by Rachel Burns
“No, it doesn’t. You are here because you reminded me of someone. If you weren’t so smart, I would have made a fool out of myself.”
“You think that I’m smart?” I asked him.
“Yes, I do. You paid attention and knew all the answers to the questions after we visited the bridge. No one has ever been able to answer all the questions correctly. You’re a gifted pilot too. I could see you thinking after I spoke to you in the orphanage line up.”
“No, you didn’t.” Tears were welling up in my eyes as I thought about it. “You told me to bring Kyle his candy, but you didn’t speak to me. You spoke to everyone but me. That really hurt my feelings.”
He thought about what I said, and then he nodded. “I understand. But you have a home now. You need to work very hard to prove to the others that you belong here. These are the elites among the orphans. You’ll have to fight for your place among them.”
“What if I’m not good enough?” I asked him.
“Then you’ll work harder until you are. I run a tight ship. Do you know what happens to orphans when they turned sixteen?”
“I think so. I’ve heard that they get sent to the military. I’ve also heard that they get killed. What I believe is that, the boys are sent to the military, and the girls are killed.”
“I wish that were the case. It would give the boys a useful purpose, but that isn’t the case.”
“So the other thing I heard is right, isn’t it?” I asked.
“What was that?” he asked in a soft voice.
“That they get killed, all of them.”
“I’m afraid so. I think I’ll make a few calls. Your idea with the military is better. Perhaps it could save so many from a needless death. Thankfully, the orphanages aren’t as full as what they were in the past twelve years. Get some rest, Sophia. Tomorrow you are going to learn how to read.”
“Will I be able to read a book soon?” I asked him, completely excited at the thought of that.
“Yes, but you have to work hard. The others will be shocked to hear that you can’t read yet. Don’t give them a reason to pick on you, or me a reason to spank you. I won’t tolerate laziness.”
“I won’t be lazy, Daddy.” I promised him.
He went to the door and was about to leave. “You didn’t answer why you chose me.”
He nodded at me. “You have a certain look in your eye that reminded me of someone when you said ’that bridge was burnt.’ It was something that she would have said too. You got very lucky that I was a bit nostalgic that day. Don’t make me regret it.”
“I won’t, Daddy.” I promised. He left, closing the door behind him. I wasn’t here because my daddy loved and wanted me. I was here because of what I had said. It was an odd reason to adopt a child, but it had been to my advantage. I would do what Daddy said and do my best. No one would ever have to know that I had been a baby hatch orphan.
I closed my eyes and thought about the statue in the garden of the woman surrounded by pink roses. I would pretend that she was my mother. She appeared to be so loving. She wanted me to succeed. I would do it for her.
Chapter 8
I spend most of my hours alone with a teacher. I was learning about letters and numbers. It fascinated me to mixed them and put them back together so they made sense. Daddy was very pleased with me. He decided that I should also learn an instrument. He picked out the flute for me.
Daddy also had a very strict exercise program for me. I wasn’t as good at that. Jenny was teaching me self-defense. She was able to think up new tortures for that all the time. Today, she had Kyle fencing against me. I lost to him so quickly that it caught Daddy’s attention.
When I saw him marching across the lawn towards me, I knew that it was going to happen: my first spanking.
He took hold of me and stripped the lower half of my body out of my fencing uniform and spanked me so hard, accusing me of not giving my best.
It hurt so badly that I reached out towards the statue of the woman, wanting her to come and save me.
Daddy forced me to redress afterwards and to try again. Blinded with tears from my spanking and the fresh tears caused by my fear, I lost.
Daddy removed his belt then. I was so scared that I froze. “You get this.” Daddy held up his belt. “In front of everyone if you don’t make at least one point.” Daddy put on fencing gear and picked up a sword. He charged at me with the sword, and I jumped back. That happened several times until Jenny was giving Daddy points because I ran.
“Come on, Sophia. You only need one point.” Jenny encouraged me.
“You can do it, Sophia,” Kyle called out, clapping his hands.
I tried to attack Daddy, because he really wasn’t my favorite person at that moment, but he was too good for me, moving with ease away from my sad attempts to make a point. I was mad at him. I tried harder and harder, but the harder I tried the clumsier I got.
Daddy won. He gave me a look of triumph as he told everyone to gather around. He instructed me to undress my lower body and waited for me to do it.
I was too scared to do anything except maybe pee in my pants.
My siblings called out to me, advising me to listen to Daddy. I was too shocked that this was happening. I had been doing my best to be the perfect daughter since I got here.
Daddy took hold of me by my chin and tilted my head back so I had to look at him. “Obey me.”
I nodded at him. He released my chin, and I hurried to undress. With shaking hands, I obeyed him.
With his left hand, he grabbed onto my right hand and twisted it behind my back. He walked me over to a bench. There he lifted his foot up to the bench and placed me over his knee. His hand moved around me and grabbed onto my wrist, pinning it against my back.
The belt snapped against the top of my thighs, causing me to scream out. “Our Sophia here believes that some people have talents in one area but none in others.” The belt snapped across my thighs again. “Tell her how I feel about that.”
