The colony is the most beautiful in the spring, when the blueberries and wildflowers erupt across the green hills. The birds in the trees hum with their songs, and the evenings were spent around the bonfires, laughing and tipping back sweet wine.
It was a time of Life, when men and women disappear giggling into the high grass, and emerge weak-kneed and flush-skinned. More than not, a second man would haul her over his shoulder and vanish, ensuring that seed had taken root in her, as the Leader commanded. Soon her body would swell with fruit, and the Leader would be pleased.
I fingered the blue ribbon around my wrist, which marked me as not yet of age to bear fruit in service of the Leader. It wouldn’t be long though – my celebration day was tomorrow, when I turned twenty years of age. I had dreamed of my celebration day since I began to receive the blessings of womanhood – my breasts rounded and hips filled.
“Juniper.”
I looked up from my thoughts at my name.