New World

The summer nights had been outstanding. Clear skies, not a single cloud as the shimmering stars peer down upon the warm earth. I went out for a nightly walk, but this time it drew me further and further off the beaten trail.

My life was chaotic and I couldn't find peace. I loved my kids but I felt so alone even with them surrounding me. My husband and I, well that relationship has been dead for so long. I couldn't breathe, I couldn't think straight. I just needed to relax.

A light in the woods caught my attention. A girl came stumbling out and run past me. I watched in confusion as she ran by me. I went into the spot where she had emerged from and peered through the dense foliage.

There was a bright beam of light, and I felt drawn to it. Step after step I moved towards it, seemingly caught in a trance. I thought of my girls, of those that loved me and wondered why I couldn't stop.

Then I was emerged in that light. Warmth embraced me as I closed my eyes. My body tingled, and I took a deep breath enjoying the calmness that she had experienced. Then some discord entered my tranquility.

I opened my eyes and the warmth was gone, and I was in a large room. A older female is yelling at someone.

"I told you not to bring her. She has a family. She has one she is responsible to there. It's going to be another 150 years before the conditions are right to send her back!" her voice faded but I could still hear her tone, and she was pissed.

Another female, grabbed me by my wrist and lead me from the room and into some showers. Shyly I removed my clothes and stepped beneath the steaming hot water. Washing quickly I was dried and lead naked to another room. I was too aware of my tattoo on my thigh, the kef I had placed there years ago.

I has handed some skimp clothes and lead to another girl where I stepped on a scale. The girl that had helped me shower stood beside me. I heard the older woman yell in anger again, the distance mumbling her words. The younger girl leaned over to my ear and whispered to me.

"She's mad because she was looking forward to branding you. But you are already marked." Her hand lightly touching the tattooed kef. I couldn't really talk then. I knew that this just had to be a dream.

The girl weighing me went down a checklist. She frowned as I was weighed, measured and documented.

"Earthen cow... next!" rage boiled inside me as she called me fat. But at this point I didn't care. Maybe she to was jealous, jealous that I would not feel the heat of the brand as all the others had. This can't be real. This has to be a dream.

I get cloth thrown at me as I walk past a large room full of men. Each of them has a small sheet of paper and I can feel their eyes upon me.

"The hunt will begin shortly..." I hear one say. My mind turns it over and over. Hunt. Who are they hunting? Us? I could see other girls in front of me and they turn left around the bend, the one guiding them turning right.

We all dress quietly, the other girls babbling on about how much they enjoy the hunt. How they hope a certain one would be chasing them down this time. like a bunch of high school girls chattering away about the boys in a locker room. Except this time, it's a bunch of half naked women.

I don the square patches of material about my waits, the pieces tying on the side. A simple top loosely slid over me as I begin to shift nervously.

"Those of you that wish to further prepare follow me... other wise the hunt has begun."

I slip from the group and out an exit. I wanted to get as much space between me and those men that I could. If I could only get into some woods, then I could slip free of their grasp and determine what the hell was going on.

None seemed to notice that I was gone. I followed a trail that seemingly lead to the woods just beyond the walls. Clearing the entrance to the city the man standing there gave me a grin and nodded his head at me. I was sure he would have stopped me.

The sun began to set as I drew closer and closer to the woods. But then I heard barely audible footfalls behind me. I turn around and see this massive figure of a man jogging behind me.

"What are you doing?" I call back to him.

"Following my prey, sweetheart."

My heart leapt in my chest. This man was... wow. He was built like a body builder, his dark hair tied neatly behind Him, piercing blue eyes... I bit my lip and continued to head away from the city.

"Go follow another, prettier girl." I called back to him. He didn't answer. He simply kept pace.

"I thought we were given head starts."

"Then you would have thought wrong." His chuckle completely disarming.

I came to an abrupt halt a few yards from the woods. Something rustling ominously in the shadows. He had stopped and watched me, but I was stricken in terror. If this was not a dream then...oh shit.

I turned and ran towards the man that had kept pace with me flinging myself into his arms. My whole body shaking with terror and a sudden understanding, I buried my face in his chest and just cried.

I cried that I was 'fatter' then the other girls, I cried that I no longer had my girls, I cried at the unseen terrors lurking.... I just cried. I cried for all that I lost and was unsure would gain again.

He lifted me from my feet and held me to his chest, his soft soothing voice whispering to me. I barely remember the return trip. He sat down at a large table with a single girl there, paperwork to be filled out. He kept me in his lap as my tears slowly subsided.

I cringed as he signed his name to the papers and a knife was sliced across his forearm, drops of blood landing beside his signature. With that done he carried me from my arrival point into the new and unknown world I had stepped into.