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below the surface to the government complex that coordinated
whose life would be changed forever. He did not know what good
being there as the names were announced would do, he usually
waited by the phone, however his brother’s unconcealed pity kept
his aching legs moving towards his destination.
‘Hello sir, will you be attending the selection today? Shall I remove
your name from the call list?’ Heph nodded, he could hear almost no
sound from outside the doors apart from the quiet buzzing of
whispers. He entered, expecting to find a small group of people
much like him. Instead, his eyes were assaulted by an onslaught of
humanity. More than one hundred people were crammed into the
space: women, children, men, husbands, mothers, sons… All bearing
some kind of disablement. Wheelchairs, crutches, even beds could
be seen scattered amongst the silent crowd. At the front of the room
a colossal glass sphere was filled with thousands of names labelled
onto tiny black marbles. The marbles began to spin and dance
around their enclosure, creating a soft gushing sound as they clicked
against one another infinitely. Heph was reminded of the sound of
falling sand or the fast pattering of rain on his apartment roof.
‘First name: Robert Zimms!’ Silence prevailed amongst the
crowds. No one jumped for joy, knowing that at last they had
received a second chance. A small man in the corner picked up a
phone and dialled. The next three selections continued in this
fashion, the many crippled watching the sphere in silence, no one
from the crowd was selected. Heph felt ill. He watched the balls rise
and fall like some kind of sick lotto game. It seemed only he knew
just how many people from above the surface were waiting with
their hands on their phone receivers, desperate to correct the kind of
problems the people of this room would disregard in an instant. It
suddenly occurred to him that these people must only come to the
ceremony because they don’t own a phone themselves. A young
child began to cry as the last name was selected from the sphere.
Heph thought of the instant ovens, the 3D televisions, the zip
lifts, even the corkscrew train he had used today, which had
transported him from the ground level to a mile below in less than
five seconds. All these things were nothing special to him. Heph
began to wonder just how many levels lay beneath this one…did the
sticky scent of fresh rain reach their noses also?
For some, with the rain came hope and the whisper of a dream.
Cascade
11