Escaping the Circle

It’s 2075, my name is Alice, and Salia has become my prison.

I don’t know why I did it... Maybe it was because it was something new or maybe I’m just crazy. But in the end, I think I just wanted to experience everything for myself. I didn’t want to be told anymore. I wanted to sink my toes in something called sand—something that was apparently disastrous and messy and full of germs; it could be warmed by the sun and usually would border the oceans. The only way I could do that though was by making "The Cut." It all starts on the day we are born.

Salia is what we’ve named our slice of "paradise." Salia is basically a large and growing group of people that have chosen to live behind the circle. I’m sure there’s a more technical name for the circle, but as it is a circle around the entire town, it makes sense to call it the circle. Anyway, the circle is this fluorescent glowing orange, like the highlighters we use in school. It surrounds the whole town, fluorescent and glowing and imprisoning us all. The circle is connected to the science center databanks and each little part has a part of every person’s DNA in it, so that every person is recognized by it. It floats about waist high and almost looks like frayed yarn. It keeps people out…. but it also keeps us in. I saw someone try to come in once. It was like walking into a wall. Everytime I tried to get out I got shocked, similar to static electricity. Since my DNA is in the banks, it recognizes me and we get shocked. Of course, the databanks automatically record it and I get yelled at every time. The community started after the huge break out in 2025 of a new disease that at first, the doctors could find no cure to. They named it N11-51 and it killed millions before they found a cure in 2026. Basically people would spike a huge fever and before you knew it, they were gone. So mid-year of the N11-51 outbreak, a group of scientists and all the people who hadn’t caught the disease and who were willing to participate erected the circle and began to build behind it, claiming it as their safe-haven, and they stayed there even in 2026 when the disease was officially gone.

It’s now 2075, my name is Alice, and Salia has become my prison.

Every child born behind the circle is given the option to leave. At birth parents are issued a special pair of scissors for each child. They look like regular scissors. My pair has a blue handle with the two silver blades, and you can see that my name has been deeply etched into the handle; they are issued to the family in a black case. Each blade is inscribed with my name and connected to the science center that has our DNA samples. My parents held on to them all of my life, until today. Today I am 16 and I get to decide if I will cut myself out of the circle or not.

I’m standing at the edge of town with my scissors. My family never chose to leave. My mother and father are both happy here, but they’ve seen the outside before. They’ve seen sand, and fast food restaurants, and they have actually touched a book instead of just a computer screen. There’d be no more carrying the anti-bacterial wipes, I could wear the same outfit after washing it. There would be no more incinerating the daily outfit. I would be able to wear pants and dresses and fun colors. I’d be able to go to a place called McDonalds and eat something called a Big Mac and I could finish high school at a public high school and then go to college. I could do whatever I wanted and I could be who I wanted to be... and with that thought and my family watching, I cut the circle and removed myself from the Circle of Salia.

I was outside Salia. I couldn’t believe it. There was a black van with a pink decal that said "City Transit." I knew getting into the van that they would take me to the bus station and buy me a ticket to any state, any town. They would give me money for food and give me an outfit until I could get my own. There was no turning back now, it was too late, I’d made my choice. I shuffled toward the van with my small, blue backpack that contained the picture of my family, my toothbrush, and the other meager keepsakes I wanted to keep, climbed in, and said goodbye to everything I knew.