Short Story Anthology : 2012-2013 World Literature

was, fragile and pale. She hadn’t noticed me yet, and before she could, I turned to my escort and asked her who this woman was.

"Well, that’s your mother of course."

I turned around and just stood there, baffled. I slowly crept towards her. She looked up and immediately had her arms wrapped around me. I was so much taller than her now; she had to tilt her head straight up to see my face. She started talking so fast and with too many jumbled words, I couldn’t understand her, but this is what I got out of it, "Oh my you've gotten tall haven’t you? How's your sister? I still can't believe that you're finally in here with me! Now we can build a new earth together!”

Uh, what? Did she just say what I think she did? Astounded, I asked her, "But what about escaping? You don’t believe any of this “end of the world” conspiracy do you?"

"Of course I believe! I was a little skeptical when your father told me about this place, but now that I've experienced it myself I know it must be true! Oh yes, that’s right, you don’t know what your father looks like so you wouldn’t have been able to recognize him. That big, intimidating man that you sat next to at the meeting? That’s your father!"

Whoa. Talk about a major loss of respect. I mean, I never had much for him before considering I was told he left us without any warning, but I guess that’s just a big lie now. How could my father bring all this upon me and my family? Years of mourning and wondering where my mother was, and thinking she might not even be alive, all because of a stupid conspiracy plot. I knew I had to get out of here, with or without my mother. I couldn’t try to convince my mother to come home with me because then she might tell someone of my plan to escape. No. She had made her decision, and I couldn’t try to convince her otherwise. There must be a way out of this place. I just needed to get far enough away that I could find out where I was and make my way home and to my sister, who is not crazy.

The next three months passed about as slow as you could imagine they would, spending all of your time with a mother you now know is completely crazy. I tried 268