The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard EPUB & PDF

The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard EPUB & PDF – eBook Details Online

• Status: Available for Free Download
• Authors: Scott Alexander Howard
• Language: English
• Genre: Dystopian Science Fiction
• Format: PDF / EPUB
• Size: 6.0 MB
• Price: Free

I used to stand alone by the cloakroom door. In the morning before school, and
again when the lunch bell rang and the others ran out to the eld, I walked to
the same spot and rested my head on the sharp crags of stucco. An outcrop of
shadow protected the wall from the autumn heat. With folded hands I stood in
the shade, gazing at the backwoods and waiting out the day.

I took up my station at the rear of the school after Clare’s parents moved
downtown, leaving me friendless in the neighborhood. I sometimes ran into her
at the store or on the boulevard, but as our mothers chatted, our scant talk
revealed that our common ground had been only literal, the adjoining area
between our yards. The new neighbors were old and seemed to wear housecoats
all day. And so, at school, I became the girl by the door: Odile who stands by
herself. Never spoken to and seldom spoken of. Staring at nothing with eyes like
carved wood, as motionless as an egy.

Before the bell called everyone in, I liked to slip inside the classroom a minute
early. Six empty rows faced an immaculate blackboard. The dusty odor of chalk
blended with a pungent oil. My teacher, M. Pichegru, habitually rubbed his desk
with a wet black rag. When I was younger the oily smell had made my nostrils
curl.

Then the bell would ring, the cloakroom door would open behind me, and
the room would rush with noise. In the storm of laughter and gossip, I remained
alone. But when Pichegru strode in with his books and his switch, everybody
hushed. We stood in our uniforms until he motioned us to sit, and for the next
hours of lectures and tests I was glad to have company in my silence.
That fall I was sixteen and the course of my life was ready to be determined. My
class had reached the apprenticeship level, and most people were excited about
the impending transition out of school.

At the end of September we were to
hand in our applications and wait to see who chose us; later on, once the
decisions were made, we would split our time between Pichegru’s lessons and
training for our vocations around town. Some people knew the work they
wanted, and others were scrambling to gure it out. All month there were visits
scheduled from clerks and artisans explaining their trades, as well as eld trips to
the farms, the orchards, the mill, and the border.

That, at least, was the regular way of things. My mother, however, thought
that I was destined for the Conseil. She had always believed this, or wanted to.
The Conseil’s process was dierent from other apprenticeships. I could not
simply apply at the end of the month and hope to be picked. Before that, they
had a special vetting program, and gaining admittance to that program was
dicult in itself. Pichegru would have to nominate me, and he could send just
two students, unlike the downtown school, which got to send more. If you
managed to get accepted into vetting, you had to get through September

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