Departement

Prompt

Imagine a toddler. They died today. They were around 15 months old. (Give them a name) They appear here, in this place, when they woke up after being ill in a big bed in a white room. They woke up in another bed, in another room. They began to cry. Where was Mama? A woman came, she was not Mama, but she looked nice. She changed his nappy. He came in pretty sleepy already. They were put here, in a play pen, and then slept again. Mama would be coming soon. The people come in as they were. What it is essentially is is a *snapshot* of the *voyaguer* at the moment of crossing. Every mark and every thing. But, the thing that took them out of this world, the infection, the injury, whatever, is gone. That 'take out' thing is quite strict. Whatever damage or whatever that happened internally that took them out is gone, or the wound that took them out. But everything else remains. Enough that they can remain alive. No more. Here, they are not immortal. Not fully. Death by old age is not possible. *Voyaguers* don't age at all here, in fact. But, sickness, injuries, and all that, that can still hit you, in a big way. Even to the point of dying again. What happens then is anyone's guess. We are in the *Departement des Jeunes* (everything official is French, tradition). The Department of Youth. From ages 0-12 it processes. Other ages are elsewhere The waiting room has a few others. There is always someone around. Waiting rooms are age separated. The waiting room is like many. You can see the time in the windows. It's night. No judgement people around, but night workers are stationed to care for those waiting. There's a few chairs, a board with posters, and a playpen where our toddler is allowed be in for a bit. The waiting rooms are split. There are (at least in theory) as many waiting rooms as needed for each place. There are signs here. Indicating the department. These are separated by country. At this moment, we are in the Australian department. Everyone has a file. It's a biography, so to speak. The full thing. From beginning to end. It's printed in the vernacular. The 'judgement' is a small office. Often just described as 'intake'. Just a worker, an adult, talking to you. In this department, it's just talking about them, and to them. There's very little to say. There's a few offices. It's like any other, in that respect. Usually, it takes no more than an hour here for an intake to go through. Our toddler is asleep, which changes very little. The workers here are from the other world. They are living and breathing and ageing. They are picked up, generally normal people. Given a handbook to read, and a lot of NDAs. After the intake, they go to wherever is decided. Accommodation for ones like our child are nursery type settings. When parents arrive (if they do, and are deemed suitable) they will be placed with them. Now, for many that could take decades. That's the thing, it's ordinary. It's just the subject of it. That's what makes it unique. Creative Writing First, do his story.