Hidden Fire

In a small, gray house at the end of a street full of small, gray houses, there is a window. This particular window looks into a bedroom where Ena Grace Mardenn is sleeping. The morning sun seeps in through the pale blue curtains and onto the bed. In this bed, Ena rolls over in her sleep. As she moves her blond hair out of her face, her bright green eyes flutter open.

This description of a seemingly ordinary fifteen-year-old girl may bore you. You may think that you know what is going to happen to this girl. But I assure you that the things you will read about are not what you think they are going to be. You may not even want to read the story of Ena Mardenn and her family. But be warned, if you begin, you will not be able to stop.



I roll over in my bed at glance at my alarm clock. 7:03. I took a moment to gather my thoughts. 7 AM. Tuesday. School. Crap, I slept through my alarm again. I sleep like a hibernating bear when I want to. So, all the time. Stupid alarm, I think as I drag myself out of bed and into the bathroom, and I look in the mirror. Not much to see, especially in the morning. Pale blond hair, pale skin, green eyes. I’m short and skinny. No freaking curves at all. Grumbling to myself, I splash water on my face and tug a comb through my hair. I open my closet, which doesn’t do much, considering half my clothes are on the floor. I pull on a t-shirt and sweatpants, not in the mood to make myself look pretty today. I plod down the hallway to the kitchen, still half asleep. In case you haven’t figured it out yet, I, Ena Mardenn, am not a morning person. Neither is Hunter, my brother. He’s only bearable in the mornings when he’s not awake enough to make rude comments. Hunter’s nineteen; I can’t wait ‘til he gets his job and home assignment. I might be able to survive two more years. Declan, my father, is such a morning person it hurts to look at him before ten. He practically bounces into the kitchen every morning. He thinks it wakes Hunter and me up, but really, we’re just too tired to care. There are the sleepy heads and the early birds in our family, and then there’s Jora, my mother. The best word I can think of to describe her is soft. Soft hair, soft eyes, soft voice, soft heart. Jora is the sweetest and kindest person I know. I’m pretty sure that she’s the only thing that keeps me sane living with Hunter and Declan.

When I walk into the kitchen, it’s like three totally different personalities. Jora, making breakfast quickly and calmly. Hunter, slumped over the table as if it’s his bed. And Declan, walking and bouncing around constantly like those bouncy balls that little kids play with. It’s like the moon, the sun, and a comet or something.

“Morning, sweetie,” Jora says and kisses my forehead.

“Mmm,” I mumble back and drag myself over to the counter for breakfast as Declan puts a plate in front of me. I eat quickly and get my school bag. As I walk out the door, I yell a goodbye for Declan and Jora and a hurry up for Hunter.

I ramble through my routine at school, feeling extra tired and zombie-like today. Nothing exciting happens until Old World History, which is taught by the ancient Professor Hallings. She’s just about the most boring person you will ever meet. Today, she’s trailing on and on about how once Karming was founded, Authorities decided that some people deserved more respect, and that some titles were un-equalizers. Like how now we call our parents by their first names, instead of using the words ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad,’ like they did in the Jumbled Days. It’s stuff we’ve been listening to since the primary grades, and everyone was totally asleep. Well, we were until Rayden’s outburst.

“This is all a lie. What they’re teaching us, what they’re saying is true, it’s all a lie. They have us trapped, can’t you see that? We’re like robots; we do whatever they want without question. They choose everything for us! What we read, what we wear, what we eat for breakfast! Well, I think it’s time to change that. They say the people in the Jumbled Days had terrible lives, that they had no protection, nothing to insure their safety or well being. But they had something we don’t. And that’s freedom.”

Professor Hallings stood up and smacked her books on her desk. She looked really mad.

“Authorities,” she said in a calm voice, “take this boy away.” Instantly, two men in white suits came into the classroom and took Rayden away. He did not resist.