It was quiet for a moment. I couldn’t see my siblings in this position, but they sure could see me.
“Yes, Shane,” Daddy called on him like a teacher would when we were together to learn something.
“With practice, everyone can get better at anything,” Shane stated.
“That’s right. It was a lesson that took Shane a while to learn too. But he finally has. You give everything.” Snap. “Your best.” Snap. “Be it in the classroom or on the practicing field.” Snap. “Did I make myself clear?” Snap. My bottom exploded with pain after each snap of the belt.
“Yes, Daddy. I promise I’ll try harder.”
“You better.” Snap, snap, snap. I was bawling by the time Daddy finished. “Get dressed, and do it right this time.” Daddy walked away replacing his belt. He turned back to me. “And don’t think that a spanking is an excuse to quit. She practices half an hour longer. You got that, Jenny?”
“Yes, Daddy,” Jenny responded promptly. “You heard him, Sophia. Get your red bottom covered up and get back to work,” Jenny barked at me.
I fought with Kyle as best I could. I was so sore that I could hardly move. Still, I forced myself to do what was expected from me. When it was time to quit, Daddy was back. “Fight me, Sophia.”
I lifted up my sword and stared at him. This man wanted an army, trained from childhood on to be the best and the strongest. That was all I was to him, nothing more. I wouldn’t allow him to spank me again if I could avoid it. I tried as hard as I could to get a point, but we were so completely mismatched that I didn’t have a chance.
“Let’s call it quits for today. Help your sister clean up. Afterwards, I want to see you in my office. Be there before dinner,” he announced, turning away from me.
I peeked at Jenny. She gave me a look of pity. “I can’t beat Daddy either,” she told me in a whisper.
“Does he spank you when you lose?” I asked her, curious how this would all play out.
“It depends on why I lost,” sh
e replied.
That wasn’t much help. I went inside and cleaned up before I went to Daddy’s office. I knocked on the door and waited.
“Come in, Sophia.”
I went in and closed the door behind me as I had seen my older siblings do before. If he were going to spank me again, I didn’t want anyone to know about it.
I stood directly in front of the door I had just closed, not wanting to get closer to Daddy than need be. My first spanking had shocked me. It wasn’t what I had expected, but I couldn’t worry about that right now. I needed to be alert.
“Come here, Sophia.” He pointed at the floor next to his chair all the way around his desk.
Slowly, I stepped forward and went to him. Tears were starting to build in my eyes. I wasn’t tough enough for this lifestyle.
When I was close enough, Daddy reached out and picked me up and placed me on his lap. “Your first spanking. You survived it,” he said, guiding my head to his chest. “Let me guess, you hate me right now.”
“I don’t hate you, Daddy.” After a moment, I added, “But I am afraid of you.” I listened to his heart beating. It was very calming.
“You don’t have to be afraid of me. I think I made my point. I watched you at the end. You were good. You only needed a little incentive to fight.”
“What if there never is a war and all this was for nothing?” I asked him.
“Then I will never have to worry about you. I know that I did everything that I could to keep my baby safe.”
Baby? I wasn’t a baby. He was making it sound as if he cared about me, which he didn’t. We were his children soldiers. Ready to take on the world with our sharp minds and strong muscles. I looked at my arm. I was growing and getting stronger, but that was because I was eating more than the minimum to survive.
“You don’t believe me, do you? I love all of my children as if they were my own. If my own had – Never mind. It is true. I love you enough to prepare you, and to teach you not to be suffocated with fear and self-doubts. They don’t exist. Don’t let them get in the way.”
“I’m not that far yet, Daddy.” I tried to explain to him in a way that wouldn’t make him mad.
“No one ever is. I’m trying to train you to rise above them as best as you humanly possibly can.” He kissed the top of my head. “Why did I have to have you? I’ll never understand what drove me to want you.”
“Do you regret it?” I asked him.
“No, you’re smart, and you’re progressing nicely. It was the right decision. We have no idea who your parents were, but they were probably amazing. After all, they made you.”
“But my mom didn’t want me,” I protested.
“I read your papers. It was a tough time on the planet you were found on. It had suddenly become illegal to sell children. Perhaps, your father was someone important. I assume he was. You are learning so quickly.”
“You think I’m smart?” I asked, my words dripping with disbelief.
“I know you are. Your reading skills are advancing with leaps and bounds, and you do well when asked questions. You remember what you are told.”
I was basking in his praise.
“Are we friends again?” he asked me.
“Yes, Daddy.”
“You will give your best when someone takes the time to teach you or train you?” he questioned me.
“I guess so, but I don’t want to feel like I’m in the military. I want to be a child and feel loved,” I confessed.
“You are loved, very loved. You are going to be a strong and loved child. What you practice now will make your life easier later. Now go on.” He gave me a kiss on the top of my head and set me down on the floor. He swatted my rear end to get me moving.
Chapter 9
I worked harder to please Daddy. I tried day and night to be the best I could be. With time, that got easier. But I still didn’t believe that there was danger lurking beyond the stars. The Aliens left us alone if we left them alone.
