Author's Note:
My story loosely ties aspects of Persian Tales translated from the Kermani and Bakhtiari dialects of the Persian language by David Lorimer and his wife Emily Lorimer into a new story of my own. I took elements from the story of "The Archer", the "Fayiz and the Peri Wife", and "The Story of the Baker and the Grateful Fish". The Persian Tales are full of whimsy and betrayal and my story is meant to reflect these two themes while being able to stand completely on it's own.
"Please, you can't do this. I don't know where my husband is, I told you, he left us years ago." I screamed at the men pointing an exacter at my little girl.
The truth was, I knew exactly where my husband was but I could not tell these men. They would kill him. After the war people like my husband become a "danger" to society. It wasn't that he was he was crazy or a killer, it was because he was different. The black sheep of the people, so to speak. To some people he was basically a God. He was special, he could think and see things differently than anyone else. It made him dangerous to the new government. They did not care for independent thinkers and had taken great strides to rid the collective of free thought.
It began at an early age in Reign, the name of the new America, the government regulated the school and taught only the approved material. They used the exacter, a painful device that did not allow anyone to tell lies, and they injected the people with a serum that didn't allow us to feel things the way we should. Love, hurt, joy, and sorrow; they all felt different if you felt them at all. For my husband, it did not work. He experienced everything exactly the way a human should, and as such, he was dangerous. He was able to see the government for the horrible people they are and he was out to stop them. There was a group of others out there who were the same as him and I had to protect them. They were the only way were ever getting out of this hellish place.
"I will ask you one more time, where is your husband?" The soldier asked as he held my daughter by her arm. "If you don't tell us this time, your little girl will after we exact it out of her."
"You can't, it could kill her." The exacter was a powerful weapon that could be potentially fatal to anyone. My girl had already been subjected to it four times in her little life. What the soldiers did not realize was, she had no idea where her daddy was so they would never be able to gain that truth from her. What they also didn't realize was, I had learned to resist it. While it was still painful, I had learned to keep my truths to myself. My husband stole one once and taught me so that if this day ever came I would be prepared.
"Just remember, Kora, keep your mind closed and resist the pain. They will be unable to see your thoughts. You cannot tell them who or where I am, ever. If you do, it will be the end of our family and my life." my husband told me as we trained. We knew this day would come. What we didn't know is that they would bring my girl with them. She had been in school for two years, I had been unable to see her except on vey special days. I knew my husband was trying to lead a rebellion, but ever since he had taught me to free my thoughts and my emotions, I had longed for my child.
"This is your last warning. Where is your husband?"
"I'll tell you. Please just don't hurt my child again." I couldn't resist any longer. Perhaps if it were just me, but not if they were going to kill her. I loved her, I wasn't supposed to but they knew, they knew I had learned to regain my emotions and they were using her against me.
"Please forgive me my love." I thought, "in order to save our child, I must betray you." and then I started talking.
When I was finished telling them who my husband was and were he could be found they threw my child in front of me and left to find him. I quickly reached for my telephone, an old device that was once used to communicate with each another. Thankfully, this older technology still worked. I anxiously dialed his number and waited while the phone rang. After what seemed like an eternity, I finally heard his voice from the other side say "Hello?" I lost no time warning him "They are coming! They had Rose and I couldn't let them hurt her! You need to run!"
"I am not going to run, it's time, I am ready to fight. I understand why you had to betray me. I will lead this army and we will rescue the collective."
Five years later....
Reign would never go back to the way it used to be. My husband had defeated the government with the army of specials he had found. We were slowly returning to a people who had never been subjected to the serum or the exacter. Without the government to annually administer them our emotions had returned. We are able to work and think for ourselves. My husband and I gained land and the ability to grow our food and do as we please with our daughter by our side.
