Why Am I Here?

“I’m tired of seeing the same thing every single day. Everybody’s miserable here because they wake up in the same bed, same houses, same world- I would give up everything-- just for a chance to see something different.” Staring out of the square shaped window of her square shaped room, in her square shaped house– that’s plastered white all throughout the inside and out-- here we have Connie, a 14 year old girl living on a planet called kepler.

Connie is a curious kid-- meaning that her curiosity towards everything is never ending. She’s also very adventurous, and brave- with those 3 qualities paired up, it’s only natural that she often finds herself in lots of trouble. “Geez you sound depressed,” Said Connie's best friend, Jennifer.

Unlike Connie, Jennifer is a very well mannered- tame kid. She appreciates the life that she has and isn’t interested in seeking out more. Part of that is due to the fact that she’s scared of a lot of things… Well, more like she’s scared of everything! She isn’t in the slightest bit brave, or courageous-- in fact, she’s the polar opposite of Connie! But that’s exactly why they get along so well.

“That’s because I am depressed!” Exclaimed Connie, as she shot her arms out, “There’s nowhere to go, nothing to do, everything around here is the same. Do you know, for the past 16 days straight I have been forced to swim the same boring lap around the local pool for my school activity because THAT’S THE ONLY ENTERTAINMENT THIS PLANE OL’ CITY HAS!!! Pffft even this house is plain! I’m so sick of it!” She continued, as she plopped face first into her oval shaped bed.

“Aww it’s not that bad, it’s been really hot these days so swimming can cool you down!” Jennifer says as she’s patting her friend on the back. Connie shoots up and says “Easy for you to say, at least you get to live in the green district, there’s loads of fun over there! There’s land carving, bubble painting, and ink movies! You even have good food! The food here is so plain that I don't even want to eat-- and I love eating! Eating is the best thing ever!!”

“You would be able to come to the green district too if you hadn’t pulled that prank on the assistant principal.” Said Jennifer,

“All I did was paint a mustache on her face,” Connie defended herself,

“Yeah with un-washable ink.” Jennifer reminded her.

“It’s her own fault for falling asleep during our field trip to the movies, I mean it was such a good opportunity it’s like she was asking for it to be done.” Connie snapped back.

“Right…” Jennier said, rolling her eyes “Say, how about we go out for a walk? You could clearly use some of the fresh air.” Jennifer suggested,

“What’s the point?! All that we’re gonna see is a lamp-post and a bush! That’s how plain this town is.”

“A-”

“Actually, yeah, let's go. I’m going to prove to you just how boring the place is!”. And so the two friends went out for a walk around plum town, and just as Connie said, there wasn’t much to see.

Everything in the town was painted linen white, the streets, side walks, lamp posts, even the houses-- everything was the same color. This town was a place for those who misbehaved, be it kids or adults, if they did something wrong- they found themselves on a one way trip to plum town.

“Umm… is that get-up really necessary?” Asked Jennifer as she gave Connie an embarrassed look,

“Yes, if I’m to prove my point of how boring this place is, then I have to look ridiculous.” Connie sneered.

Walking down the street, With horrific blue makeup around her eyes and bright red lipstick all around her lips-- Connie was dressed in her normal gigantic circle-shaped glasses, with her usually curly hair tied up into two pigtails. Stretching down her body was a gigantic shirt with shoulder pads in them that made it look like her shoulders stretched up to her ears– a tiny skirt that just barely stretched below her underwear, 2 mixed matched socks that stretched up to her knees– and two different shoes made by two separate brands.

“I don’t see how that’ll prove anything,” Said Jennifer,

“It’ll prove everything!” Connie replied “This place is so boring

That the people here won’t even bully me!” Just as she said that, a man called out to them as they were walking past him,

“You look nice today connie!”

“Gee thanks JOHN! I just looove to be complimented EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!!!!” Connie snapped at him,

“Umm… you’re welcome?”.

“See what I mean? I thought this was the place where all of the bad people went, not the goody two shoes” Connie exclaimed. Jennifer steps in “Well people are brought here so that they can change their bad behavior.” Connie looks at Jennifer and then sighs,

“You just don’t get it Jenni, this place is the worst!”. As they were walking, Jennifer noticed something on the plaza, “Ah, is this the bush that you were talking about?”

She ran over to the bush in the middle of the area, and admired it for a bit. Then, something else catches her attention,

“Ah! And that must be the lamp post!” She points at the lamp post across the land.

“You’re way too excited about this,” Connie scoffed.

