My Experiences at the World and OtherWorld

“Bang!” Another sound disrupted my peaceful sleeping. I rolled over and covered my ears, remembering when I had a night light. The soft glow would envelope the room and I would comfortably lie in my crib but the men came and took it away. My Papa had told me stories of eternal light, from a glowing orb in the sky that had emitted light 12 hours a day. No one would need to work to generate light and all our energy came from there. Now it was a weakened pulse, a glow that barely reflected off the moon.

“Bang!” In the darkness, I slid off the bed, my sweat-soaked clothes sticking to myself. I stumbled around, feeling for my Emitter. It was a square-like object with a strong light coming from a button in the middle which was about as big as a quarter. The Emitter was issued to everyone from the ages 12+. Every month, it was taken to the Light-Fillers to change its LightOre batteries and dispose of the old ones. If it ran out before a month, I couldn’t do anything about it. The average time it lasted was 5 minutes so it was better to conserve the batteries. I still liked having it for emergencies, though.

Clutching the square device, I found my way through the dark corridors, toward the caves where a huge metal door blocked the entrance. I tentatively knocked on the door, expecting it to be opened by a gruff man. Instead, there was a nicer looking one, holding a large pickaxe.

“Hello. What do you want?” asked the man slightly curious.

“You new here?” I questioned.

“Yeah. I haven’t found anything yet, though.” he replied. LightOre was harder to find as the years passed on. It was mostly found in the crust and now because that was gone from mining, there were barely any in the mantle. At least, that’s what the Instructors said.

“You have to turn on the door seal. No one can sleep with all that racket!” I informed him.

Wordlessly, I walked over to his side, which was full of dust and grime and flicked a switch. Quickly jumping to my side, the door was slammed shut by the machine and the sounds became distant.

There was no point in sleeping now, since I was already awake. Sleeping in your day clothes were frowned upon but you never knew what was going to happen.

“Watch out!” yelled a voice to my left. I jumped out of the way and slammed into the wall. Someone on a hoverboard flew past me crashing into the wall. There was no point trying to see who he was. In the darkness, no one knew what the other looked like. In fact some people didn’t know who they looked like. The first time I saw myself, I was 9 years old and I was as surprised as heck.

Rushing to the fallen figure, I knelt beside them.

“My name is Dave and I am 12 years old. I am a boy and I am a class 2 citizen.” he groaned. It was standard protocol to introduce yourself to others in the darkness. This person was my newest customer.

“My name is Leah and I am also 12. I am a girl and I am a class 1 citizen” I responded, “Are you here for the shipment?”

He nodded warily and I handed him a package. It was covered in ordinary brown paper and had his information stamp on it.

CLASS 2 MAIL

DAVE

MALE

12 YRS

ID: 2394857807

An ID was issued to every baby and by the age of 3, you were required to memorize it. It was a lot on the parent’s part. They had to “help” you a lot. Mine was 1212121212 which was super lucky. My favorite number was, of course, 12.

Dave handed me a similar package with my information stamp.

CLASS 1 MAIL

LEAH

FEMALE

12 YRS

ID: 1212121212

I thanked him and tiptoed back into my room. Once, I barricaded the door and set on “drone scan,” I opened the package and gasped at what was inside. There was a small package of LightOre that could last me 20 more minutes. He was a big tipper, giving me 5 minutes more of LightOre. I remembered to thank him later and put the big chunky ore in the Emitter.

I was told my parents were family of the supreme ruler which made me family too. I had special access to important information and documents which I sold in return for LightOre. 

Suddenly, Dave burst into my barricaded room using my latest piece of sold information. How to jimmy a lock. He caught his breath and started speaking.

“I have a quick question,” 

“Go for it!”

“What do you do with the ore?”

“That’s none of your business”

“Please tell me”

“Fine. I give it away.”

“Why? To whom?”

“To the poor who don’t get monthly refills. The 3rd class citizens get a refill twice a year so they only get in total 10 minutes of light each year.”

“What did they do to you?”

“Something very important and special to me. Now, can you please leave?”

Dave nodded and walked out my room, closing the door behind him. It was time to do the drop-off. I clicked a secret button beside the door frame and a set of stairs leading down popped out of nowhere. 

For the second time, my door burst open and a squad of men in black gear tackled me to the ground. 

“Help! I’m be-” One of the men put a Muffler on my face and suddenly, everything was numb. I could still use my 5 senses, though. I knew they were the Light Guard by the way they acted.

“This one’s running an illegal business,” grunted Guard #1.

“For what?” asked Guard #2

“Documents in exchange for LightOre” said another.

“Perfect for my new information-spewing system!” Guard #2 announced. The other guards hauled me up and put me on a stretcher, tying my body onto it. One of them took my Emitter and checked the Light Time.

“2 hours. Whew!” said Guard #1. He clicked the button and a bright glow illuminated the stairway. He started down carrying the stretcher with the others.

Looking for a way to escape I reached into my pocket and felt the LasePen. The LasePen was a product that was banned on Earth and 0 remained. This one was a copy of it without the tracking device. Taking the LasePen, I quickly maneuvered it up onto the ropes binding me and cut them. I stood up and speedily flashed it on each guard, rendering them unconscious. I had many close calls like this one so I always came prepared. Stepping past the bodies, I continued down the staircase and stepped into the LightPortal.

This portal brought me to the OtherWorld. The one where the poor live. No one, not even guards, came and cared about the OtherWorld so they didn’t notice that it was full of light.

A genius who was sadly 3rd class, designed a machine that could create LightPortals. He, the great, Magwin with the ID of 1313131313, (very unlucky) brought a new star here. But there was a problem because stars always died and to power the machine, they needed lots and lots of LightOre.

Naturally, I was the supplier and a citizen of the OtherWorld because I was the first person from the World to travel here. It was a law.

LAW 13: THIS LAW STATES THAT THE FIRST PERSON WHO COMES THROUGH THE PORTALS THAT WERE PLACED ALL AROUND THE WORLD WILL AUTOMATICALLY BECOME A CITIZEN FOR RESPECTING OUR EXISTENCE AND BEING CARING AND CURIOUS.

The only reason this law was made was because there was a contest and the winner would get to create a new law. Of course, Magwin won and designed this one.

I walked into the main lobby where people were eating, laughing, and having fun with plenty of festive joy and light. The OtherWorld was my favorite place to be. It was the most fun and happiest of all the worlds. Stepping inside, I was welcomed heartfully and I smiled, looking at all the joy and happiness.

Now that I explained to you all about the world where I live in and the lavish life I experienced, it’s time for you to take action!