Ardenia Monologue

Ten, nine, eight… I can hear the timer counting down. Seven, six, five… I am running out of time. Four, three, two… I can see her standing there, but I just can’t get to her. The timer is at one, and then at zero. It is too late; I didn’t save her. Then I wake up. I have that reoccurring nightmare every night. I always get so close, but the time slips away from me and I sink to the ground in agony. I know I could’ve saved her, but there is something preventing me from that every time. It’s something I can’t decipher and something I can’t control. In my society, nothing is as it seems. I reside in the province of Cletoria, which is located in the country of Campbell. My father is a government official, head of the province council, and my mother stays at home, in our palace. The underlying issue in our society is overpopulation. Too many babies are being born and our middle class is not considered middle class anymore, as they have sunken into poverty. We feel like there is no way to correct this depression. Well actually, there is one thing we are doing about it—The Sending. “Ardenia,” my mother calls out, “it’s time to get ready for The Sending.”
“Mom, is this really necessary? Why should I risk my life and my future in The Sending, when I already have all I could
As he says this, my heart begins beating faster than a drum. This one moment would ultimately affect my entire future. In fact, I may not even come back alive. Basically, in The Sending, each sixteen year old in Campbell is entered into the lottery bowl. To the right of the lottery bowl is the challenge bowl. This challenge bowl houses many grueling tasks which will be matched up with a corresponding teen. No one wants to admit it, but the government suspects that many of us will fail our challenges, and in a sense, that is what they want. They use The Sending to filter out the weak in our society, executing those who