Auction

Entry #1

Growing Up Female

Some of my first memories I have are of my mother. Her smile, her voice, the way she would walk. My last memory of her was when she was pregnant for the tenth time, at least tenth time since my birth. I was turning ten soon. At the time I had nine younger sisters, and five older sisters. This was my mother's sixteenth pregnancy.

My mother was joined to my father when she was 16, he got her from Auction after her training was complete. She conceived my oldest sister when she was nineteen. Late I know. She recently turned thirty-five years earlier in the current year.

I remember her brushing my long dark brown hair and telling me how this time she hopes it is a boy. Gushing at the thought of a little brother. A boy would mean better things for all of us, my mom, my sisters and myself. Though I wasn't quite aware of how much better it would have been for my mother till afterwards when I heard some of father's other wives talking. For father was going to release any wife that could give him a son from having any more children, an early retirement is what they would call it.

About a week or so before the Termi got here my mother sat me down. It was my birthday; I was now ten. She told me how I was soon going to go off to the auction houses in Auction, but she was going to try to keep me home a little longer to help her out with the newest baby.

My father was the leader of the family or tribe as some would call it. He had ten wives at all times and was very fair to all of them. My mother was currently fourth oldest of his wives. Father has had many wives in his life and has had at least five boys. Learning that my father gave them the choice on how the termination was to happen was very kind of him. From what I know, some men are very mean towards the women they terminate.

Another kind thing my father allowed was that my mother was also able to teach us things. Most females in society are not permitted to learn. The favorite story for my sisters and I before bed was the dictionary. You were able to see the history of what things may have been like before through those pages. A lot of words were blacked out, and mother couldn't always make out what certain words were, but it was an amazing time to be able to hear what different words meant. I hope that whoever I am to be a wife to is like father. Kind yet strict in his part of continuing the human race.

Since I was the oldest now, being that my sisters all before me were sent to Auction City. I have been in charge of helping, along with my birth year sisters, with all of the younger children. There was four of us to watch them all, and all four of us would be sent off to Auction soon. You get sent to Auction the year you turn ten. I am the oldest of the four of us. Also helping us in caring for the younger children are the eight-year-old sisters, as they will be taking over our duties when we leave. When we leave, they will then begin to teach the ones under them on how to care for the younger ones below them and so on. Though are mothers being in charge of each of their own children we were there to help.

My birth year sisters all look like our father other than a few minor differences from the different mothers. They were all tall, semi dark skin, dark brown hair and brown eyes. I on the other hand looked like my mother, I was short, with semi light skin, dark brown hair and blue eyes. My hair the only thing similar to us all. Though I had his nose and smile.

About a week after my tenth birthday, the Termi was delivered. It was a sad day for all of us especially my younger siblings. As that now meant they would have to be sent to the Auction Prep houses in Auction City. Auction prep was created for female children who no longer have a mother to care for them to go. Any male child goes directly to the father's care, usually the male children would go off into the father's care at the age of five, but when no mother they are directly placed under the father's primary care.

I was thankful that I was already ten, so I was going to Auction City, and to the auction houses already, so it wouldn't be as hard for me to leave.

Father was nice also when the Termi arrived, he let us go in and see our mother one last time. We went in one at a time, to say our goodbyes and our thankyous.

Being the oldest I went in last. I cried, she cried, she apologized. Saying how she was sorry she had a Termi. For you see, a Termi is a baby that was born with some sort of disfigurement or abnormalities, these babies are called a Termi as they are terminated and disposed of immediately. Many do not get to have a chance to take their first breath. She also told me how it was a boy, finally a boy. He was born with something wrong in his face, his eyes appeared to be spaced farther apart, he had a flattened bridge to his nose, his ears were on his head funny. This was very common to be seen of babies born of women getting close to recommended retirement age of forty years of age.

Had she had a healthy baby boy and not a Termi, she would have been able to retire early, and moved on to do something else once we were all gone off to Auction. Mother was not sent to the mines. She was terminated that evening. I was thankful for my father's kindness, he let her choose how she was to be terminated. Mother chose poison.

The following day my birth year sisters and I would leave for Auction, along with my nine younger sisters. Father would very likely pick out a new wife while he is there dropping us off. This would be his fortieth wife. He always maintained the minimum of ten wives, though he has had up to fifteen at one point a few years after I was born. With mother gone he needs a tenth wife.

The morning we went to Auction another baby was born. A boy, a healthy baby boy! My father had another successor. He was very ecstatic on the way to Auction. I was happy for him and the mother who had the child. He was talking to himself about getting two new wives now as the wife that had the boy can choose early retirement based on his rules. My father was somewhere in his late forties, he doesn't talk to us except to discipline when needed.

We arrived in Auction City after about a five-hour journey. Horses can only go so fast. One word that mother would talk about was 'vehicle' it always confused me. I did not understand how they would move. Did they have horses or some other animal moving them forward?

Soon our father dropped us off at the intake doors, on leaving his presence we each shook his hand. I was the only one of the four of us to speak. I thanked him, for all that he has done for all of us. I hope he knew how generous he was.

This handshake also signaled the end of my childhood, and the start of becoming a valuable wife to someone one day in the future.

~Till our next meeting.

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