Ascension

The Rising Son

by A.P. West

Chapter 5

Ascension – Apollo – I hate myself. The thought creeps in my mind again as I stare at the pale-white square tiles that make up the floor of our empty classroom. I’m the first one to arrive because the bus from the Orphanage leaves every day at 6:30 sharp. I’m always alone. Yesterday was the sixteenth anniversary of my birth and I still don’t know who my parents are. I hate myself.

The other kids start to slowly trickle in, one and two at a time. Everyone is excited. One more week of school, and then it’s off to start a two-year apprenticeship at the Acropolis. I’ve never been to it, but I see it every day; you can’t help but see it. It’s by far the biggest building in our City. Its elegant white marble walls tower at least five stories into the sky. A dozen or so gleaming golden windows adorn each of its four walls. It’s not only our academy; it’s the home to our leader, the Doyen, Oriah Lex. He has protected and governed our city ever since the peace that followed the Last War.

But before our apprenticeship begins, we’re given genetic tests consisting of simple DNA scans and aptitude exams. Then our occupational assignments are chosen based on those results. We were taught in class that before the War, people where not just born, they were bred. The initial embryos were developed with certain traits so they would produce children more genetically enhanced until the eventual descendants would come together and form a complete harmonious society. But the Last War changed all that.

I’m not looking forward to my results though. I’ve tried to track down my heritage but found nothing. And I don’t mean a few clues or some information that eventually lead to nowhere. I mean nothing; not a birth certificate, a renouncement of parental rights, a family tree, nothing. So I can just imagine what those results are going to be. I’ll probably be branded some kind of reject, freak, or failure. I’ll have to live my life as one of the Waif, no ceremony for them, just training; then a life of being moved from one custodial job to another. I hate myself.

“Cheer up Apollo.” I hear the familiar voice as my best friend Solomon, walks around behind me and gives a hearty slap to my shoulder. I grimace at his cheerfulness, “What are you so happy about?” He just shrugs and sits at his usual desk in the back. I already know why he’s happy, he loves being here.

His mother is our teacher, Miss Jon, and his life has always been centered on this school. He loves learning and helping others, just like his mother. Miss Jon always encourages us to learn everything we can, despite what our futures might be. She tells us, “Knowledge is the wing wherewith we fly to Heaven.” I never really related to or cared for what that means. The only place I’m probably flying is to the life of a servant, trash collector, or something else demeaning.

Then my spirits lift when I see her walk into the room. Her long, graceful strides, she is dainty and beautiful. Her dark wavy brown hair, streaked with the slightest hints of red, frames her creamy complexion and deep brown eyes perfectly. Grace. Her parents named her well.

52 Pages

Ascension – The Rising Son

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