chapter 1 - assignment

“I can’t wait, I hope I get Baker,” Ellie listened to her friend Beth as she took another bite of her apple, “Mmph,” she swallowed “everyone loves the Baker!”

“Oh, come on, everyone wants Baker.” Ellie stopped eating several minutes ago, and sat there poking her spinach. She couldn’t focus on anything else, in mere moments the rest of their lives would be decided, They’d be assigned their Roles.

“What about Photographer? You get to meet every family that way, and you’d be in charge of cataloging the town’s visual history.”

“Eh,” Beth lifted her napkin to her lips, being careful not to smudge her red lipstick, “History has never really been my thing. I always enjoyed baking and cooking as a kid, though.” She threw the napkin on to the tray and began to get up to throw it away. “And you know how important food is for the town to even function.”

Ellie sighed. In reality, she didn’t care which Role she got, she just wanted this day to be over so she could start the rest of her life. You couldn’t do anything until you moved to your settlement and were assigned your Role. She wanted to get married, maybe have kids at some point, but here she was, 24 years old, spending years preparing her mind and body for what was to come next, as did the other 150 men and women in the room. They were young, they were in peak physical condition, and they had shelter and food. They already knew this new settlement would be a success, they just needed to start.

“We have about twenty more minutes. Want to head over together?” Ellie grabbed Beth’s hand.

“Sure!”

****************** ******************************************

They sat down at two aisle seats a few rows back from a raised platform. The crowd slowly filled in, which only worsened Ellie’s nerves. An older woman dressed in a green uniform clacked her heels loudly against the stage as she walked up to the mic. Behind her were two tables with stacks of plain manilla envelopes of varying thicknesses, and over a dozen people in identical forest green uniforms.

“Welcome! As you know, this is the most important day of your lives. The day you receive your Role.” She adjusted the mic stand up toward her mouth. “I have a few reminders before we begin.

“First: the Role you are assigned is final. There is no trading, no switching, no exceptions. As you already know from your settlement of birth, we do not make mistakes in Role assignments.

“Second: In order for a society to work, all Roles must be filled. You might think your or someone else’s Role is insignificant. Do not make that mistake.

“Now some of you will be in orientation for longer than others, but expect everyone to be finished no later than one month from now. Your instructions will be in this,” she held up a thick envelope. “We ask that once we call your name, you sit quietly and do not open your envelope. You may not reveal your role to anyone until you report to the room and building written on the front.

“Let us begin.”

This was it, Ellie couldn’t contain her nerves much longer. Her leg shook up and down as the first group of ten was called. Another. “Come on, call my name,” she thought. Beth was just called, how many people had they read off now, half? Less than? She surely had to be soon. A few more groups came and went, until the last grabbed the remaining packets.

Ellie...her name wasn’t called. How could her name not be called? Did they forget about her? Was there some sort of mistake, what could—?

“Now!” Ellie jumped in her seat, she was shaking. “There is one Role that we announce publicly, to keep with its spirit.” What Role could that be? Ellie couldn’t think of what could fit this criteria.

“Ellie Greene. Your Role is Town Pig.”