The Silent Scream

"Nobody can hear a scream in the vacuum of space, or so they say. Nobody can see our rainbow sky more than one planet away." I laughed as I read the ancient philosophy to my students. " It is rumored that in our early days there used to be a rainbow sky every night when the moon passed by." The students listened spellbound as I talked. Tonight the whole sky would be full of colors. Tonight each student would learn their calling. They all had their own dreams, their own desires. Some had shared with me, some had not. They were nervous but excited. They sat silently and listened.

I led the students out under the painted sky. Each student went and stood in their assigned spot. Colored rays would shoot down from the sky. These rays would determine each student's fate. I only had six students coming up for graduation.

The red ray streaked through the sky landing on Jaman. My heart skipped a beat, he was the best in science, he loved to discover, he was meant to be an explorer, and somehow it seemed he would be. He looked over at me looking for an answer to the riddle. I smiled and walked over to him and informed him. He hugged me and smiled.

A yellow ray fell on Azanda. All she wanted to do was move in with her boyfriend, but yellow would mean she would be working as well. She would be in charge of food. She was strong and intelligent. She would be good at this kind of labor, but I knew it was not what she wanted. She seemed to sense that it was not good news. The ray would have had to be clear if she had been fated to be a housewife. I knew beforehand that she had known that. But she did not cry when I told her. She just stood and stared.

None of my students got a clear ray. Azanda ended up smiling when a few minutes later her boyfriend Williamo, also received a yellow ray. He was smiling as well.

Sandrana fell to the ground when the green ray landed on her. She had been saying her prayers hoping to be in the government and she would be, She didn't know, but I had been praying as well. I had been praying for all of them. Two more rays. Annaba had no desires, had no boyfriend. I almost fainted when she got the purple ray. She who had no dreams of her own would be working in faith. The religion of the planet- its rituals and practices. She like a sacrificial lamb shrugged her shoulders and decided to go for it. She always seemed to have no will, no ambition no desire. The blue ray fell on Billano. He would be the chronicler. He would be writing. He would end out working with me and the current historian. I was amazed nobody seemed horribly misplaced. Every year it worked out and every year I was amazed.

The class was relieved but happy. I like every year was stunned. This was their last few minutes of school, and they hugged each other as if they would never see them again after tonight. I had to laugh, it was a small planet, and it was hard to keep a secret let alone not see people.

All of a sudden there was a purple ray and Annaba was gone. Annaba found herself in a void in space. She was floating. She thought about screaming, a silent scream. She was too much in wonderment to be scared.

Suddenly she was not alone. An older woman floated next to her. Annaba knew her. There were rumors that she had been abducted. Her name, Annaba could not remember, but her picture had been posted for years.

Annaba seemed unaffected by the new arrival, all she wanted to do was float among the bright lights in the sky. She felt free, no longer trapped by others' ambitions.

The other woman broke the silence, " You are my replacement. I am retiring." Annaba said nothing, the woman had not given her enough information. " I am the selector of paths. I choose you to follow in my footsteps. Next year you will decide the paths of the graduating class." Annaba smiled, she would be good at this. She talked to everybody, She already knew the life that everybody wanted. " You have to assign according to society's needs. This year we had more openings than graduates. Azanda wanted to hang out with her boyfriend but we needed more workers, so we compromised" Annaba finally had found her voice. "Will people think I have been abducted?" "No, you will have a role in the community. You will only join me on the nights of the rainbow sky.". Annaba was confused, She had always enjoyed talking with people, but now she would be more of a spy than a friend. She was feeling apprehensive. She now would be in a maze of secrets. She thought the selector of paths had made a mistake. She felt herself falling asleep. When she awoke she was in a strange house, alone in an unfamiliar bed.

The new day brought unfamiliarity to all the new graduates. They awoke in a new phase of their lives.