In a world where overpopulation is a problem, teenagers from troubled homes, picked by the government, are regressed to infants and toddlers, physically and mentally. In this novel, you follow the story of Alice who is signed up for the programme, not by the government but by her parents. Alice feels confused and betrayed, but all turns around when a lovely couple adopts her.
View MoreI was in my room studying for my next exam when I heard multiple car doors being opened and closed. I didn't pay any mind to it as I thought it was the neighbors. I flipped to the next page of my history textbook. I already went over this two times, but I had to make sure I knew everything. I had to get an A on this, I had to.
As I was reading the text intensely I heard people entering our house. Voices were heard from the hallway. Had father and mother invited people over? That couldn't be. They never liked having people over to our house. They were quite introverted and there weren't many people who could meet up their standards to be considered by them as their friends.
If you weren't educated the way they were, you failed. If you could only focus on your own field of expertise, you failed. If you were too poor, you failed. If you were too rich, you failed. If you were too nice, you failed. Basically, you had to be exactly like them to pass their friendship test. Only one couple I could think of they were considered friends by my parents. It was my mother's colleague and her husband.
But if they were to come over I would always be notified in advance. So, who was downstairs visiting my parents? No Alice, you should focus on your schoolwork. I had to get an A. Therefore I didn't pay any attention to the noises, coming from downstairs.
I was going over the First World War when I heard my name being called from downstairs. I put my pen down and stood up, making my way to the living room. When I entered I saw multiple people stand in our living room. People who I didn't recognize. They were all men and were wearing black suits. The moment my presence was known all their heads went my way. It was my father who spoke up. "Alice sit." I came over to the couch and sat down.
Confusion was written on my face and I looked at my parents for an explanation, but all I got was their stone-cold faces I was grown used to. I think the last time I saw them smile at me was when I was six years old.
It was one of the men in a dark black suit who gave me the information I needed to know.
"So Alice right?" He asked me with a friendly face. I nodded my head and he continued, "My name is Mr. Carter, but you can call me Jim. You're probably wondering why I'm here. Well, I work for the government and I'm currently your caseworker." His friendly face never leaving his little talk.
"Caseworker? A case for what?" I asked with worry. Was I in some kind of trouble? Did I break the law without knowing? Did they know I had cheated this one time on a test when I was ten years old? More and more doom scenarios wondered in my head. I panicked.
Mr. Carter caught up on my behavior and tried to calm me down. "No need to worry. Caseworker sounds very serious, but it isn't as bad as it seems. I'm here to help you."
A feeling of relief went through my body as they weren't here because I did something wrong. But then questions filled my mind. "Help me? With what are you going to help me? Help me to get better grades?" I asked. I knew there were some institutions where you could go to get help with building a good resume for top universities, but most of the time that were private organizations with no connections to the government.
So maybe that was a stupid question and it was. The moment that question left my lips I heard an irritable sigh coming from my father. A sigh I knew too well. My parents would make that gesture when they thought I was either acting stupid or dumb.
"No we're not here to help you with your grades," Mr. Carter said with a sad face. He looked at my parents and asked, "Do you both want to get through with this? You can change your mind now, but not later on."
I furrowed my brows, going through with what? I looked back at them again and it was now my mother who responded. "Yes, and Mr. Carter if you will, can you please stop asking that question. You know what we want, now do your job!" She was irritated and when my mother is irritated you do not want to be in the same room as her. Fear consumed me. I was afraid of what was going to happen and I was afraid of my mother.
"Yes my apologies Mrs. Brown, it won't happen again." Mr. Carter then turned to me and he sighed. It sounded, sad? No rather tired, I think. "Alice you know that we have a population problem right? That humans are procreating too fast?" I nodded my head. Every day on the news there was an item on this severe problem we as humans were facing all around the globe. "And have you heard as well that the last two decades a couple of countries have managed to get their numbers down?" I nodded my head again, but I didn't know why. The cause to why the numbers went down was never mentioned on the news or the news articles for that matter. It was always silenced.
