personal story of an experience that changed their life. Each participating writer is randomly assigned one of these story prompts to turn into a short story. The story you are about to read is one from this collection. You can find all the stories from the participating writers at Catch & Release. Enjoy the walk with us.

1. The One

She drew several deep breaths before approaching the big congregation room door. It was the time for torture, in a sense. Although no physical damage would be inflicted, she already felt her breath getting restricted with the anticipated assault on her senses and her mind. The sentinels had already taken their place at the door. As she approached them, one of them extended a songbook to her and said “The all is one” and she responded with the customary “the many are nought” while picking up the book and going in.

The family had already taken their place. She saw her mother turning her head all the way back and looking for her, trying to understand why she was late. She quickly walked down the stairs and sat beside her mother. She hissed “Minat, I told you to be on time,” and turned slowly to check whether her husband knew the situation. He was busy talking to their neighbour sitting beside them with his children.

After a couple of minutes, the whole congregation was in place. Mirror of the One was preparing for the weekly sermon, whispering to his aides with a very solemn expression on his face.

A gong sounded and all sound within the room was quickly subdued. Mirror of the One approached the pulpit and his voice boomed. “Hail, children of the One. Today I’m going to remind you of some of the tenets of our Order. Who will answer me?” A young girl with freckles reluctantly raised a hand. The man continued.

“If one is, cannot the one be many?”

“Impossible.”

“Then cannot the one have parts and be a whole?”

“Why not?”

“Because every part is part of a whole. Then the one would be many and not one… What does this tell us?”

“We have to be one and not many.”

“Yes, and what does that tell us? Let me tell you. You shall not try to be different from your folks, otherwise, you shall be many and what are the many?”

“Nought.”

The interchange continued with other tenets of the Order of the One, the Mirror being answered each time by a different person, usually one of the youngsters. They were encouraged by their parents, given that it was expected for the young to take more and more part in congregation events, especially after they reached 16, accepted as the time of passage to adulthood.

After the sermon, she asked her parents whether she could spend some time with Nunet while her parents were enjoying the customary tea served after the sermon. They grumblingly agreed but asked her to keep close.

Nunet was her best friend and today she was not in a good mood. “What’s happening to you?” asked Minat.

“You know what’s happening. I was suspecting it anyway, but today they told me.”

“No. You don’t mean it.”

“I do. I am supposed to marry Torak. I was hoping that I could persuade them to allow me to go to college, but of course, that is almost like blasphemy. I mentioned my aunt and reminded them how she ended up being the best engineer of her generation. They reminded me that she escaped the community and was not part of the One any more, she had gone to the Many. I told them I was not going to do that and would be very useful when I came back to the One, but they would not listen. They never listen. Torak is okay, but I don’t know him and I don’t necessarily like him. What am I going to do with him the rest of my life?”

Minat thought on this for a while, falling silent. What if her parents did the same with her? “What are you going to do?” she asked feebly.

“I don’t know. One of the girls mentioned someone who could help. I am not sure how I can see that person without my parents finding out.”

“What kind of help do you mean?”

Nunet looked behind her to see if anyone was listening, and then she whispered “She knows someone who could get me out to the city.”

“Out, for good?”

“What else? They would never have me back once I’ve gone to the city. Look, I love my parents and I would really hate being separated from my brother and sisters, but I can not marry! I haven’t done anything with my life yet, apart from going to the sermons and helping my mother with cooking and housework once school ends.”

“What if you are caught?”

“I can not think of getting caught. I will be as good as dead if I don’t escape.”

“Be careful.”

2. The Escape

Minat was lying in the darkness with her eyes wide open. She listened to the deep silence that permeated through the house.

She had been waiting for this for a long time. Tears ran down her face when she remembered that day when Nunet was caught.

She had seen her when they were taking her away. Nunet was distraught, she had some blood on her dress but she was defiant. She asked her guardians for a second with Minat and they somehow agreed. When she hugged Minat, both were crying, but there was nothing either of them could do. Nunet was forcefully dragged away, and later Minat discovered that she had put something in her pocket while hugging her.

