My Father’s Daughter

to be the product

of both nature and nurture

blended together

Choosing Week (pt 4)

(Please read part 1, part 2 and part 3 first!)

The voting took place through secret ballot, but the pre-vote discussion was a very public affair. Each pair of siblings sat side-by-side in a line of children arranged at the front of the room. Each set of parents received a five minute period to present anything they deemed relevant. Many chose not to use their time, though, willing to allow the townspeople to make the decision without their input.

Choosing Week (pt 3)

(Previous parts of Choosing Week can be found here and here.)

Simple, really, the plan consisted of Eli setting his little brother up to be in trouble as often as possible whenever they went out into the neighborhood. The older boys had explained that, while the parental votes were heavily weighted, they only had partial say in the outcome of a Choosing. The townspeople also had a say. Eli set about making sure that his younger brother made as many enemies as possible while he made as man allies as he could.

Choosing Week (pt 2)

(part 1 of Choosing Week can be found here.)

Jonah moaned again in his sleep, jolting Eli back to the present. Eli rose from his own bed and stood over his little brother. Jonah, born only a few months after the last Choosing, was nearly four years old, much older than Alice or Noah had been. The heat of the room and the internal effort of whatever dream Jonah was experiencing had plastered his hair to his temples. Eli gazed down at his flushed cheeks and worried.

This time would be much harder than the last.

Choosing Week (pt 1)

The time of the Choosing had arrived.

Eli woke with fear numbing his limbs. Eli could hear Jonah breathing heavily in the dark.

Jonah was too young to understand the significance of the day. He didn’t know that only one of them would attend the celebration after the vote. He knew only that the town was covered with streamers and floral arrangements and that his big brother had been exceptionally nice to him recently.

Justice Sleeps

(TW: implied sexual violence)

The gavel bangs twice and the finality of it echoes across the courtroom. Everyone present—lawyers, jury, observers, even the stenographer—sits silent, stunned into a kind of paralysis. Then the courtroom erupts into noise.

Feather on the Wind

A blinding light fades and reshapes itself into blue sky and white clouds as you blink. The crowns of trees, cool and green, appear around the edges of your vision. It must be windy—the leaves shiver and dance—but you hear nothing. It is absolutely silent.