Multiples | Teen Ink

Multiples MAG

By Anonymous

We saunter down the way, peering through the food shops and hot dog stands, arguing over what to eat. I want Mexican – I’m dying for a carnitas tostada – but my assemblage hates to eat meat. They want tofu burgers or peanut stir-fry or some other disgusting display of vegetarianism. Just once, I wish I could have a grease-brimming steak smothered in ground sausage and a cup of gravy as beverage. That would be the day, though.

Another assemblage knocks into our shoulder without apology, leering at us for a moment. Then they continue urgently walking to the nearest ­office building.

“People are so rude these days,” Susan says within our head. “So bitter.”

Of course, we are just as bitter as most, especially to each other. I am bitter toward Tucker most of all. He is the part of us that ­always tries to take over the body, do all the talking, do all the deciding, everything. And then he complains when he doesn’t get his way. If he keeps it up, I’m going to demand we go to the courts to get him ­removed. Then he can go plague some other ­assemblage.

“We’re getting bean stew,” Tucker argues.

“Sorry, Tucker,” Mary says. “It’s my turn to choose.”

“No, it’s not,” his voice bully-whines. “You had us eat that vomit-soup the other day.”

“That was last week, and it was good.”

“Yeah, right.”

Arne barges in with his hunter’s voice. “She’s right, Tucker. It’s not your turn until tomorrow.”

Arne is the oldest of us, probably 40 by now. Some of the older people were put in young ­assemblages to add wisdom to the groups. Of course, each of us has a strong characteristic. I add artistic sense.

Before we were merged, I was a painter. Even as a high school student, I won dozens of awards. The teachers had me paint a mural over the graffiti-covered walls before I graduated. It was a giant crab with humans for feet. They called my style “a chaotic display of surrealism,” and everybody thought I would be a famous artist one day. But that didn’t last. After the merging, I could not paint anything. Not only were the hands I had to work with unsteady and backwards, but my assemblage couldn’t stop whining. Not one of them appreciates the creative arts.

“We’re going to the salad bar,” Mary tells us.

She was added to our assemblage because she is very left-brained. Math comes as easy to her as painting does to me. Of course, Susan is good at math too, but she’s not a mathematical genius like Mary.

Susan adds purity and religious strength. She is the one who prays for us and gives us spiritual guidance. However, religion is not supposed to be a big thing these days. We say we are Catholic, but it is only for ­Susan’s sake. She was the only one who was religious prior to merging.

We are in Susan’s body, by the way. The courts selected hers because it was the healthiest. Both Tucker and I were smokers, Mary was too hefty, and Arne was too old. Of all five of us, I’m glad we are in Susan’s body. She is like a piece of art; curvy slender features, absorbing brown eyes, platinum blond hair streaming down our back.

We go into a salad bar and let Mary take control of the arms, scooping whatever vegetables she wants onto our plate.

“Don’t get blue cheese again,” Tucker says.

“I’m getting whatever I want.”

“You like ranch. Get ranch.”

Mary says nothing, scooping shredded carrots and radishes, macaroni ­salad and pasta. When she gets to the end of the counter, she goes straight for the blue cheese. Tucker moans and resists, pulling our arm away from the bowl of creamy dressing, dribbling goo all over our front.

“You jerk,” Mary yells at him. She seizes control of the arm and dumps the spoon of chunky dressing on her salad, creating an oozing lake of white.

“Not too much,” Susan says to Mary, weight-warning as usual, wiping the cheesy slime from the shirt.

Mary takes us to a table in a dark corner, as she always does when we eat. I wonder if she was ashamed of her weight before she merged with us, always hiding in the back of restaurants so nobody would see her make a pig of herself. Now she eats salads ­instead of pizza and cake, trying to keep healthy so that we don’t get as fat as she was.

Tucker cringes as we bite into the blue cheesy ­lettuce. “How can you like this stuff?”

The eatery is mostly empty. Three bodies are in there, crunching vegetables in the stiff atmosphere. Assemblages usually don’t associate with other assemblages, talking amongst themselves instead, leaving this world a dismal, hushed place.

I wish there had been another way for humans to survive. After the drought of the twenties, our food supply could not support a population of our measure. It was either exterminate the majority of citizens or merge ­multiple people into a single body. ­Because the courts chose the latter, most people became miserable. Some think we would have been better off sacrificing our greater half. Tucker childishly jerks our hand while Mary is trying to eat.

“Don’t be so immature,” Mary says. He chuckles and does it again, causing Mary to yell outside of our head, “Stop!” The other assemblages glare at us.

“Sorry,” Arne says to them in his calm voice.

When we speak through Susan’s ­vocal chords, you can tell who is ­doing the speaking. We all speak at a different tone or variation. Arne’s is a deep version of Susan’s voice, mine is more mellow, Tucker’s is a loud and obnoxious version, and so on. I can’t imagine how she feels when she hears other people speaking through her voice – her mouth is moving, her voice is sounding, but somebody else is doing the talking. I would have gone harebrained if they chose my body. Twisted.

