Buried Rabbits

"Please select the correct 2D net for the following 3D figure." *BEEP* "Please find the shortest distance to the house from the station using the following equation with factors of the day as variables." *BEEP* "Please deduce which pattern is out of place." *BEEP* "Please figure out which string of letters would be a synonym for the word "FOOD" if you interchanged every third letter with the fifth and removed every letter that is included in the following months: March, April, and August." *BEEP* All around me is the sound of clicking. A constant repetition of buttons being abused by fingers praying they can move fast enough to make it through today's test. *BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* Coming from all directions, never stopping, never slowing down. The noise bouncing back and forth between the wooden panels of the room only emphasizing the burning, lone light source that was coming from the monitors. Then as if the world itself was being cut in two, our ears were cleaved with the sound of a sharp *BZZT*. Though this sounds surely pierces through all of us, not a single one of the many children take a second to acknowledge the sound. Time is too important a resource during these tests and no one is willing to waste even a single second to search for things outside the world from the screen. The less time you spend taking the test the higher your score is, and there wasn't a single child who would risk lowering their score for a mere distraction. We've all been in this house our entire lives. We no nothing but of what has been taught to us by the Maids, Headmother, and Housefather. Nothing of the outside world or people of the city, well, supposedly. According to our parents, those being the Housefather and Headmother, we know everything we need to about the place outside of here. Regardless of what we're taught it's hard to believe you truely know anything without having seen it first hand. *BEEEEP* "YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR TEST. PLEASE WAIT FOR ALL TO BE COMPLETED BEFORE BEING DISSMISSED. THERE WILL BE A DISTINCTIVE DING SOUNDED WHEN ALL TESTS ARE COMPLETED." The blinding white light from the screen etched into my brain. The message on the monitor then vanished before showing the numbers [22.14.07]. This is the fastest time I have ever gotten on a single test, with the time decreasing slightly every day. "Pssst… Emile… what time did you get?" My friend Franky whispered to me. "Twenty two minutes, fourteen seconds, and seven milliseconds." I responded, "Ha, cool. I still beat you then." She said snickering slightly before we both caught a glimpse of the Headmother who was standing at the front of the room and now glaring in our direction, surely disapproving of our behavior while we talked during the testing half. Franky has always gotten the highest score for as long as we've been here. Even though we're the same age I've never quite been able to catch up… actually I'm slightly older with my birthday being in March and hers in August so in actuality, I have even less of an excuse. *DING* Everyone perked up to look at the Headmother as soon as we heard the qualifying ding that signaled everyone had finished their test. We all sat eagerly as we awaited to hear the top scores from today's session, even though I already knew what they would be and who they would belong to. After glancing at her tablet for a moment she looked up and announced, "Ah, such wonderful scores from all of you today. You make me so proud. Number One, Franky with a score of sixteen hundred. Number two, Emile with a score of fourteen hundred. Number three, Victor with a score of thirteen hundred. Great job to you all, I hope you do even better tommorow!" We all then leave the testing room in an orderly fashion while the Headmother follows close behind. "So what time did you get?" I ask Franky as soon as we're out of the room. "I got twenty minutes, four seconds, and four milliseconds." She said proudly. "That's not that much better than what I got. You should be worried that I'm catching up considering that your overall score hasn't improved in a while." I impose to her while we make our way to the front yard of the house. "Yeah I guess, but I'm not worried." She responds, "Who not?" I ask, "Because I don't think you'll ever get a better score than me." She says smiling the brightest smile I could ever conceive beaming off of someone's face. We finally step out into the front yard and see that a majority of the other children have made it outside already. After testing it is mandatory to come out of the house to get some sort of physical fitness into our routine. If it wasn't for this rule everyone would probably just laze about inside the manor and rot themselves to death. Me and Franky decided to join in on a game of duck duck goose that the younger children have already started. It's not really fair to them because me and Franky are relatively older and faster than most of them. But to be honest that's one of the reasons we like to play with them. Neither me nor Franky like to lose so we'll take any opertunity for an easy victory any chance we get. "Oh come on!" Yells Thomas after getting caught by Franky. Thomas is 15 making him the fifth oldest child in the house after me, Franky, Amelia, and Victor. "It's not fair you're always able to catch me!" He groans. "Then you shouldn't have made me the goose Thomas, you knew I would get you back." Franky calmly retorts. I then see Victor off in the distance sitting on the stump of a statue broken at the waist with only legs left, leaving behind just a hint into the past of the great sculpture. He's reading a book titled "The Art of War" by some author with a hard-to-pronounce name. I only know that of which he is reading because I recognize it's distinct, red, velvet cover with gold accents for it is far too distanced from me to be able to read the title from where I am sitting. "Goose!" I hear Franky shout in the midst of my observation