Class had just ended for the day, and the two trainees hurried outside to enjoy the late-spring freshness. They passed by door after door of meeting rooms, classrooms, and apartment suites which lined the hallways of their home, and out into the soft spring grass. The breeze they generated with their movements was fragrant with pine and flowers. Though the courtyard was completely encircled with a high white-stone wall, the adept nineteen-year-olds were more than able to climb over it and escape into the hills beyond. And that’s just what they did. First Josiah clambered to the top, tearing the knee out of his blue jeans on the rough stone, so a hint of café au lait skin peeked through. Then he lowered his hand and grasped Annie’s. Her skin was lighter than his, more of a caramel color, but she remained his match physically: tall, long-limbed, and strong. Despite the ankle-length skirt which hampered her movements, she managed to climb up. For a moment they stood side by side on top of the wall, surveying the wide-open land beyond the compound.