As Mary brings the fork to our mouth, Tucker tips it and giggles, scattering food onto our lap. She screams with our voice again, “Cut it out, jerk!”

But he just does it again on the next bite, cackling.

“Now you two stop your arguing, or we’ll take you to the courts to get you removed,” Arne says in his cool, mellow voice.

“Go ahead and take me to the courts,” she says. “I want out of this body.”

“Yeah,” Tucker says. “I want her out of here too.”

Arne says gently, “Look. We need to see a counselor for you two. You know that the courts won’t alter ­assemblages anymore unless the problem is severe. And in that case, they usually terminate the conflicting ­personality.” He falters, trying to get his thoughts in order. “We’re going to have to get used to living like this.”

We pause. Nobody knew it was ­going to be so terrible after we merged. Nobody knew there would be so much conflict. When I was a kid, I got sick of my brother because we shared a room. Well, sharing a body is a little more extreme.

“Why don’t we just be terminated?” Susan said. We all stare at our plate, frozen, surprised to hear those words come from Susan. She is too beautiful to destroy, too pure. She is our temple.

“What’s the point of living now? We’ve given up our individuality, our souls.” She shakes our head. “You ­people took over my body, took over my life. I just don’t care anymore. I can’t live like this.”

“Aren’t you afraid of going to hell?” Tucker asks.

She shrugs, shakes our head, but does not ­respond. Instead she says, “I can’t remember the last time I was happy.”

“We weren’t meant to be happy,” I say. They are startled to hear my voice in the back of our head. I usually don’t speak, remaining silent, listening to their discussions in our mind. I wonder if they forgot I was here and are just now remembering, shocked.

I continue, explaining a theory that has been in my thoughts for the past month. “We sacrificed happiness for the sake of our children’s future. The courts knew we would be miserable too, but they didn’t have a choice. The human race would have been wiped out otherwise.”

“That’s not what they said,” Mary interrupts.

“I know. They lied. They said that it would end loneliness and antisocial behavior, but they knew it wouldn’t. The only purpose left for us is to make a child, raise it, then wait to die.”

I pause, giving us a bite of salad, then say, “That was the plan they had to decrease our population without ­literally killing anyone. After we’re gone, things will be back to normal. Mankind will live on because we gave up our happiness.”

They agree with my ­theory by not speaking, glaring away from the table. The courts said that we would be more happy ­together, but it was just another illusion. I get us up, leave $10 for the food, and we go out to the street. It is flurry-cold out here, shivering in Susan’s frail skin. Our voice stutters a sigh. Everything is stale, empty as usual, so lifeless. The courts thought they had solved the overpopulation problem, but in doing so they’ve overpopulated our minds.

We decide to take a cab, the only car on the street. We don’t speak a word to the assemblage driving, ­stuttering to ourselves, dazed. And then we return to our quiet apartment, sitting numb in the dimness, alone with each other.



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This article has 227 comments.


on Apr. 9 2010 at 10:36 am
.Escape.From.This.Afterlife. GOLD, Short Hills, New Jersey
10 articles 0 photos 92 comments

Favorite Quote:
"bad blood is more satisfying to spill across the floor..."

Whoa...

This is sooo original!!!  The idea is just plain amazing, and I completely agree with everyone else.  This HAS to be a novel!!! 


Ender PLATINUM said...
on Mar. 21 2010 at 11:05 am
Ender PLATINUM, Hagerstown, Maryland
49 articles 0 photos 14 comments

Favorite Quote:
Perhaps it's impossible to wear an identity without becoming what you pretend to be
-Orson Scott Card

this was really well written and the whole idea was awesome.

sci fi is sdo popular right now but the concept of this is so different and it's really captivating. loved it!

on Feb. 27 2010 at 7:51 am
Waterlogged BRONZE, Grapevine, Texas
1 article 0 photos 36 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Winston, you are drunk." To which Churchill responded, "and you, madam, are ugly. But in the morning, I'll be sober,"-Lady Astor and Winston Churchill

you should turn this into a book!

chelseabo17 said...
on Feb. 18 2010 at 4:45 pm
it was really good u should turn it into a novel i would buy like a cazillion copys!

keason26 said...
on Feb. 10 2010 at 12:04 pm
hay when wethink it is going to be boring but as you get in to the story it g4reat very creative worked and a lot of courage i like to do peoms to ps great artcle

on Feb. 9 2010 at 2:04 pm
Angel_writer1481 SILVER, Springdale, Maryland
8 articles 0 photos 6 comments

Favorite Quote:
Don't take life too seriously, no one gets out of it alive.

Really creative. You think you know what the story's about but then you don't. Impressive. Keep up the good work.

maki:p GOLD said...
on Feb. 3 2010 at 6:24 pm
maki:p GOLD, Rocklin, California
17 articles 1 photo 47 comments

Favorite Quote:
"The only journey is the one within" and "You can't help anyone who doesn't want to be helped."