“It didn’t make sense! Rayden’s one of the quietest people in school, he never speaks up! And when they took him, he looked totally calm! He didn’t resist at all! And then Professor Hallings continued like nothing happened! I mean, when he-“

“Ena!” Jora had cut off my explanation of the outburst. ”This is not an appropriate topic of conversation! We do not speak of these things at the dinner table!” More like at all, I thought to myself as I picked at my food and stared at my Circle, as if it had all the answers. (The Circle is a small, green, circular tattoo you get when you’re born. No one knows what it’s for, but it’s not a big deal. I don’t think it’s bad or anything; it’s just a part of life. We’re actually not supposed to talk about it. So if anyone asks, you didn’t hear it from me.)

Dinner ended quickly after that, and then there was cleanup and after dinner activities. I went to my room to get some space to think. The rest of dinner was so silent; I could practically feel Jora breathing tension. I sat on my bed, and I couldn’t stop thinking about how Declan wouldn’t meet my eyes after I started talking about Rayden. He was silent when Jora stopped me, too.

“Can I come in?” he said quietly. I nodded in response.

“So, I wanted to talk about what you were explaining at dinner,” he said quietly and hesitantly.

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have mentioned it, Jora’s right, it isn’t something that you talk about at dinner. I should’ve just left it. I won’t do it again,” I blurted out, not wanting to get into trouble.

“Ena, you’re not in trouble.” I looked up, surprised. “I wanted to know…more about Rayden,” Declan said, still speaking in a undertone.

“He’s the tall, blond one, right?” I nodded, confused.

“I thought so…Ena, there’s something I need you to promise me,” Declan said seriously. Just then, Hunter knocked and came in.

“Ena?” He said, and stopped when he saw Declan with me.

“It’s alright Hunter. Please, come in. We were just talking about Rayden,” Declan said to him. Hunter came in cautiously and sat on my bed next to me.

“So…what happened?” Hunter said slowly and carefully. I retold my story, in more detail this time.

“Guys, I’ve been thinking. What if Rayden’s right? What if we are trapped, with no way out? I mean, there is a twenty foot high brick wall surrounding our city. Yeah, they say it’s for our safety, but what if that’s not true? What if it’s there…what if it’s there because there’s something wrong with us? With Karming?”

“Ena, Hunter, there’s something you need to know. There is something wrong with Karming. These green tattoos we all have? They’re not just something that the Authorities do because they want to. When someone has an outburst, the Authorities take them away, right? But there’s more. When they take them away, they don’t just send them home, they make them forget everything that just happened,” Declan finished and looked at us. We stared at him, confused.

“When an Authority pushes on any citizen’s tattoo, it pushes them into a deep sleep, and makes them forget everything about the outburst they’ve just had.”

“That health pill we take every night? It’s not for your health. It goes through your memories of the day and picks out the ‘bad’ or ‘unhealthy’ ones and basically deletes them. So I want you both to promise me something--never take that pill again. Hide it, trash it, anything. Don’t let them do this to you. Don’t let them take away your freedom.”

There was a long pause before Hunter spoke up.

“Wait, how do you know this?” he said accusingly.

“Because...I was an Authority. When I began questioning how this city is run, they decided that I shouldn’t be able to do that anymore. They wanted to give me the pill to make me forget; Authorities don’t take it. I begged them not to make me. I promised I wouldn’t tell. I couldn’t bear to go back to being controlled. They agreed, but on one condition. If I told a soul, they would kill me…and whoever it was that I told,” Declan said seriously, but Hunter still looked skeptical.

“No, Hunter, he’s right. There used to be this kid named Ivan in my class. One day, a few years ago, he had an outburst. First one I’d ever seen. It was in the one class that Ria and I had together. Remember her? Old best friend. Anyway, that night, I just remember being really tired, and I didn’t take the pill. The next day, I tried to talk to her about it, but she didn’t remember a thing!”

“She could have been faking! I remember Ria, she was a big liar,” Hunter said with conviction.

“Hunter. This is Karming. No one lies. No one even knows how to lie,” I said smugly.

“Ena’s right, Hunter. I remember, but that isn’t important. What is important is that we decide how and when we get out of here,” Declan said abruptly.

“Wait…what about Jora? Does she know?” I said after another long pause.

“Ena, Hunter…this might be hard for you to understand, but…remember when I told you that I was threatened? The person who threatened me, it wasn’t just some random Authority. It was your mother.”