S.I.L.O. Internment

“Absolutely not!” Amanda said “She’s only a child. She needs to be around other children. She needs her family!”

This was Amanda’s very protective, maternal response to Jennifer joining her father and Stephen in SILO. Amanda’s heart hurt so much. Jennifer was her “third daughter” for the past five years. Nevertheless, Amanda had no real authority over the decisions of James and Jennifer.

Charles spoke tenderly to Amanda, “It was bound to happen Dear. Other children, younger than Jennifer, have successfully accomplished this experiment. You know Jennifer misses James so much. He and Stephen are a great part of her life. She needs to feel her father’s arms around her as much as possible.

Jennifer loves you, Amanda. You’ve inspired her so much. Please help her to make the right decision for HER needs. ”

Life was spinning all around Amanda. Celia was in high school and preparing to leave for North Carolina University. After this, she will go to Lund University in Sweden to attend medical school. Sarah was taking internet Theology and Pharmacology courses. She was occupied for days at a time.

Amanda had a lot of time on her hands due to the Village’s dramatic drop in births. The few babies born now could be attended to by Dr. Craig’s wife, Natalie. She was an excellent pediatrician and Amanda agreed to help whenever necessary.

Charles’ information, about Jennifer being a part of the S.I.L.O. Project, weighed heavy on Amanda. She ran her hands through her thick, cropped blonde curls and then wiped away a single hot tear as she looked out the large, picture window in Charles’ office.

Her soul was tortured by all her thoughts. She took a deep breath and mentally focused on what she needed to do.

“Yes, Charles,” she said hurtfully conceding to the inevitable. “I do have time to prepare Jennifer for her move.”

However, in the back of Amanda’s thoughts, she was hoping Jennifer would change her mind. Suddenly, a distraction outside of Charles office pulled Amanda away from her hurting thoughts. Loud sounds of breaking pottery and wood stands being overturned came from the Greenhouse. Robert stopped his walk toward the barn area. He heard Jennifer yelling, “Panacea! You nasty, nasty Duck!”

The screen door to the Greenhouse flew open and slammed hard against the building. Panacea ran, wide-eyed, with her wings spread ready for flight, as Jennifer followed close behind her. All human eyes and animal eyes were on the chase. Panacea was really enjoying this chase. Loose feathers flew as she darted and zig zagged to get away from Jennifer.

Panacea loudly quacked and her pent-up team mate, Patience, quacked back in encouragement. From the corral, the high-spirited horses whinnied, stomped their hooved feet and snorted at the sport. Amanda grabbed Charles’ camera and shot off unbelievable photos to keep as memories for Jennifer and the family.

Jennifer quickly used a few choice soccer moves and tackled Panacea. She took a deep breath, grabbed Panacea and held her close “Panacea, I have a good mind to give you to Chef John, so he can turn you into Duck ala Orange!”

Charles laughingly called out to Jennifer from the porch. “Why are you so angry with Panacea?”

Jennifer’s face was red and streaked with mud. Her clothes were covered with mud and loose blond curls flew in every direction.

She answered, “I forgot to close the back door to the Greenhouse. Panacea ate the transplanted Portulaca plants that I placed on the floor!”

Robert approached Jennifer and held out his arms to accept Panacea.

“My dear Jennifer,” he said softly stroking Panacea’s soft head and wings, “you were responsible for closing the door. Panacea does what ducks naturally do...they eat. What is our lesson here?”

Jennifer blushed, took a deep breath and brushed loose hairs away from her bright green eyes. She smiled and gently took Panacea back into her arms.

“Forgive me, Panacea,” she said tenderly. “This was my fault. My lesson is to be more vigilant about my responsibilities.”

Robert kissed the top of Jennifer’s head, waved to Charles and Amanda, and then headed to the barn to do his chores.

Jennifer hugged Panacea and walked back to the Greenhouse.

Charles hugged Amanda and said, “See, my love, everything is working out fine.”

After dinner, James bravely told Robert about Jennifer’s decision to join him in S.I.L.O. Robert was openly adamant about Jennifer and Stephen accepting this assignment for five years.

“Why five years,” Robert asked not wanting to lose his only living relative. “Why not two or three years like other Environmental pods? This is internment, James. This is a prison no matter how pretty it looks.”

Regardless how Robert rationalized the negatives, he knew Jennifer set her mind to be with James and Stephen.

She was strong minded, like Heather and she would be with James when he entered SILO. She would not give up her dream.

On top of this issue, Robert did not tell his family he was now receiving desperate calls every day from Europe. He knew, in his heart, if he did accept this new assignment, Jennifer might not see him the final days before she entered the SILO complex. Robert could not tell anyone about this.