The Real Light
A cold breeze passed Genovese, her hands were stuffed in her pockets as she waited for her friend Donatello. They decided a few weeks ago that they would finally leave. Finally see what was passed the forbidden doors.
Genovese looked around to see if anyone was coming, her heart was about to jump out of her chest. She had no idea what to expect past the doors above her. It all began a year ago, the queen of the underground kingdom of Taron had her second child. The king had set a specific date that the commoners could come into the castle and see the baby, even all the guards were called to come. Once Donatello and Genovese heard that the date was set, they made sure they would have everything prepared to leave.
Genovese had asked two of her other closest friends to come along with her, but they declined the offer. They said that they didn’t want to risk being killed by the guards.
Her friend Sumi had said, “Yeah, like the king and queen will actually tell all the guards to come. I bet you that they will tell some of them to stay at the doors just to make sure no one has any ideas about leaving.”
But that was the thing, television, newspapers, internet… No one knew or had any ideas why the king and queen didn’t want anyone to leave. No one dared make any rumors for the fear that they would be sent to prison. Genovese’s idea was that it had something to do with the outside world, but how bad could it be? Living underground, cold winds coming from huge air conditioners, food that barely had any flavor. It was torture to her, she wanted to know what it was like beyond the dirt ceilings, to see what types plants would be above her if any, to see who or what would be up there. That was when she decided she would finally leave. Even if it risked her life, she was determined to see what was on the “outside.”
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Donatello dropped one of his back packs on his bed. He decided to carry only a few pairs of clothes and some nonperishable food to keep the load light. He looked around his room to soak it all in, just in case he didn’t come back.
“Oh Donny! Would you please hurry up, I don’t want to miss a once in a life time shot at going inside the castle!” called his sister anxiously.
Stuffing a couple more bottles of water into his backpack, Donatello wondered what he and Genovese would actually see past the doors. “Go on without me! I’ll be there in a few minutes, I want to look good when I greet their majesties.”
The passageway that led to the main road was filling up with people. The guards kept people in line, but every once and awhile things would start to get unruly. Guards and officers carried truncheons with them, striking anyone who didn’t stay in line. One bye one, Donatello watched his family leave the house and merge with the crowd.
Maybe I shouldn’t go… I’ll just tell Genovese that I changed my mind.
But then the thought of how Genovese would react made him decide not to bail out. She would explode if she found out that Donatello wanted to back out at the last minute. Now the only thing he could do was lay on his bed and wait till the main passageway cleared. It would be awhile, but he could be patient.
When Donatello was about to close his eyes and go to sleep to wait out the crowd, a thought came to mind. “The doors will be locked!” Donatello jumped off of his bed and ran to his father’s study. If he was right, then the answer to his problem would be solved. But if he wasn’t… Genovese would have to get out of there, and fast.
