The clock struck 8:00pm.I took a deep breath. I stood alone in an ancient hallway in front of two huge oak doors. Behind those doors sponsors were sitting and mulling over their last interview. If I got this right I would get into Yardley School of War. It trains the best, fittest and smartest kids for national security. That was needed as the map of space around Earth got filled out and life in other places was discovered. Threats were multiplying and scientists needed protection.

I sat down on the bench again as I felt my heart thud in my chest. I couldn’t mess this up. I couldn’t afford to mess this up. The huge doors creaked open as the last interviewee left the room. I smiled at her but got a glare in response. I stood up and walked toward the room and shut the doors behind me.

The room was large with bookshelves lining the walls and tall windows covered in curtains going from the East to West side of the room. In front of me was a long table that sat 6 facing me. They all sat so that the dark masked their features, I could see three women on the right and three men on the left, but I couldn’t make out anything else. It seemed very official, too official almost for an interview. I frowned as I tried to calm my nerves and approached them.
“Hello miss Fields.” The woman who sat on the left said.

I smiled, “Hi.”

“We’ve got a few questions for you before we decide who to accept.” She said as she picked up a sheet of paper that was lying in front of her on the table. I nodded.

“First of all, why should we accept you?” she asked.

“I guess it’s because I’m ready to learn and I want this.” I forgot the last few prepared sentences sometime during my panic.

“Personally though, what are your thoughts?” She obviously had been doing this for long enough to see a prepared and forgotten speech when she came across one. She leaned back in her seat and her face was swallowed once again by the darkness. I almost grinned. The six of them in line looked like the faceless planners that were in almost every superhero movie.

I let go of my script and explained, “I’ve been preparing for this since I was 5. I’ve trained and studied and even tried saving to buy myself a place at one point. I know I can do this, but , I guess you’ll only be able to see that on trial.”

She nodded at my response and went to the next question, “What do you live for?”

What do I live for? That was easy. As much as the glamour of space travel and ass kicking seduced me, there was something else that I knew they couldn’t hold a torch to. The Underworld. That’s what we locals called the city of Yardley after dark. It’s the time when the misfits and the freaks come out to play. When the Steampunk societies are let out onto the streets. The time when the greatest parties take place. The parties that are only word-of-mouth and very exclusive with the verbal invitations. It’s the time when the basements and lofts turn into clubs. It’s the hour that approves of exotic makeup and tattoos.

I live for watching the Underworld, for participating in it. I live for the secrets. There’s nothing more delicious than Underworld secrets. Secrets so sensitive that the dogs dare not bark for fear of waking the “normalings”.Secrets so dark that the moons golden glow can’t even reach them.

I live for the hour when the Vigilante hunts the evil and the wolves transform. I live for the adrenaline and the feeling of cold night wind whipping against me when I travel on my motorbike. I live for the knowledge, knowing that as our merry band of Oddlings play the children are sleeping, dreaming and the Lawyers are working, but, we are Living.

I love the the way the normal fades and the eccentric takes over,but, in the morning, there’s no evidence of it. I love the relief I feel when I let go of my mind and let myself loose. I especially love the fact that when I’m old, these memories will satisfy me. If I were to die, I’d be glad that I lived. I wouldn’t need to ask for more.

Space might be one infinite extremity, but, I live for the knowledge that there’s no place like Earth and no one like humans.

“Miss Fields?” the woman asked, awakening me from my daydreams. I grinned. I wouldn’t tell them that secret.
“ I live for the past, for the present, for the future, for the people and for myself.” I said. That I could tell them.