Giulia Socolof 9/27/13 English 7- Slot E Dreams I woke up in a cold sweat.

My hands were clammy, and my heart rate must have been beating at 180 beats per minute. I had been having the same dream for weeks now. I checked my clock: 3 am. I sighed and went back to sleep, and my sub consciousness allowed me to sleep in peace until about 7:30 am. I went downstairs and saw my breakfast on the table. It was oatmeal. I yelled upstairs, You know I hate oatmeal! Just eat it! came the exasperated reply from my nanny. I pushed it aside, deciding that I would rather go without breakfast than eat that. I clambered back up the stairs and changed into my clothes. Then I walked to school, passing the familiar, colorful houses I knew so well. I met up with a group of girls, one of which was talking excitedly about the new iPhone she had gotten over the weekend. Its awesome. It even has a fingerprint sensor! Thats cool. I got one of those a month ago, I replied. She just gave me a stop-talking-you-are-being-annoying look, and continued talking. I shrugged and walked into the classroom. After a mediocre day at school, my father came to pick me up. He asked me what I did at school. I told him about the morning, how Rebecca got the new iPhone. He said, Thats great! I just shrugged and said that it didnt matter. After doing my homework, I watched some TV. My younger sister was on the couch. A stern look was all it took to make her scramble for the remote and hand it to me. After an hour, I went to bed. Weird, I thought. Im never this tired. I dismissed it as something to do with hormones. The health teacher was talking about it earlier

Giulia Socolof 9/27/13 English 7- Slot E today, right after she got mad at me because I took too long in the bathroom. So, I settled in and went to bed. The same dream happened again that night. I woke again at 3, just like it had been for the past few weeks. Except this time, it wasnt a nervous sweat. It was a hot sweat. I felt the walls, and they were hot. The air was full of smoke. Suddenly, the fire alarm went off. It must have woken the entire neighborhood. I felt the door, and it was smoking hot. I turned around, and without a second thought, I jumped out the open window. I remember hitting the ground and hearing a crack. Then everything went black. The first thing I noticed when I woke was the searing pain in my ankle. The second thing I noticed was the boy staring into my face. I tried to jump to my feet, only to have my ankle buckle underneath me. Ow! I screamed. Its OK, the boy said. Just dont move. Im Josh, by the way. I immediately complied, not that I had a choice. Josh looked about 13 or 14. He had grey hair, striking gray eyes, and kind of looked like a really young version of George Clooney. He methodically wrapped my ankle. Alright. Now you have to walk. The president is about to speak. I was so confused, but I followed him into the square, where a large television screen was. A petite, grey-haired man gave a short speech, mostly about stocks and that sort of thing. At the end he said something that got my attention. And, lastly, we have a visitor. Will everyone please turn his or her attention to Giulia Socolof? She is the one in the red shirt and white pants. A collective gasp rose up from the cloud of people when they heard the colors. I suddenly realized

Giulia Socolof 9/27/13 English 7- Slot E how out of place I looked- A single drop of color in a sea of grey. I felt the entire squares eyeballs turn on me. I quickly turned and ran. Josh followed me. Giulia! Wait up! He was faster than I, and caught me quickly. Alright. I dont know why Im here, or what Im supposed to do. But I can figure out what this is, and you have the answer. Where am I? Youre in Aequalis. Come back to my house. Ill explain everything. He must have noticed how agitated I sounded, because he spoke quickly and calmly. We went back to his house. It was a good thing he showed me, because I never would have found it. All the houses in Aequalis were simple gray cement. In New York we would have called them cookie cutters. He talked about the history of the country. Apparently, it was a small planet inside the Oort cloud, where humans had found the necessary resources to survive when the Earths resources were eliminated because of overpopulation. Here, he said, everyone was equal. They wore the same clothes, they made the same amount of money, and they had the same food rations. Although these quantities were small, at least it was fair. I peeked inside the pantry, and it was nearly bare. I understood what not a lot meant. After he had finished, he gave me some gray clothes, and I collapsed on his couch until morning. The next morning, he took me to meet with the president of Aequalis. The most important thing, he said, Is not to ask his name. He is referred to simply as The President. When you address him, call him Mr. President. Before I could question this absurd rule, we had arrived at The Presidents home. It was the same as all the others. I entered, and found him in the kitchen.

Giulia Socolof 9/27/13 English 7- Slot E Ah, Giulia. I was hoping youd show up. I see you have disposed of your Earthly clothes in exchange for proper ones. I asked him the same questions I had asked Josh the night before. The answers were pretty much the same. But then I realised that I had never told him where I was from. How did you know I was from Earth? I asked him. Well, he said, We get these visitors once in a while. We are told to teach them a lesson. But your case, well, weve never had someone like you before. How do I get out? I asked him. In your case, you must perform a task, proving that you understand the value of material. So, for the next two days, I worked tirelessly to build new houses to accommodate the growing population. It was difficult, backbreaking work, but I did it anyway. I thought of how I had been robbed of my possessions in an instant in the fire, and how I wasnt going to see them again. I learned that the work that my nanny, my parents, and my teachers was all for me. I thought of how I had been so lucky to have all these things. And I realized that I had been a complete jerk to all of them. At sundown on the second day, I finished my sentence. I went to Joshs house first. I was ecstatic, thinking Id finally get home. Hold on there. We have to visit The President first. If he doesnt think you did well enough, youll never get home. Josh said. A feeling of anxiousness rose in my gut. What if I didnt do well enough? Josh and I walked together to The Presidents home. I tentatively knocked on the door. He came and opened it. We stared at each other for a minute or two,

Giulia Socolof 9/27/13 English 7- Slot E neither of us wanting to break the connection. He turned away abruptly and murmured something under his breath; possibly to a person I didnt know was there. He thought for a moment, and then I saw an ever so slight nod of his head. He turned around, and said, Giulia, my advisors and myself have deemed you fit to return to your homeland. Goodbye. And just like that, I was gone. For a moment, I was devastated. I didnt get to say goodbye to The President, or to Josh. But then, I realized that I was going home! I arrived on the porch of the house, and I immediately ran inside and up the stairs. The time on the clock showed 6:30 am, September 21, 2013. It had only been three hours. I sighed with relief. The fire had not spread, and it was extinguished in less than two minutes. The only thing destroyed was the couch and computer in the alcove next to my room, but I could live with that. I was so thankful nothing major had been destroyed. And I realized then, that that had been the first time I had been thankful in many, many years. The next night, when I went to sleep, the dream was gone.