Firefly

By Jen Minkman

As decreed by the State, the Citizens of Ebrus are not allowed to:

Visit the ocean surrounding the Walled City.
Ignore curfew and stay out after seven.
Call in sick more than three times a year.
Sing.

A short, dystopian story about the spirit of Christmas.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jen Minkman
• Release date: Mar 11, 2015
• ISBN: 9781502284600

Jen Minkman

Jen Minkman (1978) was born in the Netherlands and lived in Austria, Belgium and the UK during her studies. She learned how to read at the age of three and has never stopped reading since. Her favourite books to read are (YA) paranormal/fantasy, sci-fi, dystopian and romance, and this is reflected in the stories she writes. In her home country, she is a trade-published author of paranormal romance and chicklit. Across the border, she is a self-published author of poetry, paranormal romance and dystopian fiction. So far, her books are available in English, Dutch, Chinese, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Afrikaans. She currently resides in The Hague where she works and lives with her husband and two noisy zebra finches.

Book preview

1.

The first time she heard the peculiar sound, Zlata was getting back from a long day of work at the National Labor Office.

Curiously, she peered into the narrow, dark alleyway off Noah Boulevard. It was a sound she’d never heard before in her life – reminiscent of a cat meowing, but more appealing and far more beautiful. The sound made her feel sad and elated at the same time.

Hello? her mother’s tinny voice buzzed from the cell phone she was clutching in her hand. Zlata? You still there?

Yeah. Absently, she eyed the alley shrouded in shadows. No one was there. Or at least she couldn’t see anybody. I’m on my way home.

Well, could you pick up some bottled water? We’ve run out. Vasily is thirsty.

Zlata groaned. Her stupid little brother was always thirsty, as well as too lazy to run down to the store himself. He’d be scared out of his wits by the time he turned sixteen and he’d be sent to work six days a week instead of going to school for five days. Unfortunately for him, bumming around was not an official State job in the City of Ebrus.

Sure, she said. See you in a bit. Clicking off, she turned toward the narrow street once more. It was so mesmerizing, that sound – now it reminded her of those seabirds that always flew across the wall to find food here. Alien, high-pitched, and erratic. But no, she couldn’t veer off her usual route and explore. What level-headed girl would venture out alone in the dark after office hours ended anyway? Curfew was in one hour, and she still needed to get the damn water for Vasily.

Resolutely, Zlata dumped the phone in her shoulder bag and set course for the Merchant Towers where all the shops in Ebrus were located. To her left and right, dark, tall blocks of flats rose up on either side of the Boulevard, seemingly reaching for the stars twinkling above. Her family lived on the twenty-first floor of Apartment Block R, thanks to her father having worked an important state job for almost twenty years now.