The Valentine Project : A Short Story

The year is 2200.

The world that we know now is gone. There are no longer countries, but one world government. Citizens only live in Canada because the rest of the developed world is contaminated by nuclear waste from wars. At one year old, children are taken from their parents and are brought to live in gender seperated communities. The government divides individuals by male and female until the age of eighteen.

The girls’ community is located in what used to be the province of British Columbia. There is a wide expanse of unpopulated land before one can stumble upon the boys’ community that is vaguely located in what used to be Saskatchewan. The adult population is scattered throughout the eastern edges of Canada.

Prior to eighteen, all girls must wear lavender, while boys are required to wear green. Clothes are not chosen but delivered to each child at the beginning of every new year of school.

The population is quite small, consisting of perhaps 500,000 individuals altogether. While the children are separated, they attend school and enjoy some organized sports. When children turn sixteen, they become caregivers and teachers for two years and take on adult-like responsibility, since no adults are allowed within the boys or girls’ communities aside from government officials.

After graduation from school, all eighteen-year-olds are taken to a temporary facility to complete a series of tests that will determine their spouse. Since these tests are perfect at determining suitable partners, any individual who begins to say they are not in love with their partner will be excommunicated to the nuclear wastelands for severe psychological issues.

Young children look forward to their testing, often debating one another over lunch about what these tests will look like.

Among the girls graduating this year are Scarlett, Stella, Everly, Finley, and Athena; they await their upcoming testing optimistically. While they don’t know each other at this time, soon they will be living in the temporary facility together.

None of the girls have any real memory of boys, only having seen photos. And the same applies vice versa.

Kinsley is only eleven, but she desperately wishes that she were eighteen so that she could be paired with her true love. In addition, she is going to miss Scarlett terribly for the next seven years before she could possibly see her once again in the adult sector.

Before many of the graduates could believe it, it was August, and it was time to head off to the facility, leaving all they had ever known behind.

The girls’ school had its traditional flower ceremony, where each graduating student would be handed a small bouquet of wildflowers by Chancellor Valentine, the head of the government, to congratulate them on a prosperous childhood and education, while also celebrating their new life in the adult sector. All of the girls gathered in the field to watch the older girls receive their flowers. Afterwards, the graduates would board the train and wave goodbye to all of the younger girls.

As Scarlett walked towards the train, she heard a familiar faint voice yelling, “wait!” As she turned around, she saw Kinsley bounding towards her with a look of panic on her face. Kinsley’s dark hair was in braids that tied around her head to create a headband crown. She was small for her age, but she could run quite quickly. As soon as she reached Scarlett, she wrapped her in a tight bear hug, “Were you going to leave without saying goodbye?” Kinsley said forlornly still hugging Scarlett.

Scarlett laughed and responded sweetly, “Kinsley, I said goodbye to you last night and this morning. And besides, I knew you wouldn’t let me leave without one more goodbye before I got on the train.”

Kinsley slowly let go of Scarlett and said, “You promise not to forget about me?”

Scarlett saw how upset Kinsley was and said, “Never, and in seven years we will be best friends in the adult sector.” And in that moment, Scarlett also promised herself that she would find Kinsley somehow in the adult sector when that day came.

They hugged once more before Scarlett headed to the train. Scarlett thought to herself apprehensively, for the first time, “What am I about to do?”

To be continued...

The Valentine Project is a short story written by Katie Breuche.