I knew that Kyle’s parents were killed by Aliens, but it also could have been an accident. I needed more facts, but I wasn’t living in an environment where I could find them. The propaganda in this house was too thick. Some days I felt as if I were choking on it.
Daddy demanded excellence constantly. None of us could be that in all areas, so we were all punished regularly. I hated it when he accused me of not trying hard enough. I was a child, one who was still trying to catch up to where I should be. I worked hard and tried to be friendly, but I could use a break.
Didn’t soldiers get time off too?
~
One day after lessons, I slipped out of the door and went for a walk. That was a form of exercise too. Daddy had new and younger children. I wasn’t interesting anymore.
I walked through our long orchard and beyond. I came upon a pond and sat down and watched the wind ripple over the water. I lifted my head up to the star and basked in its bright rays. I was glad to be alone for once.
I had to wonder how long it would take for someone to notice that I was gone. I got up and went in the direction of the hill. This planet didn’t have much water. It was imported here from elsewhere to make it livable. That was why it almost never rained on this planet. Water was precious, but here everyone had it. It was expensive to live here so only the rich could do it. I got up and decided that it was ridiculous that I’d never explored the planet I lived on.
I climbed the jagged rocks and surveyed the planet that was my home. I wasn’t supposed to be here. My soul belonged somewhere else. I sat down and wondered about my real parents. Had my father been someone important, and his wife hadn’t wanted to be bothered with having a baby so my father slept with a street girl. I supposed that it had become illegal to pay a woman to have a child after I was already conceived.
Would my real father ever show up one day and claim me? A blood test could prove that I was his. He would take me away from Daddy, and I would live with my real father and his wife, and they would love me and shower me with attention. I wouldn’t have to train for some stupid battle that would never happen.
I thought about that stupid movie that Daddy showed the new kids, the one with the woman who could talk to Aliens. I closed my eyes and dreamed that I could go to the Aliens like she did and talk to them. Then I would be able to tell Daddy that there was no danger. I would tell the world, and they would listen to me.
I moved my lips like the woman in the movie did. She smiled, and people listened to her. She was important. I wished that I could be important like that too.
The world was so peaceful where I was. I yawned and stretched. I was tired of my life and needed a nap. I looked down and spotted a path of soft green grass. I went down to it and lay down. No one would find me here. I would hide away for today. Tomorrow morning, I would go home in time for breakfast and see if anyone missed me.
I figured that they would at dinner this evening. But what did it matter, I would get punished one way or another. This way I was freed longer. If Daddy wouldn’t give me a break, I would take it.
I rolled to my side and wondered what kind of man Daddy would find for me to marry. I was the least pretty of all my sisters. Would he even find someone?
Would it be someone like Daddy who believed that war was imminent? I didn’t want to have a husband who wasted his life planning for something that would never happen.
~
“Little Miss Reeves, please wake up. Your father is looking for you, darling.” An older man called out to me.
My eyes shot open, and I peeked around. “Where am I?” I asked the man.
“You fell asleep. Are you hurt?” he asked me.
“Hurt? No, I’m fine.” I got up and rubbed the grass away from my clothes. I was still wearing my sports clothing, but it was morning. It was foggy. I shivered. I hadn’t realized how cold it got outside at night.
“Come with me, I’ll bring you back home.” The man smiled at me kindly.
I climbed down to the rock he was stan
ding on. We walked back to the house together.
“I suppose you didn’t get lost,” he asked me after we had walked for a while.
“No, I wanted to explore. I’m always too busy to explore.”
“Tell me what you discovered.” His eyes were light blue, and he had a spark of interest in them.
“I found a pond, and then I was at the top of the mountain.”
“I’m afraid that isn’t quite a mountain,” he told me with pretend sorrow.
“I know, but when you close your eyes and dream, it can be anything,” I told him.
“So you left to become a mountain climber,” he stated.
“And an explorer,” I added with a smile. The man reminded me of Daddy, when he took the time to talk to me.
“Of course. I’m afraid that your father is very upset. He was up all night looking for you.”
“When did he notice that I was gone?” I asked the man matter-of-factually, trying to pretend that I didn’t care one way or the other.
“Yesterday around two. He called me to help and join the search at four.”
“Did everyone on the planet get called to help?” I was scared now. Daddy was going to be livid with anger. I wouldn’t be able to sit for a month.
“Yes, but I came over from Galexit. That’s where your father grew up.”
“So you knew him from there?” I asked him.
“Yes, I’ve known him all of his life.”
“Do you think that the Alien War will begin again?”
“No, I don’t. But sometimes I wonder if it’s because I don’t care. I’ve lived my life. I’m waiting to die to see my wife and my grandchild.”
“Your wife has already passed on?”
He nodded at me. “She’s waiting for me, and it isn’t polite to make a lady wait.”
“Do I have to worry about you?” I asked me when we reached the pond.
He smiled at me. “No, you don’t, my dear child. My grandchild would be about your age.”
