I startled to the blaring of my aggravating internal alarm. Dripping with sweat, I wiped my brow and stared up at the ceiling. Today was the day. Today was the day I couldn’t hesitate, couldn’t turn back. Disgruntled, I listlessly rose from the bed, careful not to wake Troya who was curled up in the fetal position on the floor, her innocence screaming to me in the darkness of the early morning. Usually I sacrificed the bed, but Troya insisted that I received at least a few hours of sleep before I departed. In less than an hour I would commence my new life, living off the land in pure isolation.

As I crept through the hall after changing into an old pair of torn jeans, my favorite Chuck Taylors, and a plain tee to match my piercing blue eyes, my mother woke from the dilapidated living room couch. “Adonia?” she asked, rubbing the sleep from her deep brown eyes.

Without waiting for a response, she quietly walked over to me, tears pouring down her face. Grabbing the end of my sleeve, I gently wiped the tears from her eyes.

“Don’t cry”, I pleaded, “you have to stay strong for Troy”.

She wrapped her arms around me, squeezing me with all her might like she did when I was little, “I will, Adonia. I promise I will.” Despite her best efforts, the tears continued to roll down her face, painting it a bright shade of red. I guess after raising someone for fifteen years it was difficult to let go.
As I tore myself away from her strong embrace, my mother whispered to me something I thought I would never hear escape her thin lips. “You were born to be a leader, Addie. Don’t you ever forget that.”
Trying to hide my surprise, I swung my backpack over my bony shoulder and headed towards the door. I turned back to my mother who was standing alone in the darkness, pale and flooded with tears. “Tell Troy that I love her and that I will be fine. Tell her not to—” I hesitated, holding back my tears, “tell her not to worry. Will you do that for me?”
My mother nodded as I reached for the gold knob that lead to my new life. I wanted to tell her that I loved her, comfort her and tell her that I would be fine and that she shouldn’t worry. But I couldn’t. I had never been good at lying and probably never would be.
As I navigated through the dimly lit street characterized by identical run-down homes with the same unappealing gray siding, I began to think through what my mother had said. I realized I was more surprised by the fact that she called me Addie than anything else. Sure, my friends and my sister occasionally called me Addie, but my mom? She was much too formal for nicknames. Pushing my thoughts away, I focused on what was laying ahead. I could see the sunrise sprouting its way up from the ground like a newly planted flower. The array of oranges and yellows reflecting across the sky never failed to astound me. I closed my eyes, listened to the rhythmic singing of the birds, and took in a breath of fresh air. This would be my new home.
After a lonely walk to the outskirts of the town, I finally reached the train station. All the other volunteers were already there waiting for the train to come, sipping from their steaming mugs of coffee. I removed my orange bag from my back and set it on the floor as quietly as possible. If I was going to pull this off I would need to lay low and fit in with the crowd. I patiently waited alone as I watched a young couple trot by, sporting grins a blind man could see from space. The woman reminded me a lot of my own mother, except for the fact that she was smiling. I hadn’t seen my mother smile since the day my father died. That was ten years ago. They claim he died while working, but I have always been skeptical of the monarchs. My father might have been a bit strange, but he was far from stupid. There is no way that after working the same job in the factory every day for over twenty years that he would make such a rookie mistake.
“Excuse me ma’am?” a voice with an unrecognizable accent asked as they gently shook my shoulder, “are you alright?”
I glanced up and nodded, meeting the voice’s soft brown eyes. I had been so caught up in my thoughts that I hadn’t noticed my frail body shaking or the warm tears collecting in my eyes. So much for going unnoticed. The concerned young man pushed his chestnut hair out of his face, and offered me his hand.
“Thanks” I offered as I took his hand in my own. His hand was rough, marked with scars and callouses from years of hard work.
“I suppose you are volunteering with the rest of us, eh?” he asked. His odd expression showed that he had already noticed my eyes. It wasn’t easy to miss them; they were iridescent and sparkled with nearly every shade of blue. I liked to describe them as royal.
“Yeah,” I mumbled, trying to look away “I will be joining you in the fields”.
“First time?”
I nodded. I could tell he wanted to ask. I could see his insides burning with curiosity to why I was so unique. I wanted to get in his face and scream, tell him that it wasn’t my choice to live this cruel life and that I would much rather have brown eyes like everyone else. I wasn’t part of the royal family and I didn’t have a birth defect, so why was I born with piercing blue eyes? I couldn’t answer that question. If I could I wouldn’t be on the run; I would be at home, happily spending my time with my family like a normal brown-eyed human being. They wouldn’t be chasing me or trying to murder me in my sleep. Imagine that.
Off in the distance I could hear the train approaching, whistling as it rolled down the tracks. All of the other volunteers, including the young man, raced to the edge of the tracks to get the best seats. The train rolled to a stop and the stainless steel doors opened to reveal a modern interior. All of the forest green seats faced the windows, forming an aisle through the middle of the rather large cabin. My backpack in hand, I made my way towards the swarming volunteers who were piling in for a long day of work ahead. I grabbed the handle and pulled my scrawny body up the step, the train beginning to speed away through the hills as I took my seat. Thoughts of my family flashed before my eyes; I would never get another hug from my mother or have the chance to watch Troya grow up into a young woman. When all the volunteers leave after working in the fields today to rejoin their families, their baskets filled high with produce, I will make my way past the fields into the unknown realms of our country. If my plan works, I will disappear into the world, unable to be tracked and killed by the authorities. Nobody will stare at my eyes and wonder how I was fortunate enough to receive the mark of nobility. The king will be the only known individual with blue eyes again, society will move on without me, and I will be a forgotten part of history. After the train passes through the towering gates, I would never look back. I can finally embrace my royal blue eyes. After all, I was always born to be a leader.