Expired

I wake up in a puddle of drool and a cloud of fuzziness. I feel like I am moving in slow motion and as my hearing focuses, I hear my mother pleading me from the bottom step to get ready for school before I am late. My eyes shift to my alarm clock that reads 6:45. Shit. 10 minutes to get ready. I jump out of bed, grab some underwear and jeans out of my dresser and fumble to get them on. I snag my boyfriend’s gray track sweatshirt off my door handle and linger a second to take in his scent that is still on it. I practically leap into the bathroom that is right across from my room and I freeze. I hear my younger sister blasting the latest pop sludge from her room. I must still be dreaming. I take in my surroundings and examine my face closer in the mirror. I am not dreaming. On my forehead in type-writer font appears to be a brand of some sort. It reads EXP. 4.25.1983. I struggle to configure what this might mean and realize that April 25th, 1983 is today’s date. My heart starts pounding hard and slow, I can feel it in my throat. I run downstairs to show my mom who is finishing up her mug of earl gray at the kitchen table. She looks up.

“Honey, I know your late, but what is all this commotion?”

“MOM!” I yell “Look at my forehead!”.

“Oh dear, just some bad acne, it happens all the time at that age. You know I was thinking that maybe with all the stress lately, I’ll call you in for the day and just the two of us can go shopping”.

I am distraught and I start to feel dizzy. Obviously, my mother does not see the strange inscription on my head, there must be something wrong with me.

“I don’t know Mom I actually don’t feel so well… maybe I should stay home for the day”

“Nonsense” my mom snorts, “a girl’s day is just what you need”.

And so I go through the motions of finishing to get ready feeling dazed and unreal. I add some extra concealer to my forehead in a feigned effort to cover up the date on my forehead, but it only seems to embellish it. I might as well be a walking calendar at this point. I wonder what the EXP could mean. I jump as my mother yells that she is ready to go in that rattling sing-songy pitch that she knows I loathe. I roll my eyes and turn out of the bathroom to go downstairs but in a last second decision decide to grab some homework. With homework in hand, I clomp down the stairs still wondering if this day is even remotely real. Maybe I am in a coma. My mother, hard ass that she is, would never let me skip school to go shopping of all things.

My mom and I wait for my sister in her cinderella pearl-blue Chevrolet Malibu station wagon. God is it gaudy but she just had to have it. My sister finally gets into the car smacking her gum and hair teased to the heavens. As usual she’s blasting some god-awful mixtape on her Walkman. My mom backs out of the drive way and starts blabbing about some gossip with the neighbor. I tune out hearing pits and pieces of “I Ran” by Flock of Seagulls playing from my sister’s headphones in the back seat. I start thinking about my boyfriend Anthony and realize he is going to wonder why I am not in school today. I twist my torso to look behind my seat and flick my sister in the knee.

“What?” she gawks, moving one side of the headphone behind her ear.

“Hey is you see Anthony today let him know I don’t feel well. Mom is taking me to the doctor so I won’t be in school, okay?”

She rolls her eyes “Yeah, whatever” and moves the headphones back into place.

Our school is right down the road and my mom drops her off at the front entrance of the middle school. After my sister gets out, my mom’s demeanor changes. She seems a little out of it but snaps back into place and shifts the car into gear. She pulls out of the school and turns right.

“Mom, you went the wrong way the mall is the other way. Did you forget something at home?”

“No dear”, she says a little frantically “didn’t you hear about that new mall they built down in Delmira? It’s suppose to be huge”

I have no idea what she is talking about and I have never heard of Delmira.

“How far away is it?” I ask.

“Oh its right outside the city its about a half hour drive” She sounds like a commercial.

“Well I brought some homework to do so I think I am going to work on that” I say hesitantly. I’m still put off by how weird today is. I can’t wait for it to be over and wake up tomorrow. I pull down the visor and look in the mirror. Its still there.

“Are you feeling okay, hon?’ my mom asks. She seems more concerned.

“Oh…uh huh I’m okay” I reply. I shut the visor and take out my notebook to finish up an essay.

“Do you remember when your father and I took you to Isaac Lake when you were little oh god you had to have been only five your father was so handsome back then you loved that lake we took you on a boat for the first time and he let you sit on his lap when he drove the boat which made you giggle and you always wanted t-“

“I always wanted to play captain of the ship after that. I know mom I’ve heard about that trip a million times. Can I focus on my work now?” I plead with her. Man, she’s psycho.

