Content Warning: Includes references to abuse and sexual assault

      I’ve always been a good listener. As a kid, the teachers always raved to my parents about how I was an amazing student. I did my work, I kept quiet, I helped others, and most importantly, I listened. At home I was praised for listening to instructions and doing what I was asked. 

     “Do the dishes.”
    “Sweep the floor.”
    “Stay quiet.”
    “Go in your room.”
    “Lock your door.”
    “Put on your music.”
    “And close your eyes.”

     I will never forget growing up in a closed room with my music on full blast to block out the noises coming from outside my door. It was a constant stream of yelling, crying, the thump of things being thrown. Sometimes on the bad nights there would be the sound of slaps thrown into the mix. I don’t remember exactly when the loud stopped and the silence took its place. The house was empty and quiet. Mom seemed to think it was better that way, although she wasn’t around much to experience it. 

     The night IT happened was deadly silent. 3:00 in the morning. I was asleep, but I woke up when I heard my door open. I didn’t open my eyes or move because I thought maybe I had just imagined it. Then I felt it. A hand on my back, slowly moving farther down. I jumped up. Yelled at him and asked what he was doing. He seemed surprised that I had woken up, and quickly made an excuse. He said he just wanted to talk to me. I had told him to get out and after an hour of back and forth, he finally left. I went back to sleep and convinced myself I had just imagined it. 

     I awoke immediately after hearing my bedroom door open again. However, I did not lay still this time because I knew what was coming. I got up and looked at the clock. 5:30. He came to my bed, sat down, and touched me. I yelled again but he told me to be quiet. And after all, mama did raise me to be a good listener. After a while, I built up the courage to push him off of me and scream. He jumped up and left my room. 

     When I woke up again later that morning, I saw him asleep on the couch and my mom in the kitchen, doing dishes. I thought maybe I had imagined it all because surely if it had happened, my mom would have stopped it, and he would not have been able to sleep soundly. However, I knew the truth. It had truly happened. And I was the only one bothered by it. 

     To this day, I still wonder if the memory of that night plagues his mind as it plagues mine. If he even remembers what happened. If he was too drunk to know what he had done. I will never forget that night, and I do not know how long it will take for me to heal. However, I do know that I am no longer a good listener. And I never intend on being one again.

Beneath the sky’s sparkly curtain, I sigh,
Stars shimmer, telling tales as time slips by.
Each one’s a mystery, known by space,
Galaxies swirl, and a cosmic dance takes place.
Gazing up, lost in the night’s grand maze, It’s like the universe understands my teenage phase.

     The sound of the screeching wheels against the train tracks snapped Haven out of the daze she had been in. The train runs constantly along the same tracks due to the advanced technology that Eggo acquired from neighboring continents. Even when the whole country shut down due to the dangerous disease, Vicenarian Cerebral Hypoxia (V.C.H), that broke out across the country the train continued to run, uniting the country. She and Dax had been trying to get on the train for two whole years now and were close to gaining the full amount they needed to get train tickets. They needed to save up money to bribe their way onto the train to find Haven’s younger brother Atlas. Atlas was 13 years old but had been separated from Haven and Dax for two years, ever since the government took a limited number of kids to District Three, in hopes of saving the children from the chaos of District One.  

     Since then, the government has been dwindling because of V.C.H. This virus causes anyone over 25 to fall into a coma. Dax, Haven, and Atlas used to live in District one with the rest of their families but V.C.H. put Haven's parents in a coma along with Dax’s current foster family. The disease spread quickly and rapidly throughout District one, which consisted of an enormous city with towering skyscrapers and millions of people. District two was a big desert that had searing heat and dangerous creatures roaming the land, and just like the name implied, remained deserted for hundreds of years. District three was full of evergreen forests that created an ideal place for people to live when they were escaping the crowded city of District One. As V.C.H. started spreading rapidly into homes, companies shut down because there were no adults left to work, and with little money circulating as people tried to quarantine themselves, others were forced to move into District Two, because they could not afford their houses. Sadly, the limited space on the trains taking children to District Three caused Haven and Atlas to get split up during the chaos on the train platform. It was hard for Haven to believe that it had been so long since she saw her younger brother.  

     Haven saw Dax trying to say something, but over the roar of the train she heard nothing. Moments later the train came to a stop and Haven looked over at Dax, whose curly black hair and mahogany brown eyes had a way of making him seem protective and friendly at the same time. His smile was beaming, and his dimples were showing as he told Haven the good news of how they finally had enough money to get a seat on the train. Haven's heart exploded with relief because this meant they could start the journey to find Atlas the following morning. Dax and Haven embraced in pure happiness for the fact that they had stayed together, even though there were some setbacks. Now they were going to head back to find the last member of their makeshift family that V.C.H. had forced them to make.  

     Haven awoke the next morning and started to untangle her long black hair as she walked across the room to her cracked mirror that was leaning up against the dusty floor. She saw in the mirror's reflection her slight muscular build, eyes as green as emeralds staring back at her, and her dull clothing. Haven walked out into the cool morning air and took a breath of the evergreen trees and took off to the train station with Dax. She was extremely giddy to get on the train but was also anxious because the hardest part to get to Atlas would be the first. To get on the train Haven and Dax would have to bribe the government officials guarding the train to let them on. The government had secluded District Three to mostly just children, in hopes of avoiding the disease altogether. They patrolled the trains' loading platform because they knew that no one could come into District Three from the other Districts, and risk them carrying the disease into the safe zone. But on the other hand, the government did not want any of the kids to travel back into the city because it was in shambles and had been taken over by dangerous gangs. Haven and Dax had been scoping out the potential officers, and picked Officer Thomas, who they knew needed money. They settled on the price of $4,000 per ticket. Thomas took the stowaways on the train, at last Dax and Haven were off to find Atlas.  