"Do you know why?" Mr. Carter asked me a question again. This time I shook my head.
"Well, you are about to find out. You see I'm from the DPO, Depopulation Organisation which is set up by our government. In this organization, we come up with ideas to get the number of people down in our country and we execute them. One department within this organization is responsible for one programme in particular. It's called the Rehabilitation of Children Programme or how we call it as well the Baby Programme."
He paused for a couple of seconds to let the information settle with me. I could follow him but I still didn't know the meaning of his words so I waited for him to continue. Only he looked troubled like he didn't want to continue with his story so I asked, "What does that programme do?"
Mr. Carter remained quiet until one of the other men coughed to get his attention. "Yes well... The programme selects children, from the age of eleven to seventeen, who have troubled homes and gives them new ones. By doing this more and more couple's rather adopt than get children of themselves. This is one of the biggest reasons why the number of people in our country goes down."
"Oke, but how do I fit in the equation? I'm not a child in a troubled home." Mr. Carter's face didn't show his friendly expression any longer, it was only filled with sadness. I didn't understand what was happening and my parents didn't help as well. They were even more distant than they normally were. Something was not right. My body tensed, waiting for what was yet to come.
"Yes indeed, but not only children from troubled homes are selected. Most of them are, but parents can sign their children up as well. If they think their child will be better off with... someone else."
15 years laterAlice p.o.vI was sitting on the pavement waiting for... I didn't know what for, I was just waiting. Hoping to see a glimpse of them. The weather was nice. I had put some music in my ears to ease my impatience.The reason why I was here was because of what my dads told me.It all started with a couple of innocent dreams. I saw myself but with different parents and a brother. I was often yelled at for doing nothing. I didn't understand the dreams as I couldn't decipher them.I thought they were just dreams or rather bad dreams.But the dreams felt so real and I knew it didn't happen to me. I had two dads, no siblings, and was raised with love. I absolutely loved my fathers. They would move mountains for me if I asked them.They made sure I had everything I needed and in return, I was always on my best behavior and got good grades, with help of course. Turned out I had dyslexi
James p.o.vI was now two days home, back from the hotel where I was staying. I felt like such an idiot. I had left with the thought I would punish Hadeon. So he could see how dependent a baby is on its parent. But after my rage was gone, after two days I was so afraid.Afraid of losing him and afraid of losing Alice. They were the only family I had.I thought Hadeon would never take me back. And to top it all I had smashed my phone against the wall the first night of my stay at the hotel. Therefore I couldn't call him. I was such an idiot.I felt so lost without him. Just when I had made up my mind to go home the next day Jim had called. I know it sounds very shady, but really I couldn't take it anymore being away from my husband and daughter. I needed them. They were my oxygen.So I was really glad I was home right now. I sat with Alice in my lap looking at cartoons. It felt great to have her in my arms again. I
Hadeon p.o.vI bounced my leg up and down as I was watching my phone. Should I call? No, I shouldn't. But should I? Doubt clouded my mind. Could I take care of Alice on my own?I had called James already multiple times but he still didn't answer, so it was up to me to decide. I was quite desperate as Alice didn't get the attention she needed and it was still crazy busy at work.In a couple of days, I had another court date. The last time was a one-time thing. I couldn't bring her every time with me to court. I made up my mind and called Jim."Mr. Carter speaking.""Jim it's me, Hadeon.""Hadeon? Why are you calling?""I-I screwed up Jim...""What do you mean?""I-I made a mistake that caused James to leave me and now I'm alone with Alice. I-I don't know... I don't know what to do.""I'm afraid, Hadeon, I can't follow you. What do you mean with 'don't know
Hadeon p.o.vWell, there I was, all alone with my baby girl, watching how my husband, the love of my life, drove away from us. I had screwed up big time. I felt so bad for what I did to Alice, I didn't mean for it to happen. It was so stupid of me to forget her like that. I'm a complete idiot.I walked up to my daughter and picked her up. "I'm sorry Alice. I was a bad papa to you." She looked at me and said, "daddy." Well, now I'm totally screwed. "I'm sorry princess, but daddy had to go away for a while." I apologized to her. "Let's make dinner shall we."That night I had spent it with Alice, letting her stay up a bit too late, I didn't want to be all alone. Only when it was eight in the evening she was deep asleep and she needed to go to bed. So there I was at eight-thirty in the evening, alone with my beer. I felt so, so stupid. I already missed James, I needed him. I would never, ever make a mistake like this again.I tried to call hi