✧✧✧

Sitting on a stone edge that was built around the bush, Connie is staring up into the red sky. “Do you ever wonder… What it would be like to live on another planet?” Asked Connie,

“Woah, where did that come from all of a sudden?” Jennifer replied. Connie slowly reached her hand up into the air,

“We came from another planet right? Or at least our ancestors did. Apparently the old world was about 154 times larger than kepler! It’s skies were blue, with a matching blue ocean that stretched as far as the eye could see! There were many different countries there, many different types of people and languages! It must have been really fun back then..” She said, finishing with a gloomy look.

Jennifer looked on in silence as she could feel her friend’s discontent with life.

“... Say Connie, let’s say– hypothetically– that I was able to sneak you into the green district, would you want to do it?” She said,

“What? Stop joking around Jenni. I'm already depressed enough as it is, there’s no need for you to rub the fact that you live in the green district while I'm stuck here in this boring place in my face.” Connie scoffed,

Connie didn’t seem to understand what her friend was trying to say, so Jenni reworded her question for her friend-

“Well, what if– hypothetically of course– I was able to obtain a green wristband and I gave it to you. Would you want to go to the green district with me?”

“Jenni, what are you talking about-” Connie stopped, and took a moment to actually process what her friend was saying, “With a green wristband i would be able to enter into the green district!” She exclaimed,

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jennifer smiled, happy to see that her friend was finally starting to understand.

“But how would you even get me one? Those things are almost impossible to get-” Before Connie could finish her sentence, Jennifer pulled a green strip from her pocket and flashed it in front of her friend,

“A GREEN WRISTBAND?!?!” Connie Exclaimed, “How did you get this???? I thought you had to work for the government in order to obtain one of these!??” she continued.

“That’s not the only way,” Jennifer said, “You can also get one when you have a new born baby. And you know, my baby brother was just born so…” she said, wearing a shameful smile

Putting two and two together, Connie gasped, “Jenni, you didn’t-” without saying a word, Jennifer slowly nodded her head, “YOU STOLE YOUR BABY BROTHER’S WRISTBAND?!” Connie exclaimed.

“SHHH KEEP IT DOWN! SOMEONE MIGHT HEAR YOU!” Jennifer warned, “And don’t say it like that, I didn't steal anything! I simply borrowed his wristband for a few hours to give you a chance to get out of here.” She continued.

“Jenni, please, no one around here even cares enough to get out of bed in the morning. They’re not going to hear anything. And also I'm both frightened and impressed- on one hand I'm proud of you, I never knew you could be such a deviant. But on the other hand, I'm worried that my bad behaviors are starting to influence you. Are you okay? Do you need me to remind you that you’re the good friend and I'm the bad one?” Connie said with a worried gaze.

“I’m not a deviant!” Jennifer shouted, “Good because we can’t both be trouble makers, it’ll ruin our perfect chemistry.” Connie sighed a sigh of relief.

“It’s just- I know you’ve been feeling down lately so I just wanted you to have some fun. I was thinking of ways that I could cheer you up, and when I saw my brother’s wristband sitting on the head of the dresser in his room, I thought, “Well he’s not using it” so I took it. I don’t intend to keep it, it’s only for a few hours then I’m taking it back! So I'm not stealing anything!” Jennifer declared.

Connie pat her friend on her shoulder to ease her tension, “Relax, there’s no need to be so tense he’s your little brother! I don't think anyone would care if they saw you walking around with his wristband.” She said, “And besides, if we get caught I’ll just take the blame for you.”

“You will?” Jennifer asked,

“Yeah I'm the troublemaker, remember? It’ll be more believable if I said that I made you take it, rather than little miss goody two shoes doing it all on her own. And besides, I've already gotten the maximum sentence for trouble maker’s by having to live in this snoozefest of a city. What are they gonna do? Ground me?” Connie’s sudden remark made her friend burst out into laughter, seeing her friend more relaxed- Connie pulled her in for a hug.

“And besides, I kind of owe you one.”

“What?” Jennifered asked,

“You broke the rules and snuck a wristband outside of the green district, that can get you in a lot of trouble, you know.”

“I know!”

“But even still, you did it, for me. You don’t know how touched I am that you’d go through such lengths just for me. Thank you Jenni, you’re the best friend a girl could ever ask for. Having you by my side, I feel like I could get through anything, even staying here in this boring old town! As long as you’re by my side, I know that everything will be okay.”

Jennifer was touched by her friend's words, and before she could stop herself- a stream of tears came flowing down her face. Jennifer grabbed her friend tightly and without saying a single word, the two sat in silence while hugging.

“Honestly hearing you say that does put me at ease, I was afraid of how much trouble I would be in if I got caught.” Jennifer said, releasing connie.

“Of course, that’s what friends are for! I’ll always have your back!” Connie replied.

“Now let’s get going to the green district!