She had felt her pocket and it was something metallic, but she dared not expose it with all the people around, so she waited until she was alone in her room to check. This was an old-fashioned metal key that they used in the community, not being at peace with all the mechanical and electronic devices. It must have been the key to the community gate that Nunet had informed her about, there was no other explanation.

She had to wait for a few months before she dared to do anything with it. Although her family went ahead with their daily work as usual, her father talked with her right after Nunet disappeared to wherever they took such offenders, never to be seen again. He warned her about doing anything like what Nunet did, stressing that she had a bright future ahead of her. Minat was not sure what this meant. They must be planning a marriage for her, given that in three months she would be 18, the minimum marriage age the government was enforcing on the community. She hid the key very carefully but observed both the family and the community for signs of relaxed security and attention.

After a couple of minutes, she was sure that everyone was asleep and there was no movement in the house.

She slowly got up from the bed and took the clothes she had hidden in the wardrobe. Dark colours, no buttons or anything that could shine and give her away. She was ready in a couple of minutes, down to the soft shoes that would not make any noise in the darkness of the night.

She went directly into the kitchen and took the plastic food bag she had hidden there earlier. She did not know how long it would take to reach the city and she did not want a growling stomach. She hesitated, looking out to the living room, a drop of tear appearing in the corner of her eye. It’s not the time to baulk, she said to herself. It is your last chance. In a few months, they would have the submission ceremony, which would be the end of everything. She would not be allowed out of the community any more.

She slowly opened the kitchen door that she had deliberately left unlocked, went out without hesitation and softly closed the door. She went through the garden, constantly checking for any motion in the house. There was none.

The walk to the gate was quite long. She had to stay out of the main road, lest she be discovered. She would not have been able to explain what she was doing outside in the middle of the night. After almost an hour of walking, she saw the main gate and the high walls surrounding the community. She was searching for a small door that was barely visible if you did not know where it was. This was the door used by the guardians in case of emergencies and was always kept locked.

Once she saw the door, she waited in the shadows and made sure there was no one watching it. After Nunet’s capture, security had been tightened for a while but it did not take too long for everything to go back to normal. These types of things did not happen in the community very frequently, given that no one knew what happened to the ones who got caught, although they seemed to disappear. After a couple of minutes of careful observation, she quickly walked to the door, inserted the key and turned it, her heart fluttering. The key turned, and the lock unlocked. She quickly opened the door, got out and locked it behind her.

Once she was out, she had to follow signs to the capital. Nunet had told her that the capital would be a five-hour walk from the gate, so she had quite a distance to cover. She set out for the trip and decided she would try to go as far as possible before daybreak.

***

The adaptation Minat had to go through was amazing. She had lived all her life in a low-technology community which was based on the main tenet that nothing could change, so nothing should change. After registering with the authorities and declaring that she had left the community, she was placed in temporary housing and she had a few interviews with government officials to decide on her future. It was a few days later when she learned that the Mirror to the One had sent a representative to formally complain that Minat had left the community without permission and had to be sent back. Since she was not yet 18, the authorities would normally be bound to do this, although they could also use delaying tactics to make sure she became 18 before any decision was taken. In this case, however, Minat had already described what happened to Nunet to the authorities. Based on the permanent agreement with the community, the government did not interfere with their business, unless there was an obvious case of abuse or physical harm. Minat had no proof that Nunet had been harmed, but her story was believable enough that the administrators took the step to tell the community that they would not decide before they did a thorough investigation into Nunet’s disappearance. Minat found out a few days later that the community withdrew their complaint, probably dreading the risk of a government enquiry on their ground unearthing unwelcome facts.

When Minat did sufficiently well on aptitude tests, she was allowed to go to a university and study social sciences.

3. The Oblivion

The first year of university was groundbreaking for Minat. She had to work hard since the quality of teaching back in the community was not stellar. She had to take extra courses just to catch up. Luckily the government was taking over the costs as she was an asylum seeker and a persecuted person, so she did not have to work, except for a few hours a week at a coffee joint just to get some pocket change.

She started to have some friends. Although they found her community-inspired habits and ethics funny at first, she had a few really good friends who saw the good in her and tolerated her “weird” side.

After a year, she felt much more confident and she started acting like a typical student, thus going on a date, drinking with friends at the pub and eating a lot of junk food while watching some streamies on the wall unit.