Hadeon p.o.vToday I had to stay at home from work as James suddenly had to go to the company. He said something was wrong and they needed his help. I didn't quite understand as he wasn't the CEO nor the largest shareholder, but I couldn't stop him. So it was just me and Alice today.I couldn't pay her too much attention as I had a lot of work to do as well. I could only give her the necessary attention and care as I was busy working on a case. I was glad when I could put her down for a nap so I could work without any interruptions in my office.I saw that it was almost time to wake up from her nap when one of my employees called me. She didn't bring me good news. The judge had nullified our key evidence to the case. They told us it would only help speculation which wasn't good enough.We needed to have 'hard' evidence according to my employee. I was busy with making calls, looking through files, and going through everything I had s
Hadeon p.o.vIt was weird to be back again, back to my childhood home. The last time I was here was when I told my parents James was my boyfriend. They were outraged. Especially my father.He never wanted to see me again. Telling me I wasn't his son anymore, that he would disown me and that I was never welcome again in his house.My mother, on the other hand, was already thinking of ways to 'fix' my problem. Saying the church could help me, even though they weren't big on religion. Or that I should change my scenery by engaging myself more with straight couples.I already knew before I was going to tell them they wouldn't accept my sexuality. Only I did not expect it to be so incredibly harsh.After I told them I didn't speak to them for several months. It was James actually that encouraged me to seek contact for our wedding. James and I never had such a big fight from
James p.o.v"Babe, can you grab more diapers please!" I heard some cursing from upstairs but didn't pay any mind to it.Hadeon was grumpy all morning because we were going to visit his family today. I partially could understand why he wasn't excited to go to his childhood home. His history with his family was rich in constant fights, discussions, and confrontations with his parents.I had a feeling he had no happy memories of them, at all. I wished he had. The few memories I have of my family, the few happy ones, always got me through difficult times. Times when I missed them the most.But because of that strong feeling of great loss, I tried hard to convince Hadeon to find a way to make peace with his father and mother.I heard my moody husband stomping down the stairs with his arms full of the last things we needed for our short trip."Here are the diapers.""Thank you, honey." I
Hadeon p.o.vWhen I got home from work I heard a female voice coming from the living room. I hung up my coat, set my suitcase down on the floor, and made my way over to the living room. There I saw Mary and James having tea together while the little girls were playing with all the toys around them.I knew certainly then that James and I bought too many toys for our little princess. I made a mental note to not buy any new ones for the time being.When my presence became known to the people in the room all the attention was on me. "Hadeon? You are home quite early." James commented.I walked up to him and kissed his head. "Yes, and that is a problem because?""It's not a problem, I just noticed. That's all. I am glad you are home early for a change." I could hear clearly the undertone of his words. I knew he had trouble with me being home late from work since we had Alice.After I had greeted my h
Hadeon p.o.vI didn't get why James was so upset. She wasn't alone that long. He is just a neat freak and a control freak. The moment things don't go his way he gets agitated and starts yelling at people. I didn't do anything wrong. I rubbed my hands over my face. I was frustrated and I needed a drink. I opened one of my cabinets and got my whiskey and my glass out.First I needed to cool down and then talk to him. It was something I had learned when I worked on my anger issues. I would apologize and then explain the situation, if I had done that it was all up to James. If he would make up or stay mad at me.The thing that frustrated me the most was that James thought I didn't care for our daughter. I loved my princess. I would do anything for her. I just didn't see the harm in letting her be alone for a couple of minutes.I finished my drink, but I wasn't cooled down enough so I got myself another one. I needed a backup plan if he doesn'
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