A very nic epiece.

At first i thought it about somebody dissasociative identity disorder.

khonsu BRONZE said...
on Jan. 11 2010 at 1:04 pm
khonsu BRONZE, Floral Park New York, New York
3 articles 0 photos 3 comments
very original and creative, well written too. keep it up

on Dec. 23 2009 at 5:15 pm
AnneOnnimous BRONZE, Peterborough Ontario, Other
3 articles 0 photos 146 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Saying 'I notice you're a nerd' is like saying, 'Hey, I notice that you'd rather be intelligent than be stupid, that you'd rather be thoughtful than be vapid, that you believe that there are things that matter more than the arrest record of Lindsay Lohan. Why is that?' In fact, it seems to me that most contemporary insults are pretty lame. Even 'lame' is kind of lame. Saying 'You're lame' is like saying 'You walk with a limp.' Yeah, whatever, so does 50 Cent, and he's done all right for himself."
— John Green

this was really good, and chilling. My ONLY problem was at the ending, when they were talking about the overpopulation problem and this new way of living in assemblages. I thought it seemed sort of- not tacky, or anything, but not as good as the rest of the story. I find that stories that state the message work best when they are real life, not sci- fi like this. But it was good. please read my story!

on Dec. 13 2009 at 10:33 am
sweetxluv BRONZE, Joelton, Tennessee
4 articles 2 photos 21 comments

Favorite Quote:
Elie Wiesel put it best: “None of us is in a position to eliminate war, but it is our obligation to denounce it and expose it in all its hideousness… Neutrality helps the oppressor, never the victim. Silence encourages the tormentor, never the tormented.”

you should turn this into a novel.

this is really good, no not good,

but awesome!

on Nov. 30 2009 at 5:28 pm
dragonfan SILVER, Arcidia, Indiana
9 articles 1 photo 213 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Death truly makes an artist"

wow,this is soo cool! It had so much good detail and magnificent word choice! I could see a picture in my mind and hear their voices,it was like a move in my head! I loved it!

on Sep. 26 2009 at 10:14 am
BeckoningLovely GOLD, Wilmington, Delaware
15 articles 1 photo 106 comments

Favorite Quote:
"I think our favorite quotes say more about us than the people we are quoting," John Green

OMG. That was awesome!

on Aug. 17 2009 at 3:59 am
marisaleighxx GOLD, Poughkeepsie, New York
14 articles 4 photos 4 comments
i really like this a lot, She is a skitsophrenic right? I had a grandpa like that. Only he killed himself :/

on Jul. 3 2009 at 4:05 pm
emajin96! BRONZE, Millersville, Maryland
1 article 0 photos 15 comments

Favorite Quote:
"

this is a really cool idea! in the beginning, i was confused, and that made me keep reading, so i could clear things up. this was quite interesting, and someone could believe that this is a realistic scenario, in the future. great job, keep it up!!

Zero_K DIAMOND said...
on Jul. 2 2009 at 12:10 am
Zero_K DIAMOND, Moosic, Pennsylvania
83 articles 0 photos 435 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Life's no fun if you're not insane, otherwise you grow up to be an accountant." -Moi

Novel.

This must be one! I love the whole concept! This is absolutley amazing! This earns Kitty's stamp of approval. <(o.0)>

ZERO

on Jun. 24 2009 at 5:02 am
GreenDayFan SILVER, Phoenix, Arizona
7 articles 3 photos 134 comments

Favorite Quote:
"Every story has an end, but in life, every ending is just a new beginning."
-Uptown Girls

all i have to say is: inspiration

Mitch Rogers said...
on Jun. 22 2009 at 10:21 pm
Mitch Rogers, Spokane, Washington
0 articles 0 photos 5 comments
Best story I've read on this website. The pacing is excellent and you explained at the perfect rate.The idea for this story was smart and well-done. Bravo.

bookaddict said...
on Jun. 17 2009 at 10:09 pm
Wow, this was amazing! You were really creative, what inspired you to think up this whole plot? You've got some talent! =) Keep writing!

on Jun. 12 2009 at 4:41 pm
brooke.is.gone. SILVER, Scottsville, Kentucky
5 articles 0 photos 16 comments
i love this, a lot. I think I thought of it in a different matter though. Like, the different sides of yourself being pulled different directions but still in your own mind. Like, the morals you feel you should have would be Susan, the self consciousness that we all obtain would be Mary, the wisdom we have would be Arnie, love that name by the way, the quiet, reserved part of you would be the speaker of the story and then the whiny, maybe naive and childish side we have would be Tucker. I took in that sense but all in all I absolutely loved this, hope turning it into a novel works out for you. I'd definitely read it. :)

on Jun. 9 2009 at 4:32 pm
mynameiscotter BRONZE, Bishopville, Maryland
1 article 0 photos 2 comments
You need to read The Anthem by Ayn Rand, unless you have already. Great piece.