Mama Kat’s Writing Workshop: The Law

“PLEASE!! JUST GIVE ME A BABY! PLEASE!”

The woman lunged towards the desk, her torment reflected on its clean, glossy surface. The elderly man sitting behind the desk visibly shrank back into his large black leather chair. He looked at the woman with subdued compassion then raised a single finger to beckon the two large officials flanking the door.

The officials stepped forward as one and each grasped an arm. They gently urged the woman back and out of the room. She continued to fight and struggle and weep while her husband tried to calm her. His face was ragged with exhaustion and sorrow and his shoulders slumped in defeat.

Lillian watched from her corner of the room, her fingers stilled on the keyboard. She never enjoyed being part of these meetings. The pain and suffering was too much at times. She had watched countless couples leave through those doors in anger, in dejection, in pain. Glancing over at Elder Smith she wondered how he managed to do his job. She’d only been working for him for the past 6 months but even she could visibly see how much he had aged in that time.

Crossing the room silently she placed a small hand on his arm and smiled gently.

“Does it ever get any easier, sir?”

Elder Smith shook himself from his thoughts and looked up at Lillian’s child-like face. Her huge green eyes were filled with youthful optimism and innocence. He had already detected a slight diminishment of those qualities in the short time she had been doing her job. This work was not easy for anyone.

“No, not really. You become a bit numb to it, I suppose, “he sighed. “This case, especially, was not easy. On the surface, everything looks ideal. But I noticed a comment from her mother’s family doctor and had to dig a little deeper.”  He sighed even more and flipped open a file folder.

“See here?” he asked, pointing at a medical report. “She probably didn’t even know this when she applied but her maternal grandmother had a very rare genetic form of cancer. So I had no choice but to refuse their request for the license.”

“Isn’t there anything that she can do?” Lillian asked quietly.

“They can pay to have the DNA mapping done to make sure she doesn’t happen to carry that particular genetic abnormality. But it is a very expensive procedure and based on their financial statements I doubt they could afford it. The information will be provided with the official decline letter of course…but I do not think I will see Mr. and Mrs. Adamson again.”

Elder Smith turned and slid the file into a cabinet located behind his desk. Lillian went back to her own desk and finished up the official report to be added to the file. She typed up the remainder of the conversation between the Adamson’s and Elder Smith then added a large DECLINED watermark across the page. After sending the file electronically to the records department she printed off a copy for Elder Smith.

“Do I have time to take a break before the next couple comes in, sir?”

“Certainly my dear. We don’t need to meet back for another hour. Go and get some air, you look a little peeked.”

Lillian smiled wanly and left the room. She had definitely been feeling under the weather lately. The change of seasons and increased number of viruses circulating always affected her, no matter what kind of precautions she took.

As she walked she thought about the Adamson’s. It was never easy to watch a couple be told they did not qualify for a fertility license but these two affected her more than usual. Perhaps it was because Mrs. Adamson was so close in age and appearance to herself. Lillian had not put much thought into her future family but like everyone else she would eventually have to go through the steps to obtain a fertility license if and when she decided to have a baby. It was the Law.

Lillian was too young to ever remember a time when it wasn’t the law. Not even her mother had lived in those times. Her grandmother was a young baby, one of the last free born, when it was first enacted. All of Lillian’s knowledge of the time before the Law came from her schooling and stories from her great grandmother.

When her great grandmother was a young woman, pregnant with her third child, the governments of the world united into a solitary global body to enforce laws that would apply to everyone, regardless of race or status. The population had exploded to an astronomical 10 billion people. Food was scarce, disease was rampant and rogue military groups fought for supremacy in their own little parts of the world.

Technology had made some amazing advances but it still wasn’t enough to ensure everyone had enough to eat and clean water to drink. In desperation, various government agencies sent out pleas to inventors to create something that could help the planet and ultimately save humanity. The answer was found by a small unassuming man and his small, unassuming device.

It appeared to be no more than an antique, hand held scanning device that used to be found in grocery store checkout counters. But it contained a very special laser configuration. By holding it over an individual’s reproductive organs and dragging the beam over the area it essentially “turned off” the reproductive abilities. Ovaries no long produced eggs at all and testes no longer produced sperm. It was simple, painless, and essentially permanent. Finally, there was a way to control the population.

The Global government decreed that all men and women were required to have this procedure once they had produced one offspring. If you already had children you were required to have it done immediately.  By the time Lillian’s grandmother was of childbearing age the Law had come fully into effect: all babies were automatically scanned at birth and anyone who wished to have a child must apply for a license to do so. Upon approval, the procedure was temporarily reversed until a child was born and then each parent was required to be rescanned.

As tyrannical as the Law sounded, it had worked. Within a few generations the population numbers had plummeted. Forced sterilization combined with some horrific natural disasters in various parts of the planet had brought the population back to a manageable 3 billion people.

Lillian’s job involved approving couples for a license. She completed in depth research to assist the Elders, specifically Elder Smith, with making decisions. All the paperwork had to be completed properly; fees paid and background checks done. Only financially stable and genetically healthy couples were granted a license.

As Lillian walked about the complex she came upon the Adamson’s sitting huddled together on a bench. Mrs. Adamson was still in tears and had buried her face in her husband’s shoulder. He was trying to soothe her but Lillian could tell he wanted nothing more than to collapse into tears himself. She wondered if she should approach them when the husband caught her eye.

“You were there, “he whispered. “Why? Why were we turned down?”

Lillian sat down next to him. His wife had calmed herself enough to look at Lillian and listen to her speak.

“I’m very sorry. Your wife appears to have a genetic form of cancer in her history. Unless she can prove she doesn’t carry that particular gene…”

“DNA mapping…we could never afford that. Not and expect to be approved for a child based on finances.”

“Elder Smith assumed that would be the case, which is why he didn’t mention this at your meeting. I wish there was something I could do to help.” Lillian leaned over across Mr. Adamson’s body and laid a hand gently on his wife’s knee. Mrs. Adamson trembled slightly and then gasped. She looked at Lillian with wide eyes and tried to blink back the tears. In shock, Lillian withdrew her hand.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You…you didn’t. I’m not really sure what happened, “Mrs. Adamson paused, her cheeks flushed with emotion and a shimmering ledge of tears hovering on the brink of a mass exodus down her face. “I feel better. The war of emotion that has been battling between my body and my soul seems to have halted. Thank you.” she whispered as her husband led her away towards the parkade.

Lillian sat and watched them walk away. She began to shiver uncontrollably and hugged her arms across her body.  Would she ever be willing to go through what these couples did, now that she had seen it from the other side? Was a child worth the agony?

Her body began to warm again and as she stood Lillian felt a faint fluttering within. She closed her eyes momentarily and prayed she would make it through the day.

****

This post was written as part of Mama Kat’s Writer’s Workshop. The prompt was: Write a post inspired by this word – Angsty. I’ll be honest, I wrote this the other week BUT doesn’t it just scream ‘angst’??

Don’t forget to click through and see what other people wrote this week