Her Call by Arianna Dixon
When I was born, I was bathed in the water from Emeren’s golden river. The people saw a girl born from two halves, a girl born from the bottom of Emeren’s society, as well as the top. Zemira, the song that would make everything whole. They saw change, finally those at the bottom would stop suffering because of the ongoing greed of those at the top. They were wrong. My mother saw a daughter to shape a person she would make into her own. She was wrong. My father saw change for his people, change for the life he had endured and people he grew up with. He would tell me about the people who had no food to eat, and the families who would starve because of all the resources being poured into empty wars. He’d told me about the animals, so rarely seen, and the constant crime. With those memories, it’s hard to imagine how he ended up loving my mother, but still he did. My mother tries her best to get me away from her. I think I remind her too much of him. Maybe it’s the way my eyes shine brown like his. A constant reminder that he’ll never really be gone, that she’ll never be able to fully forget. So she pours herself into running our faulted country. So I wait. I yank myself from my flow of thoughts in time to pay attention to Emeren’s daily announcements. More talk of revolts being dealt with and war casualties. I watch the announcements every day, feelings of guilt threatening to consume me. I can’t help but feel useless, like I’m failing all of the people who wanted more from me, who wanted me to fight for them. Like my father did. But it’s hard to be something for someone when no one ever asked me who I wanted to be, what I saw, what did I see? I close my eyes and take a deep breath. What good is a flower that cannot blossom? I look out through the windows of the HST, Emeren’s newest train model. We’ve been traveling across Emeren, going to Shantei, Zehra’s birthplace. I look over to where Zehra is sitting, her head resting against my shoulder. Zehra, my best friend. When I was little my father had taken me to Shantei. That’s where we met and ever since we’ve been inseparable. Traveling across Emeren and helping poor states grow crops and develop. Helping calm 80
