The sun has risen out of the sky yet again; a new day, hopefully new possibilities. I roll out of bed, reach up and feel like I could touch the sky, then down to my ever so small feet. Aaric just rolled over in his sleep and snorted. I hear him in the other room sleeping his restless sleep.

I change into my Athleta capris and sports tank and go downstairs. I make myself some breakfast. The smell of the crisp toast and cheesy eggs along with a fresh apple hypnotize me as I sit down to eat it. After finishing, I call on Phoebe to clean up my dishes. I then fill a water bottle and head to the gym.

Upon parking my bright turquoise BMW, I walk into my training center, get my pass checked, and head for my room. My trainer and I get down to business. 1, 2, 3 hours pass. I wish her a good day before leaving and head home. Once I get there, I say good morning to Aaric and go hop in the shower. Soon after I finish getting ready, I quickly set off on my latest architecture design.

Wait, wait. Rewind. I am most terribly sorry. I have not even introduced myself. OK. My name is Aria Harper. I am 18 years old, and live in Beverly Hills, California. I guess I am what they call a child prodigy, meaning I’m really smart. I have a perfect GPA and a ridiculously high IQ. I graduated college 5 years ago and love architecture to no end. Shortly after I turned 13, (the year I graduated college) my parents decided, that, me "being so smart and all," should learn the world my own way. In other words, they abandoned me. Aaric swooped in and saved the day then. It was kind of like those “love at first sight” things that you only see in the movies. He was 18 at the time. Now he is 23, and we are both so happy. All right, enough romance. I work for a building company called “ The Building Company” and do their designing. They recently asked me to do a new design. The biggest one I’d ever done before. I got to design a mall!

Since then, I have been working on an amazing design. Accommodation is key. There are lots of elevators instead of escalators, making it easier for young families and elderly. The food court is on the top level, and only there, that way kiosks can make more money for their business. All stores have to submit a design plan so that it can fit and accommodate all people. If we don’t think that their design will work, we give it back and ask them to draw a new one with the tips we gave them.

As for my plan, it is all going wonderful, but deep, deep down, my heart yearns for the feeling of acceptance. All that I have left to lean on now is Aaric. Even though he is so amazing, there is only so much he can do. While I sit there, I reflect on the days when I was cherished, loved. The days when I woke up, ran into my parent’s bedroom, and scared them. The days when I would get a cut, and they would put a Band-Aid on it and hold me until I stopped crying. Have you ever felt like that before? If you have, I desperately want to meet you.

Eventually, I finish my design and have it approved. Time to get building. Now, I forgot to tell you this. I have a deathly fear of cranes and bulldozers. Are you catching on to the oxymoron there? So, with that, we get down to business. Before you know it, the foundations are in and siding is going up.
* * * * *

Tonight Aaric and I are going on a date. He is taking me “on a surprise.” Who knows what that means? He is so unpredictable.
* * * * *
OK. What do you think we did? Any takers? Well, we went SCUBA diving! It was so amazing. Being able to see that ocean like that is fascinating. When we got to the center, we went through a training and safety session to make sure that injury was avoided as much as possible. They then suited us up into our gear and set us going. The fish swim right up to you, nibble your finger, and then swim away.
* * * * *
Back at the site, they took me out to the building area to have me see if it was going as planned. Remember earlier when I told you that I was in fear of cranes and bulldozers? Well, Here’s where that comes into play. I had to go out and up on a Plate Pad. While it slides through its cable bindings, I suit up into my protective gear. All of the construction workers on site have to wear them. Protective Gear for Falling and Working, or PGFW, is a dirt colored body suit equipped with a full first aid kit, padding, a parachute, and high tech tool belt. Once the pad stops, I put on my helmet and radio earpiece. The workers look at me with looks on their faces that say, “ Why is she hear? She is so young.” I wave and just keep walking. Once I reach the circular elevator, I ride up and get a birds-eye view. It is going to be fabulous. The building is a long, tall, narrow cylinder, with 2 giant circular elevators. One takes you up, the other takes you down. They are pistons, pumping people up and down. Up here, you can’t hear the Beep! Beep! Beep! of the reverse and the Ch-ch-ch-rmmmm-mmm of the site’s generators. Up here, you can really see how well the place is coming together. Up here, I feel on top of the world, ready for whatever life could throw at me.

After my long day at the site, I come home, say hello to Aaric, and head toward my bedroom. But I am stopped.

“Wait.” He says.

“I need to talk to you.”

So I sit down to let him speak. I wonder what he wants to say? Sitting there, wondering about my day, the people looking at me funny, even over the past few days, with my trainer and my workout session, our date. So much has happened over the past few days, I’m not really sure what to think. How ‘bout you? While I had been sitting, pondering all my problems…

Aaric said, “Aria.”

My feet came back down to earth. All of my attention was on him. Just now noticing, he was wearing a suit and standing very gentlemanly. After giving me a gentle kiss on the cheek, he walked up close, got down on one knee, and said

“Will you marry me?”

I. Am. Stunned. After recomposing myself, I quickly blurt,
“Yes!”
We entangle ourselves in a massive hug.
* * * * *
It is 3 months later, and we are getting married. I know, I know, it was a short planning stage. I am so excited. Everything is perfect. All I have to do know is walk down the aisle. All we have to do is say our “I do’s.” Upon being completely married, and finishing the reception, we headed off on our honeymoon to Paris. It is the city of love, you know.
* * * * *
Ahh. It’s 10 years later. Aaric and I are still happily married. The shopping center was finished 5 years ago, winning multiple awards in design, and being greatly enjoyed by all people. We have 2 kids with more in sight. I am designing skyscrapers, housing units, and more malls. You name it, I can design it. All of our children inherited my smarts, so Jacqueline, 7, is in 5th grade. Jordan, 3, is in 1st grade. Predictions are saying that our future children will be just as good.
* * * * *

As I reflect upon the wonderful life I am living, I refer back to something I said years ago. Deep down, I had longed to be accepted for who I am. Well, I’m letting go of it. I am who I am, and nobody can do anything about it. I will be me.

Epilogue

Although you were not able to hear the rest of Aria’s story with Aaric, she ended up with 7 children, and all had perfect GPA’s and off the chart IQ’s. After some recent studies, we found that Aria carried a mutated, unknown condition that we named Atilemis. Once the condition is mutated, it is automatically transferred to any offspring’s genes. So, Aria, without knowing of trying, has started an unstoppable smartness revolution. There is a 1 in 1, 000, 000, 000th chance that a child will not have Atilemis.

Sadly, Aria’s life came to a close at the very young age of 80.325. She was killed in a Plate Pad malfunction at a building site. She will be greatly missed by all.
A Note to the Reader:

We do realize the change in perspective. Much has happened. The earth has expanded; more people are able to live here at once. We have found a cure for cancer. World peace has been reached. Poverty has ended. We have achieved Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream. Everything is moving quite smoothly. The year? 3000.