     After finally having enough money and getting past the government officials Haven and Dax start their journey to District One. Haven could finally breathe comfortably knowing that she and Dax are on their way to save Atlas. Haven could hear the soft thudding of the train moving across the desert railways. She could also hear the soft crying of other passengers that were not able to get to the safety of District Three. She could understand their distress because she too would be in extreme sadness if they had traveled that far to be safe, just to be shunned because they would be deemed unsafe, and disease filled.  

     Haven could feel Dax’s anxiety of having to think of a plan to find Atlas but also his excitement to see the desert, as he has not seen it since they moved to the safety zone of District Three. Although her emotions were different, she was filled with determination, she was ready to go and save her brother and bring him home to where it was safe. Haven then thought about the future where she and her brother Atlas would finally be reunited and pondered if he would be shocked and or happy that he was going to be in district three. Thinking back to the day they were separated, Haven felt deep resentment towards the government officials who abandoned their posts and took the places of the children who needed them. And instead cared not for them but for their own selfishness of wanting to be safe.  

     As their journey on the train carried on, Haven and Dax continued reminiscing and thinking about what the future had in store for them when they arrived in District One. They slowly felt the train come to a stop. Confused, they began to look around at the other passengers, Haven began to be on guard because they noticed that the other passengers were also looking around in confusion. Soon the people around them began to become hysterical, children were crying and screaming while the “adults” were trying to keep them calm but were slowly starting to panic as well. Dax then looked out the window to see what was going on but could only see giant sand tornados.  

     He then quickly nudged Haven to look out the window, feeling the nudge she turned, and she too started to look out the window but as she looked, she noticed that there was something inside the sand tornadoes. Then a loud siren, as loud as lions, started to sound from the train, red lights started to sound, and a woman's robotic monotone voice saying “danger, please do not exit, danger, the Andaanus have infiltrated the designated area.” The panic in the train increased tenfold. Although confused, Haven told Dax to be on guard and to ask around if anyone knew what was happening and what an Andaanu was.  

     After finally getting an answer from a sane passenger they found out that the train had stopped because the “sand tornados'' out the window were animals native to District Two called “Andaanu.” Suddenly a giant black hook-like tail came through one of the windows, startling the passengers. Then the big tail took one of the passengers and they disappeared through the window screaming. The train started shaking back and forth scaring many of the passengers including Dax and Haven. The door of the train ripped open, causing extreme winds and sand to enter, blinding everyone.  

Deciding to take matters into their own hands, Dax and Haven run out into the sand tornados to see if they can get the attention of the Andaanus. Dax begins to clap his hands and stamp his feet trying to get the attention of the giant scorpions. He caught the attention of two of them. They begin to quickly crawl towards him ready to sting, stab and slash at Dax. Knowing that they would continue to follow him, he ran further away from the train. Haven noticed that there were only two scorpions following Dax and began looking for the last one. She found the last Andaanu was going towards the food crates that were being transported.  She was finally able to get the attention of it after chucking her shoe at it. After throwing her shoe she began to run the way that Dax went. They were able to permanently chase off the Andaanus after Haven took out a box of matches, set the box on fire, and threw it at them, scaring them off. Once they got back to the train, it was already repaired and ready to get back on the railways. All passengers were unharmed (except for the one taken previously) and the journey to District One to find Atlas continued.  

     After they got into the city where Atlas was, they finished the search. They got off the train at their stop and took off on foot. They had lost communication with Atlas, so they had a lot to search through to find him. The city had become an unfamiliar place to them, so they had to wander along to find their old home Atlas had been staying in. They walked into a building that they recalled being familiar with and were hoping they could find a clue to Atlas. The building was an old restaurant that used to be gorgeous with lovely marble tiles, natural wood tables and chairs, beautiful chandelier lights, and many windows to the outside. It was now dilapidated and unused, its floor had cracks, the tables, chairs, and chandeliers covered in cobwebs and dust, the walls crawling with cockroaches, and the windows dusty and hard to see through.  

     They quickly realized that they were close to home and should move on to find Atlas, who must be nearby, but suddenly a person stepped out of the shadows. He had a low deep voice like a forester, he asked “What are you doing in here? I own this and no one is permitted to enter anymore.” He slowly approached them, and they tried to see who it was when suddenly he pulled out something and they were unaware what it was. As he got closer, they finally saw he had a knife in one hand and a bottle in the other and suddenly, he charged them. As they dodged and ran from him, he kept swinging to scare them and then out came a scream of pain. Dax had been stabbed; it felt to him as if someone were tearing his skin apart and stabbing into it as his flesh started to peel back. The blood ran and Haven instantly came to his side. The man suddenly stopped attacking them and then there was a thud. Confused, Haven turned to look at the man who had collapsed and become unconscious.  

     Haven wrapped up Dax and they hobbled off to find their old home. After a while they finally approached the house, they used to call home, this ended up being the one place in the city that still looked the same to them. It was still the lovely royal blue home with the windows and the white door, the small green grassed front yard, and a small sidewalk up to the door. They took a deep breath and walked onto the front porch. They went to knock on the door when they realized it was already open, so they cautiously walked through. As they walked in, they said loudly “Atlas are you here?” No answer, so they say again “Atlas are you here?” with more worry. They then heard a distant voice say, “Who are you” so they responded, “It’s Haven and Dax” and a strange boy came around the corner. The boy exclaims “It is you!” It was Atlas, they had finally found Haven's brother after years without him. They all hugged and smiled from ear to ear filled with joy of finally seeing each other again.