Heartbeet of the Empire

by Joe Iannacone

It was Valda’s eighth birthday.  She awoke dreary; her uneven sleep offering little in the way of rest.  Her Moma and Popa sat at her bedside, eyes weighed down with darkened bags.  Heavy from the tears that welled behind them.  Heavier from the fear they tried to repress.  Her fathers outstretched hand held a small, threadbare sac.  Valda’s eyes shut as she exhaled slowly, reaching out to take the bag. His grip tightened as he weighed his options one last time.  Valda’s heart raced; widened eyes pleading with his cold stare, begging him to release them both.  Her mother wept as he wandered into the candlelit hall empty handed.  

Valda abandoned the familiar warmth of her aging home to brave the frigid bite of winter.  Her exposed hands clung to the small bundle she held tightly to her chest as she navigated the alleys of the crumbling empire.  The sun’s warmth, a minor respite from her bleak circumstance, soon became hidden behind the domineering shadow of the Municipal Offering Building.  The brick ridden monolith towered over the skeletal remains of the surrounding city; a weed thriving off the carcass of its long-deceased host.  

Valda’s knees ached as she carried herself up each and every stone step, flanked on either side by marble statues of the emperor.  As she reached the Offering Window, she leaned forward onto the front of her feet, gaining just enough height to peak into the glass barrier.  She was sternly directed to speak her families name, spelling it towards the camera, ensuring the proper enunciation of each syllable.  Recording one’s personal details into the official ledger came next, requiring the signee to prick their finger and present their signature in their own crimson ink.  After a teary-eyed salute to the agent, Valda reached into her bag, revealing four medium sized beets.  Her hands trembled as she placed the crooked roots into the designated opening, each disappearing into the blackened void behind the glass.  “The empire provides warmth”, she thought; toes numb from the cold breaching her tattered boots.  “The empire provides food”, she thought; ignoring the cries of pain from her empty stomach.  “The empire will keep me safe”, she thought, as the sound of air raid sirens echoed in the distance.