When she thought about those two weeks in December, Minat could only visualise a set of blurry images and a slow-motion reel which looked like it was out of a David Lynch film. Courses were more or less over and exams would be in January, thus everyone on campus concentrated on the parties. Not allowed to drink in her community, she imbibed anything she could find without a second thought. Parties were numerous and varied.

There was the one where everyone was constantly playing card games. She was not familiar with any of the games, so she spent all her sober time learning the rules. Later, she was not in a position to play, she had to inch her way back to the dormitory and immediately lie down.

She went to at least three Christmas parties, although she had to admit she did not necessarily understand the significance of Christmas. She liked the music though.

The weird one was the party where everyone wore black and painted their face with black tones as well. Many of them played computer games with some medieval fantasy plot. Minat was just getting used to surfing social networks, so games were still too far from her skills, so she was a bit bored at that party, also looking out-of-place with her traditional party-girl attire.

The last one was where everything collapsed. She had already started to drink the minute she entered the house. After the fifth glass or so, she was having difficulty walking.

She remembered going into a bedroom with a man whose face she did not remember, although he seemed to be as drunk as she was. Glimpses of him locking the door, then strapping patches on the arm, one to each of them… Then the elevation of the senses, both of them tearing the clothes off one another, the extreme warmth of the room, the ecstasy and the long-running release…

When she woke up a few hours later, she was alone. She picked up her clothes thrown on the floor and put them on. The house was full of sleeping students. She had a terrible headache and pledged that she would not do this again.

4. The Many

She entered the self-test booth and sat on the stool for a while. It had been her second month without a period and she clearly knew what this meant, but had to be sure. She did not feel ready for such a thing, transforming into an adult a short while ago herself.

She pressed the button beside the screen and waited for the mechanical arm to extend. She then put her finger on the opening as instructed on the screen and felt a small prick as the needle extracted a few drops of blood. “Wait for the result…” the screen announced and put animations of nice, cute babies on screen while she waited.

Then a cheerful chime and the result was on the screen: “You are pregnant, congratulations.”

The screen continued displaying further information, but she wasn’t sure she was able to follow it all. “You have several options at this point. If you prefer to have an abortion, please see one of our consultants at Central Hospital to help your decision and to be informed properly about the consequences. If you prefer to have the child, then please see one of our administrators in the Student Administration Building, to find out about adoption or support conditions.”

Later, she broke the news to Kayah, who was as perplexed as she was. “I am just… What are you going to do now? You don’t know the father, so you have to deal with it yourself. What about school?”

“I should be able to take care of the baby, albeit with some difficulty. I will have to find a part-time job so that I can afford better daycare, but… If only I had someone from the family to support me…”

“Would they support you if you approached them now? How are new babies looked upon in your community?”

“As long as they become part of the One, they are welcome. They will never accept me back.”

There was silence for a while. Both of them considered the options and none were appealing.

Kayah turned to her. “I’ve seen an announcement for volunteers. Single parents or families with children.”

“Volunteers to do what?”

“You’ve heard about the newly planned settlements? They want to see how children are going to cope with the trip and settlement in the re-populated areas.”

“Settlements? Never thought that would be possible. We were taught in the community that anywhere outside the community and the government zone was uninhabitable after the droughts and the wars.”

“They are working hard to regain new areas and asking people to volunteer so that these can be gained back.”

Minat decided to go and talk to the administrators and went to the administration building that afternoon. It was a short meeting with the administrator explaining the benefits of joining a new settlement, also affirming that these settlements would follow the central government laws and no extremism would be permitted.

When she came out of the meeting, she thought, “I am already of The Many,”  against all the indoctrination she had throughout her childhood. “…and I am going to be different, not necessarily One. This child…”

Suddenly an indescribable feeling took over her mind and swept over her like a heat wave, then slowly dissipated.

“This girl,” she whispered inaudibly. “This girl will change my life and I will make her life very different from mine.”

Whether she imagined the next one or not she did not know, but she seemed to hear it in her bones. “Mother!” Could this even be possible? She could not say, but with everything that has happened in the last two years, she could not rule out anything.

She strolled out of the administration building, tall and proud, ready for a new world.