Lovers of Babel by Valerie Walker Page B

of the headmaster of all power schools?”
    “Yes, but my husband has never taken me on a tour,” my mom gave my father a look.
    “Well I’m sure there’s a good reason for that,” the woman replied nervously.
    “I wish I could’ve visited a long time ago,” my mom said while looking above her at the floating clouds. “Since there are clouds inside, does it ever rain inside the society?” The question sounded absurd.
    “Only if there’s a reason. The last time it rained, one of our most precious artifacts from the old age, a 20 th century book, was stolen from the power society library. It was the oldest thing to ever enter the new world,” she said.
    “ It happened about five years ago,” my father added. “We’re still looking for it.”
    My mother looked at him as if wanting to ask more questions about the stolen book, but our tour guide interrupted.
    “Now who is this little bundle of joy all nice and snug in her coat?” The woman bent down to talk to me.
    “I’m Sage,” I said shyly.
    “Well Sage we’ve got lots of fun and adventure planned for you so don’t be afraid of leaving mommy and daddy for a while. We’re going to take good care of you,” the fair woman said.
    She stood up to address my parents.
    “If you will follow me I will show you to the dormitory where she’ll be sleeping.” She walked briskly through the elegant lobby and down a long hallway with various pictures hanging on the walls of old people looking serious. We struggled to keep up. When we finally reached the end of the hallway there were two large staircases on both sides of the room that lead to the top floor where the living quarters were.
    “There are about six dozen of these dormitories with four chamber mates in each chamber.” She explained as we walked up the left staircase.
    As we made our way up the last set of stairs we could see a large room with antique tables and couches in the middle where the staircases met.
    “Here we have a reading room for the children. There are a dozen of these here in the elementary chambers,” she said.
    She then continued leading us into another long hallway to the left of the reading room. This time the walls had the ocean painted on each side. The faster we walked the more the water would sway.
    “This is one of our top professor’s masterpieces,” she said pointing at the wall. “He was the first creator to ever successfully create something that was suspended in animation without needing to keep a watchful eye on it.”
                  My parents looked thoroughly impressed. I was lost, but I loved this place. This was a kid’s dream house. The hallway led us to a large room with four child size doors, two on each side. In the middle of the room there was a fireplace, two couches, and an Indian rug. There was a large wooden chest in the corner of the room that I suspected was for toys and games.
    “Here is her living quarters. She will be sharing this space with three other girls.” She brought out a key from her pocket and unlocked the door on the right in the left corner.
    “This will be her own personal living space.”
    I looked up at my father before entering. “Go on it’s yours,” he said lightly nudging me.
    The room was larger than I expected given that the door was so small. A crystal chandelier lit the room from the top. There was a pink bed by the round window that looked out toward a grassy field. There was a tall blue cabinet on the other side of the room for my clothes. There were two small white chairs and a round white table by my bed that could be used for pretend tea time. There was also a bathroom, small floral vanity, small bookshelf, desk, and mini wireless refrigerator. I looked around in awe at my new home. Then I noticed something peculiar sitting on the bed. It looked like some kind of rope with a tag hanging from it.
    “What’s this?” I asked the guide.
    “This is an animal collar that you will need soon.”
    “But