Word Count: 454
Warnings: N/A
Created for the Tropetember Event - Gaia's Lament
There was something in the air that made me reminisce about when things were normal. Though I knew, oh how I knew, how things were definitely not as they once were as I stared at the military guards guarding the streets.
The year was 2030. When the Military found otherworldly lifeforms living among us, they decided to take force. It was something we all had seen coming - especially with all the UFO sightings that had been happening, but this… even the President could say this was a bit drastic. Though we didn’t even have a President anymore. We were run by an eccentric Government hell-bent on keeping us in line. Not wanting us to find out more than what we already have.
We were constantly watched. Day and night. We had a curfew and couldn’t be out past eleven. If we were caught we got arrested, and interrogated for hours. Mostly why we were out, and asking what we knew. What can I say? I was a teen once, and this all happened when I had just graduated high school.
I’d been seventeen when this all started. Couldn’t even go to college, like I was going to. Now kids have it a little easier, growing up with our new normal, but it was a pain in the ass for adults who still didn’t know what the hell they were even doing with their lives.
“Amber!” A familiar voice called out, making me pause in my cooking. I turned around, smiling when I saw Lakely and Maurice walking over to me with big grins on their faces. These two were my younger brothers. Along with my mother, we lived in this run-down house that really wasn’t big enough for the four of us. Yet we made it work.
“That smells super good!” Maurice piped up, a little bit of drool was on his face. I cringed, though warmth spread through my body. Eating a good meal was rare, and I always made extra so we would have leftovers the next day. You had to make sure that every ounce of food counted, who knows when the next day we’d be able to go out and get groceries.
“It’s almost done,” I told them with a small smile. “Go tell mom so that she’ll stop overworking herself.” Mom had a work-from-home type of job to help with finances. The government took over half of what she made, but it still helped us in the long run in order to get what we needed.
With a happy yip the two boys ran down the hall, screaming for mom. I sighed, glancing back at the almost finished soup sadly. Missing when we could just be a normal family.