The record of the oldest person receiving their gift was at the age of 19 and he nearly destroyed the world. His name was Casimir. Records are inconclusive on what exactly he could do, but the untold and widespread disaster caused the World Government that rose from the ashes to make a new law mandating that all persons must receive their gift by the age of ten and that any person who has not received said gift by that time is to be reported, collected and executed by the Agency of Gift Enforcement or AGE.

When I was ten and didn’t get my gift my parents panicked. We packed up and moved, changed our names, bought forged birth documents. My parents drilled into me my new name and age. My parents mantra was always, “maybe this year,” or “it will be soon, I know it.” But it wasn’t that year or the year after. It was never the “soon” they so hoped for. After a few years it was impossible to pretend I was 10 anymore. People became suspicious, there were more inquiries and agents of AGE watching my family, watching me. With AGE’s increased presence and threat in our lives my parents decided to kill me. It took us 6 months to make all the necessary arrangements and on my 14th birthday, I died. My body was never recovered. I was swallowed by the sea and reborn.

My name is Cordelia now. I am 26 years old, and I still do not have a gift.