while she taps me on the head and begins to run around the ginormous circle of children. I quickly bolt up and turn to chase her down with the furver of a man who's life is at risk. I managed to catch her right before she made it back to opening in th circle, "No!" She yelps, "Yes!" Thomas shouts with glee as he feels he's been vindicated with my mere playing of the game. "How does it feel to finally lose !?" He yells slightly vindictively to Franky. "Oh put a sock in it Thomas, you weren't even the one who caught me!" Franky retorts. "Yeah but you still lost none the less." I say with a playful smile while I sit back down into the circle. This is the first time in this game that Franky is standing without volentering herself into the role of goose. After I sit down I continue to look where Victor was sitting but he had vanished. He had gone from his sanguine reading spot leaving only the other children playing and the forest surrounding the house in my vision. "Can I play?" I hear behind me as I violently snap my head back to whiteness who has mastered the art of stealth. It was Victor. "Of course! You can sit right here." I respond as I usher Conner, the child to my left, to scoot over and make the circle bigger for Victor to sit down. Victor is one of the newer children at the house meaning that unlike me and Franky he was transferred here from another. You could tell with no doubt that he took his prophecy very seriously and was the type to be very good at his job. It probably bugs him that he isn't the top scorer at the house but, like me, his scores increase every day, so I'd be lying if I said I wasn't little worried about being overtaken. "Duck… duck… duck… goose!"As soon as he gets comfortable in the circle Franky taps on his head and marks him with the despicable mark of "goose". Without a moment's hesitation Victor bolts up from the grass and chases her down. Catching her before she makes it even halfway around the circle. "Haha! Now that's twice you've lost!" Beamed Thomas. "Aghh!" Groaned Franky and she was refused the right to sit down two rounds in a row. Victor, the victor of this round, takes back his rightful seat next to me. "Good job! Not many people can beat Franky at her own game." I state, smiling at him. "Oh, thank you. Though, I would hardly call this her own game." He responds. Confused I ask him what he means and he says, "Her game are the tests, and probably the exam too." The "exam" is your final test before you get to leave the house. It is the proof that you have learned everything you were supposed to and are ready to serve the city in your own invaluable way. "Ah, I know what you mean. She is, and always has been, the best scorer at this house. No matter how hard I try to change that." I say, chuckling slight melancholy. "I bet she's gonna completely fulfill her prophecy, to a T." He implores. "Yeah, I think you're right. She's definitely the type to do everything perfectly. I've known her for as long as I've known the Housefather and I'll say, it's hard to find someone who doesn't feel the urge to praise her." I respond. Then maid Marisol sounded the bell that signaled that yardtime was over and we all made our way back into the house. Normally I walk with Franky but I look around and she's nowhere to be seen, she probably rushed to restroom so walk in with Victor. "What's your prophecy?" He inquires, "I'm going to be the city's head electrical engineer, I'll essentially create and design all of the inner workings for the city's facilities." I answer. "Oh Neat. I'm supposed to be in charge of the city's military and law enforcement arm. The section is called "The Kindess" . A pretty terrible name if you ask me." He says in a sigh. I respond, "You can change the name once you're the branch's head though, can you not?" "Nope." He retorts, "That's up to the City's Lord." "Oh!" I shoot up, "That's Franky! Her prophecy is to be the next lord.". His eyes widen, "Really!? I never would have suspected that. Even though in retrospect it makes sense, her having the highest scores in the house and whatnot." At this point we were back inside the house doing the dishes at maid Camilla's request. We politely obliged as since we had nothing better to do. I started to wonder where Franky was even more considering this would have been an awfully long time to stay in the restroom. Maybe she couldn't find me? "Hey, who's your favorite maid at this house?" Victor asks, snapping me out of my curious spiral of questioning. "Oh! Uhh… I'm not sure. I haven't ever thought about it much. I love them all equally!" I respond "I don't." He retorts, "My favorite is Josephine. She helps me find books in the library that I would enjoy reading, also she plays games with me when no one else is available… which is often." He sighs. We finish cleaning the dishes and I spend the rest of the day wandering around the house with no sign of Franky. This is the first time she's ever vanished like this and none of the other children seemed to know where she is either. Once night came to my room and layed in bed, lamenting my thoughts of asking one of the maids, or even the Headmother where Franky has run off to. This would have to be my last, of last resorts because anyone who causes trouble or breaks one of the rules of the house would be punished with a sentencing fitting the "crime". Not being able to take any more I shoot up, hearing my feet platter across the wood panel floor, and rush to the door of my room. I grab glossy, golden door knob and rip the door open only to find Franky standing outside my room. "Hey!" I shout a little too loud. "shhhh! You're going to wake the others." She says cautiously. "Where have you been? I was so worried, you've never disappeared like that before" I ask. She stares at me with a gripping melancholic expression, clearly wanting to say something but unbreaking to her vow of silence. "What's wrong?" I ask hoping to evacuate an answer from her, and it works. She finally brakes her silence, "Let's escape."