A Day to Live Again

A Story by floira

This is a story I wrote for a competition which sadly I didn't win.. This is the first story I've ever written

part 1 :

Emily Rose was a doctor. A very good one at that. Everyone at the neurology department adulated her. Her hands moved like waves in an ocean over patients. She always knew what to do and was admired throughout the hospital.

That day was a day as any other. The craziness was seeping everywhere. The receptionist yelling at the people to proceed in a queue; the people too busy to listen, blocking the real world by entering their mobile’s virtual one; the dire shrieks of the pager completing the ludicrous picture that is the hospital. Dr. Wells walked down the hall and as soon as he saw Emily, his old wrinkled face broke into a smile, “Dr. Rose! I see you are back from vacation. Glad to have you back my dear. Now I know you’re just back. But I would like you to attend a meeting in room 225 after lunch. And I’d prefer if you didn’t mention this to anyone.”

As Dr. Wells walked away, Emily started strolling towards the opposite direction ready to return to work.

* * *

Emily pushed open the door of room number 225 and saw every chair taken except the one across Dr. Wells. She seated herself, and for a second she thought that everyone was staring at her. Her imagination, obviously.

“There you are Dr. Rose. Pleased that you could make it. We are here to discuss a rather uncanny topic. Emily, try to hear us out. Dr. Saxena if you would.”

Ishita Saxena rose. “Well”, she said, “Emily, this all must seem new to you, but try to keep up. I’ll begin from the beginning. Long ago, our ancestor knew little about science and how things work, but in our era, technology has advanced beyond imagination. We all want to see a machine miracle. Some people want to be able to teleport from one place to another, some want to travel back in time and amend their blunders, some want to hide under from the world under an invisibility cloak and whatnot. There are some of us who believe in kind of what you could term as resurrection. Most people would think that it is impossible, but scientifically, there is a theory that states that with the DNA, of a person, you could have an exact replica of the particular individual. Now Emily, what do you think of this?”

“Um…” Emily though, chewing her pencil, “That’s an interesting idea; but isn’t it history? I mean, cloning started years ago.”

“No”, Ishita said, “it’s not the same. Cloning can make identical copies but their way of thinking wouldn’t be the same. With this method, people could get exactly what they had lost. If a person was an environmentalist, they would be so again after being reborn. Some people want a world where people can get a second chance to live; so they can choose when they want to be born again, because the second time they are born, they already know what’s in store. Then they can plan their life like they want to. Without any nasty surprises. That, now, would be a perfect world.”

“Emily, You know how there are secret organizations that work towards a common goal? Well, how would you like to join one?”

Emily rose from the table and looked at everyone in shock “Oh…wait a minute! I know what you guys are doing! My first day back and you’ve already started pulling my leg. You mean to say that in just two weeks, a whole organization was formed? Ha!”

Emily cackled till her lungs hurt, but no one joined her. They all looked at her in such a serious manner, that you would believe them if they said you were a fairy. Emily slowly sank to her chair

“It’s not a joke Emily. Rich people pay us mountains of money so that they might have a way to live again. And according to our recent studies, you have somewhat, the perfect DNA. You never had braces; you have perfectly straight and flawless hair and skin and you have no history of family diseases. We were currently working on a way to revive humans. But we’ve had a better idea lately. We want to combine your DNA with normal people’s DNA. That way, we’ll have a world with people who are nearly perfect.”

“You have got to be kidding!” Emily exclaimed, “You don’t actually expect me to be a part of this! Moral stuff aside, have you thought what would be the effect of this on human population? If people live again, there will be more humans than this earth can sustain! Besides, there are no perfect people. We all have our flaws. You cannot judge somebody with their physical features. And how will anybody be unique if we all are ‘perfect’? “

“Dr. rose? I believe you have an appointment with your patient, Sarah Turner in ten minutes” Rue said, poking her head through the ajar door.

“Well, Dr. Fortman, tell Miss Turner to wait. We are currently occupied in a very important meeting.” Dr. Wells said, turning to Emily to persuade her to be a part of his lifelong dream. She was smart and they needed her.

“Err……I really think I should go” Emily picked up her handbag and rose in a haste, “can’t keep the patients waiting huh Dr. Wells?”

Before anyone could stop her, Emily was out of earshot.

“Thanks a lot Rue. You really saved me back there. Did you know about this creepy organization they are running?”

“Of course. They asked me to join it as well. I refused.”

“Then what did they do?”

“Well, they have these crazy spies follow me home. I tried reporting them but the police just laughed their heads off when I told them about it.”

“Dr. Rose!!!” a yell came down the corridor. Then a worried looking women came running Emily’s way. She recognized the woman immediately.

“Mrs. Turner!! I hope it is good news. How’s Sarah?”

“Dr. Rose! It’s an emergency!! Sarah in having difficulty in breathing and her chest hurts a lot.” The woman cried, her hands flailing around her, her eyes sleep deprived. “Ok let’s go. Don’t worry, we’ll do something.” Emily said as she started running for the second time that day.

* * *