“A mistake, that’s all he is, a mistake,” The harsh voice said sharply to the young couple standing before her. The petite blond woman began to cry.
“How dare you say that! He is our child! He is not a mistake!” The man wrapped his arm around his wife.
“No, he is not your child. When you agreed to this experiment, you lost rights.” The man glared at the government woman.
“Damn you!” He yelled.
“Mr. Hanson, calm down. We will take this child, and make you another, a perfect one,” A man came up behind the harsh woman.
“No! You won’t take him!” The blond woman cried out. She ran to the crib and picked up the baby. She began to walk towards the exit. She didn’t care if the government had created this child, she had carried him, and she loved him. A hand grabbed her shoulder.
“Mrs. Hanson, we can not permit you to take this child.”
“Like hell you can’t! It’s our child, we can take him,” Mr. Hanson pushed past the man and led his wife out.
“We are so much happier with this protocol. He is indeed perfect, he will be a beautiful child, with boundless talents. Don’t you wish you had left the other one to us, and just had this one?” The government woman said to the couple. Mrs. Hanson seethed inside. She hated them, but she had no choice.
“He IS perfect. We love him. Just like we will love this one. It doesn’t matter what they look like, or sound like!” Mr. Hanson snapped. His wife held the new baby boy. His crystal blue eyes stared up at her. He would be beautiful, that was for sure.
“We will see you back here in twenty-two months, to start the next model. I don’t think we could make improvements, but we want to try another model,” the government man said.
“They aren’t models, or protocols. They are children!” Mrs. Hanson said with tears in her eyes.
“People or rats, they are a study, we cannot get attached to them.”
Baby number three. Brown eyes and blond hair, like his first brother. The Hansons were back in the secret laboratory. Laboratory, the word left Mrs. Hanson’s mouth with an awful flavor. Like her beautiful children were lab animals.
“We were going to stop with three, but seeing how the last two have turned out nicely, we would like to try a female model…” The man was cut off by Walker.
“Stop it! Just stop! Don’t you realize how this hurts my wife? We are not your test subjects any longer!” Mr. Hanson exploded.
“Don’t you want perfect children?”
“They are! They are perfect just the way they are!” The Hansons picked up the latest baby and left.
“Hey, Tay, look at this little box? Isn’t it cool?” Twelve year old Zachary Hanson said to his fifteen year old brother. Taylor walked over to Zac. He was holding a small locked box, it resembled a trunk.
“Hey, lets open it,” Taylor suggested. Zac agreed to the idea. He found a small pocket knife and they went to work. The box seemed unopened for many years.
“Zac, where did you get this, anyway?” Taylor asked, still picking at the lock.
“In the attic, I was looking for some book that mom said was up there.”
“Weird.” There was a cracking sound and the little lock fell to the floor.
“Yes! We’re in!” Zac cheered. Taylor flipped open the lid. There were some papers in the box.
Case Number 765:
Male Baby. Born 11-17-1980
Brown eyes, dark blond hair.
Note:
Not perfect, but couple refused to give up.
Taylor’s stomach turned. He picked up the next paper.
Case Number 766:
Male Baby. Born 3-14-1983
Blue eyes, blond hair.
Note:
Protocol perfect.
A bad taste formed in his mouth. Taylor was confused, what was this?
Case Number 767:
Last test subject. Couple refuses to carry any more test subjects.
Male baby. Born 10-22-1985
Brown eyes, blond hair.
Note:
Protocol slightly off, but not as much as case 765.
“Tay, what are they?” Zac asked, looking over Taylor’s shoulder. Taylor crumpled the papers.
“What are you doing? Those could be important!” Zac exclaimed. Taylor didn’t say anything. He had never been more confused. Why were there papers describing him and his brothers…calling them numbers, and protocols? He stood up, shakily. Zac touched him on the arm, but he didn’t respond. He walked slowly downstairs. His mother was sitting at the kitchen table, feeding his baby sister. He threw the papers down in front of her.
“What are these?” He choked out. Mrs. Hanson seemed surprised then horrified as she realized the papers that lay before her.
“Taylor...” She gasped. How would she explain this?