Marroha
Yinning Shao | Camberwell High School |
7/8 English | Term 2, 2024
Thunder and lightning rolled across the sky, rumbling through the ground. The trees hung onto their roots, thrashing in the reckless wind, tearing off flimsy branches and leaves. Dirt and grit swirled in the air, making the dark night hazier. A branch hit a sign, leaving a dent before flying off behind it. Alarms blared everywhere, flashing red, before they powered out and there was only the howl of wind and thunder. Water pelted down, and a man cursed in the distance, trying to start his engine.
Theta was in the car of the man, and she had laid there, terrified, strapped firmly in her seat, her little sister Tansy crying, wailing, almost drowning out the sounds of the wind. She patted her sister’s shoulder, trying to comfort her, but it made no use. A branch approached the window at terrifying speed and hit the car with a thud. Theta ducked, as the glass cracked, spiderwebs creeping across the window, but still held firm.
“Fawke, get in the car!” Her mother yelled, and Theta shivered. Her mother never yelled, only in times of distress and danger. Theta’s father cursed again, and opened the car door, before slamming it with a bang. A gust of wind chilled her to the bone, and her teeth chattered. She pulled the blanket closer to her chin and readjusted Tansy’s blanket, before wiping away her sister’s tears.
“Sena, can you pass me the oiler?” Theta’s father yelled, his voice cracking. Her mother dug through a bag and handed him a dark object. The engine roared to life, and warm wind blasted through the heater, making Theta feel a little better.
“Dad, when are we getting there?” Tansy whimpered, her eyes glassy.
“We’ll be there soon, if the storm doesn’t get worse.” He replied, eyes darting to the rear-view mirror. “Theta, can you see anything past around 5 metres?”
Theta looked out the window, but all she could see were dust and faint silhouettes of trees.
“No Dad, I can barely see anything.”
“Right.” He grumbled, and muttered something under his breath. Her mother glared at him, staring daggers.
“Looks like we’ll be at Marroha in 20 minutes.”
Theta closed her eyes, wishing she could be out of the wasteland already and in her new home.
“Wake up!” A voice rang into Theta’s ear. She opened her eyes, only to be greeted with blinding white light. Immediately, she squeezed her eyes shut, eyes aching.
“Theta, open your eyes!” Tansy yelled, and then shook her sister by her shoulders. Theta yawned, eyes opening, slowly adjusting to the bright surroundings. She was in a clean, white bed, and she wasn’t wearing the dirty clothes from her old home. No, she was wearing clean white pyjamas and she was clean. There was no layer of dirt on her skin, and she felt…serene, relaxed, something less…chaotic.
“Tansy, are we in Marroha?” She looked around, taking note of the closet and bedside drawers and lamps, and the smooth wooden floorboards.
“Yes, we are, and Mum and Dad are in their own rooms. I got my own room too!” Her eyes shone with excitement and she pointed at the wall. Theta recognised the round object, with ticking lines and numbers.
“Is that a clock?”
“Yes, it is! Now, come on, I want to show you my room!”
“Wait, what time is it?”
“The shorter hand shows the hour and the longer one is the minutes. For the longer ones, 1 is 5 minutes, 2 is 10 minutes, and so on. Figure it out yourself.”
Theta paused, counting the numbers.
“It’s nine-thirty?”
Tansy nodded, her black hair bouncing on her shoulders. “Your clothes are in the closet and your clothes for today are on the foot of the bed. I’ll be in the kitchen. You can explore yourself!”
“I don’t get to choose what I wear?”
“That’s just one of the rules of Marroha. It’s not a big deal, hurry up!”
Theta got dressed and brushed her teeth. She was numb, still, from how different Marroha, her new home, was from Saranya. There were so many more resources and so much more order. Everyone was happy, and everyone was satisfied.
But, as the days dragged on, she was doubtful.
“Why can’t we choose for ourselves?” She asked a teacher at the school. “Why can’t we pick anything we wear, our hair, our house, our job?”
“Hush, child.” Her teacher had told her. “At Marroha, the government just helps you choose. It’s better for you, and easier too, for decisions to be made for you. It takes stress off of your shoulders.”
Still, she was doubtful.
“Why can’t we ride bikes on the streets?” She asked her parents. They had begun to become consumed in the world of Marroha too. They never seemed to be sad, upset, or even concerned, not like before. They too wore only the white clothes provided by the government. “Why can’t we run?”
“Because that would mean that there would be more accidents and hurt people.” Her mother had explained gently, while making food.
“But if everyone got proper training – ”
“Hush, child, and eat your dinner.”
But, still, she was doubtful.
The days were tiresome. Where people found peace and order, Theta found flaws. How could there be flaws in a perfect world? People asked, when she asked. There is nothing we can control, she explained. They’d shrug and say it wasn’t a big deal, and walk away, to their own affairs.
Theta was restless. Everything was decided for her. Why couldn’t she do that, choose that, eat that, dress like that, do anything?
When she turned 18, she woke up, her mouth throbbing. She opened her mouth and tried to say something. Not a sound came out. Alarmed, she got up. What was going on?
She spotted a note by her bedside table and opened it. Her eyes scanned over the words, and she re-read it, again and again.
No. It wasn’t real. No. No, this is just a dream. She repeated those words over and over, but still, the truth was inescapable.
“You asked too much, so learn to shut your mouth.”
Yinning Shao | Camberwell High School
