The crisp, winter air howled through what was previously known as New York City. Within minutes the citizens of the nation Benighted began to prepare for the day that would never be forgotten. A clear sky and bright sun seemed to conceal the deep sadness the community was about to feel.The elders who were now eligible to complete the annual examination departed from their compounds. The rigid sound of their combat boots strike the rock paths almost revealed the anxiety each elder was experiencing. Among the few elders who were late to prepare was Prudence Halisson. Her brown hair could still be seen resting on her pillowcase.
“It’s time!” her father shouted.
Unwillingly, Prudence opened her blue eyes and began to apply the required gear. Her father soon reminded her of how tardy she would be.
“I honestly don’t understand how the government believes this will be beneficial.The act of removing the unskilled and innocent to make a ‘perfect’ society is pure evil,” Prudence said.
Her father exchanged a rather irritated facial expression with her and replied, “After reaching the age of seventeen you now have to take responsibility for the actions that you are required to. You just don’t quite see how hard the government works to improve our lives.Your mother demonstrated the same hatred for our leaders as you do. It’s unbelievable.”
“She was such an intelligent woman. You cannot act as if her opinions were unrealistic. Knowing she passed away, you still attempt to make her appear insane.”
“Prudence, I love you regardless. I’m sorry if I offended you, but we must go,” her father apologized.
Prudence carried her great fear with her as she slowly tugged on the metal doors of the arena to be assigned her mentor. Since attendance was mandatory, the arena appeared as if it had reached its capacity. Although the assigning had not officially begun yet, the attention of every teenager was focused on the empty stage. After several minutes, the master of ceremonies along with the president advanced onto the stage. The whole room was as quiet as a mouse. Names are called up in alphabetical order to the stage.The faces of the participants revealed their thoughts of their mentors.
“Prudence Halisson,” the master of ceremonies announced.
Prudence’s eyes brightened before she began to proceed to the stage. The president handed her a white envelope that was addressed to her.  She quickly unfolded it and saw the word “Athena” in bold lettering. The president then kindly asked her to move back to her assigned seat in the crowd. The master of ceremonies completed the assigning after a short period of time and made his very last announcement.
“In three hours each participant will meet here once again to undergo a measure of intelligence test. Those who receive test results that are within the allowed limit will go on to the final physical examination. Those who do not meet the requirements will be deported from the community immediately. Good luck,” he asserted.
Prudence and the other participants then exited the arena to begin the walk back to their compounds. Each family would prepare for potentially the last few hours they would spend with the children. Elaborate meals were served for the children due to the lack of food they would soon be getting while in the government’s custody. The fear each family was experiencing was masked by the faint joy they were currently having while together.
Grief soon appeared on each family’s doorstep. The teenagers once again applied the required gear and hugged their parents. They then left their compounds and anxiously walked toward the arena. Parents could be seen in the distance shedding tears to express their deep mourning for the government’s way of creating a better society. After the speaker in the community sent a reminder of the great benefit the examination would have, the tears were soon replaced with weak grins.
Once inside the spacious arena, the participants had to find their mentors. Cards held in front of each mentor stating who he or she was made the meeting effortless. Prudence immediately found Athena.
“Hello, I am Athena. I will be your mentor for the next few hours. We must now go to the third floor to collect your intelligence measures. This should be the simplest part of the exam, so don’t worry,” Athena extolled.
Without responding, Prudence followed Athena up the narrow staircase. She lead Prudence into a small room with a large, blue chair in the center. On one side of the chair was a monitor on wheels. Prudence sat in the chair without Athena having to give her the instruction to. Athena soon attached wires to her scalp that were connected to the monitor beside her.
“Drink this serum. It will allow you to go into a deep sleep to avoid any pain,” Athena ordered as she handed her a cup.
“If this serum kills me, it’s all your fault,” Prudence scolded before she entered a deep sleep.
“Your results will never meet the requirements,” Athena admitted when Prudence awoke.
With tears filling up in her eyes Prudence replied, “This was exactly what I was terrified of.”
“I can fix this,” Athena assured.
She grasped the wires previously used on Prudence and attached them to her own scalp.
“I’ll use my levels of intelligence to replace your own. The monitor will complete the work for you, so you will not have to do anything,” Athena whispered before she drank the serum.
Prudence attentively watched as multiple graphs came up on the monitor. She could see her mentor twitching in her sleep and she was slightly frightened by the sight of it. In sixty seconds Athena woke up and released a sigh of relief. Suddenly, a speaker announced that all participants and their mentors were to go to the first floor to hand in their results. The two women once again headed down the long spiral staircase to the first floor. The master of ceremonies was on the stage accepting each sheet from the mentors. Prudence took a seat in the front row as her mentor handed her results in. The names of nearly half of the participants were called. After realizing her name was not said, Prudence gave her mentor a hug and smiled in a way she had not smiled since her mother was alive.
“I remember the last time I felt this good. It was a few months before my mother was diagnosed. My whole family was at the beach spending a day together. We were all having a simple conversation before we got into a sand throwing fight. Soon we all jumped into the water as we continuously laughed,” Prudence recalled.
Athena smiled at her. The moment of happiness was soon replaced with yet another announcement from the master of ceremonies.
With a solemn expression he commanded, “All remaining participants are to head to the second floor to complete the final part of the examination, archery. A bow and arrow will be provided for each person.”
Prudence was the third person to perform when she reached the second floor. Although her hands were shaking due to her anxiety, she managed to slowly pull back the string on the bow and aim. She did not directly hit the target, but scored very close to it. On her second attempt she hit the target perfectly. Unfortunately, the arrow ricocheted off of the target board and fell to the ground. Before she had time to react, the next person was in front of her preparing to perform. Prudence shrugged as she walked away. Her mentor gave her a nod from the glass window in the observation room above her. After several anticipating minutes, a list appeared on the screen with the names of the winning participants. At the very bottom of the list was the person with the lowest score, Prudence. With tears streaming down her cheeks, Prudence jumped into Athena’s arms.
Athena shouted, “You made it, Prue!”
“Why did you just address me as ‘Prue’? My mother was the only person who called me that,” Prudence replied.
“That is because I am your mother. I didn’t die of cancer.”
“How could you abandon me?” Prudence snarled.
”It wasn’t my choice. The government used my cancer diagnosis as a disguise for their evil act. Several government officials kidnapped me to become a mentor after they realized I could be a threat with my outrageous opinions I had for our leaders,” Athena confessed.
Tears began to stream down both of their faces and Prudence embraced her mother warmly. Now Prudence could experience the love that she longed for again.