They Keep You Safe

They Keep You Safe
	Smith looked down the corridor. Not supposed to be here. He was cold and sweaty. Down this steely corridor, the last pathway, the road to paradise, Smith’s Mother, Sister, and countless others had been lead by the Guardians.
				What is at the end of this road?
	There were a great many forbidden zones, this corridor was not singular in that.		In exchange there were many very comfortable places to live, and play.
		“Do not interfere with the Guardians or the barriers they create, they keep you safe.” Mother warned.
		“Safe from what?” asked a young Smith.	“Terrible Dangers.” Mother would not explain further, could not because she didn’t know. She shuddered even wondering.
“But here we are safe. The Guardians are here to protect us until we are Chosen.”				“Where do The Chosen go?” the boy inquired.
	“The Guardians take them down the road to paradise, to Heaven.” Mother told him happily.
“One day you or I may be lucky enough to be chosen, if we are very good.”			Smith moved nervously into the corridor. It was easy to be good. As the billboards paid for by The Council for Mankind said: “Being good feels good!”
			The ad bore a depiction of a large man eating a double bacon cheeseburger, french fries, and milkshake. What was at the end of this corridor? More milkshakes? His Mother?
It had been 13 years since his mother walked this path. Now trembling visibly he approached the steel door ahead. Smith had not been chosen. He had been plagued since childhood with a nagging curiosity which at last had drawn him to the corridor.
		Fear held him in her icy claw.		The fear that everything he had been told was true...
		...and now due to this sinful act he would be barred from paradise forever. Or maybe... all of his suspicions were correct.
He moved forward faster resigning himself to his destiny. It was clearly too late to turn back now.
	He closed the final distance quickly and stood before the entrance. It was a gateway more than a door, large enough for five or six people to pass through at once. Hesitantly he reached out and touched the smooth surface. At first nothing happened. Then, just as he stepped back to search for a means to force his way in, the steel door slid slowly upward allowing a great luminosity to spill out into the passage .

			The day his Mother was Chosen, Smith was away at the learning facility. He had arrived home to find his Father waiting for him with the good news.
They went out to dinner to celebrate and afterwards they stopped at a toy store.		Smith selected a book with illustrations of animals. It was called Predators.
At bed time, Father read the book to Smith. “Predators are carnivorous and have sharp teeth to eat meat. The animals they eat are called prey.” The text explained. They looked at the pictures of lions, alligators, and wolves together. “Like Shadow.” Smith had observed referring to the family pet. “Right.” Father confirmed.
	“And like the Guardians.” Added the eager young Smith.