“Oh, sure hon” she whimpers.

I try to write but I keep staring off into the car floor. My mom flips the radio on, and searches through the channels settling on 93.6 The Kix with your special host Roxy Pinachi. My brain feels swollen and with every beat it might just pop open my skull. I suppress the pain and begin writing complete gibberish in my journal just to make it look like I am working. I’ll have to remember to throw out these pages later.

Before I know it we are pulling in to this supposed mall. It doesn’t look like any mall I have ever seen. The building is massive and about three stories high. Stark and plain white with no windows or signs.

“Mom, are you sure this is the place?” I ask.

“Yeah, honey they’re still doing some work on the outside, but trust me its just great. Mindy brought her daughter here last week and they absolutely loved it Mindy got this beautiful heart shaped locket I’m hoping I can find the same one I think it would be great to wear for…”

My mind goes to Kate, Mindy’s daughter. We use to hang out a lot in middle school but ever since she joined the cheer team she became a different person. I don’t think I have seen her in school this past week or maybe I just didn’t notice.

“Oh and they have just the most unique shops here, nothing like the mall over in Victoria-”

“Okay mom I get it, can you park already?” God is she annoying I am starting to wish I convinced her to let me stay home. But she must be right about the mall because the parking lot is filled.

Mom finally parks the car and we begin walking towards the mall. Out of the corner of my eye it looks like my mom is shaking but when I look over she looks fine. As we approach the entrance I can see tall muscular guards – two at either side of the entrance. One of them stops us and asks us for paperwork.

I turn to my mom “Paperwork? Why would we need-”

“Oh dear its nothing don’t worry about”

She grabs some folded up paper out of her purse and nearly drops it handing it to the guard. So she is shaking. The guard takes awhile examining the paper and I begin to look around. The inside is as plain as the outside. I have never heard of some of these stores before either. The closest to us is Expiree Outlet “quick and painless deals”. The guard hand the paper back to my mom and motions us to proceed. My mom puts the paper back into her purse and hesitates.

“Sir, my friend was here last week and got this beautiful locket, do you know where I could find one?” she asks the guard.

The guard thinks for a moment but replies that it must have been at the Final Exit Jewelry and More store right next to Best By Appliances.

My mom turns to me excitedly. “Let’s go there first”.

She leads the way and I think again that I must be in a coma because this is the strangest mall I have ever seen. All of the stores are nearly empty except for a cash out desk and a series of what must be dressing rooms in each store. The mall is crowded but I notice something weird. Almost everyone at the mall is with their kids. How strange it is that so many children are out of school today.

We finally get to the jewelry store and a saleswoman approaches my mom and I.

“What can I help you with today?" then she notices me and adds on “I see today is a very special day”

My mother replies “Yes! Very special! I’d like to get a gold heart shaped locket for my daughter”

“No problem” the saleswoman beckons “right this way”

“Mom, you don’t need to get the necklace for me I thought you wanted it”.

“I do want it honey…” she pauses “do you remember learning about the nuclear disaster after World War II and how our country rose from the ashes to create a better society”

“Duh mom. Independence Day. Every year August 6th. The same duck and cover danc-

“Honey I need you to understand that controlling our population numbers is an integral part of the survival of our country. Family is important and desired but can cause a dangerous population influx. If two people decide to have more than one child, they must set an expiration date before the age of 18 for at least one if not all of the children.”

“Mom, what are you talki-”

“You noticed your expiration date appear on you this morning. It’s against the law for anyone under 18 to know about the expiring process. God I wish your father didn’t have that meeting this morning. But don’t worry expiring is natural and painless. I am going to have your essence transferred into that locket so that I will remember you always”

“MOM!” two women in white and grey suits grab both of my arms and I struggle to fight against them. Someone sticks a needle in my arm and it instantly paralyzes me. I watch my mom fade away as I am dragged to a dressing room and left alone. There are so many thoughts rushing through my head and I can feel the adrenaline tearing through my body with no outlet because I cannot move. I start to hear the sounds of machinery. A drill eases down in front of my face and slowly approaches my forehead. I try to scream but I can’t. The drill is so cl-

“Would you like a bag for this Mrs. Orvill?”

“Oh no thank you! I will wear it out”