Lovers of Babel by Valerie Walker

apocalypse. This allowed humans to interact with their environment like never before. We were able to create our own realities, change our phenotypes, and travel long distances within seconds. We could manipulate our environment to whatever our imaginations summoned. We were gods.
    Well, at least it seemed that way. Celestial beings don’t have to go to school to strengthen their abilities, but we did. My father, leader Amias Riley, developed power schools for those second and third generation Equinoxians who were able to afford this higher education.
    I was five when my parents sent me to power school. In order to be accepted into the school, parents had to have a large amount of credits and only those families who were specifically chosen could be invited to attend. Since I am the daughter of Amias, the leader of the new world and headmaster of all power schools, I got the first invite for elementary school. I remember the day I received the invitation like it just happened.
      My parents and I had just gotten home from visiting the Museum of Lost Artifacts in Senegal. We lived in a posh gated community in northern New Washington where every house was painted in a soft pastel making the place look like a sea of flowers. Our house was lavender and was the biggest in the community.
    I remember being so excited about traveling to Africa because we got to use my mom’s teleporting abilities. Through enough practice she discovered a way to bring other people with her on her teleport. We would have to stand in a circle holding hands and my mother would close her eyes, then violà, we were there. The Lost Artifacts Museum contained lots of ancient objects that were found after the apocalypse. Some things were still intact and others were partially destroyed. I remember seeing an old 21 st century Hummer vehicle and wondered how they got a car that big to move. While we were in Senegal we also went on an African safari. The animals were so close to our tour jeep that I clung to my father for protection. This was one of the last times I can remember actually feeling safe around him.
    Once our vacation was over we were back in Washington in our living room as if we had only been gone for a few hours. I was sitting on the floor in front of the hologram set that was showing a commercial for the galactic amusement park and playing with my transformer doll, when suddenly a silver blob appeared floating in front of me. I reached out and touched it with my finger and it was cold and gooey. I immediately brought it to my father so he could inspect the object. Although he was the headmaster of Power School he had no part in the invitation process. This was all the work of the school board.  He placed it on the dining room table and we stood there watching it and waiting for something to happen. Then, it began to grow. We stood back in awe of what was happening before us. It began to expand more and then stopped. Then it began to speak softly to us. It said,
    “’Parents of Sage, this is your formal invitation to enter your daughter in elementary power school. Here, Sage will learn to develop her powers so that she may become one of the best 3 rd generation creators that this earth has to offer. She will also study the fundamentals as well, however; in power school the focus will be on hexing. We are proud to offer the daughter of Mr. Riley a place in this prestigious academy. If you choose to seek higher education for your daughter she must depart within 24 hours. We must keep the location secret from the naturals and other outsiders in order to protect our students. So, to find the school you must follow me in your hover car. We will depart in a day.’”
    Then the blob collapsed into a tiny droplet of mercury. We didn’t need a day to decide whether I was going or not. My father was ecstatic about it. He had dreamt of the day that his first born would be able to take his place as leader, and the fact that I had the opportunity to