Lush green grass surrounded me, its soft texture greeting me as I lay in its embrace. Opening my eyes, bright blue sky stretched on as far as I could see. The three suns shining in the sky gave everything a healthy, warm glow. I sighed in pleasure, relishing in the absolute freedom.
“Key!”
My dream was instantly shattered, as Pixie’s eccentric voice ripped me from slumber.
Opening my eyes, a feeling of utter despair and hopelessness washed over me as the dull, sick colors around me laughed in my face, mocking my dream.
I curled into a ball and forced my eyes shut, closing in the tears. Five weeks, and I still hadn’t gotten used to anything. Everything was so wrong, and the worst part of it was the dying hope of ever going home. Lion was no closer to finding a solution to our problem than the day we’d crashed.
“Hey, Key, get up. After breakfast, Lion’s gonna take us somewhere.”
Composing myself the best I could, I sat up and furiously scrubbed at my eyes, pushing the un-shed tears back.
“Ok, Pix. I’ll be there in a minute.” I gave her a fake smile, and through blurry eyes watched as she skipped out of the room. She, out of all of us seemed the least concerned with our predicament, and I envied her ‘every day is an adventure’ attitude.
Pushing my self-pity aside, I crawled out of the bottom bunk. Mechanically slipping out of my rumpled overly large t-shirt and sweats that I’d cut into shorts, I threw on a clean pair of jeans, and a simple white blouse.
Dragging myself over to the mirror, I gazed in dismay at the sight that greeted me. I looked terrible. Large circles under my eyes hinted at the sleepless nights. The clothes I’d purchased when we’d first arrived hung on me loosely, indicating the missing weight that I couldn’t afford to lose. My pink hair was a mess, sticking out in all different directions. Well, at least I could do something about that.
Grabbing the brush on the nearby dresser, I halfheartedly drug it through my thick locks, and met the dull gaze that looked back at me. There was no emotion there, no fire, and no life in the purple eyes that stared at me.
It was as if I really was a zombie, I realized. A walking shell, with nothing inside, doomed to be alive, but never live.
“Key?”
I glanced to the doorway where Chess was standing, a concerned look on his face. Ignoring him, I returned to the task of taming the beast.
“Are you alright? You look. . .”
“I’m fine!” I shouted, throwing the brush on the ground, as unbidden anger welled up in me, joining with all of my other pent up emotions, and sought for a release. “So just leave me alone.”
I saw him leave out of the corner of my vision, and as he left me alone, my rage dissipated immediately, leaving me feeling hollow and empty inside.
Realization of how I’d just acted hit me like a fist in the stomach, and what little composure I had left holding me together, shattered.
Crumpling into a heap on the floor, I held my knees to my chest and let the tears I’d been trying so hard to hold back, free.
What had I become? This weak, pathetic, insensitive jerk was not me. So where had I gone? Had I truly died the day of the crash? Great sobs wracked my body uncontrollably, and I let myself sink into despair.
As if in a dream, I was suddenly pulled into a strong embrace. I didn’t fight it. I let him hold me, more appreciative of the gesture then he would ever know. He didn’t say anything, just held me to him, and let me cry. A strong, familiar presence, reminding me that, even though I was lost, the most important things in my life still remained.
The tears, having run their course, eventually subsided. Wiping the back of my hand across my eyes, I gratefully took the handkerchief he held out to me, and did my best to dry my face.
Sniffing, I finally looked up, and found Chess gazing at me with pain filled eyes.
“I’m sorry I snapped at you,” I apologized, knowing there was no excuse for my actions.
He brushed my wayward hair out of my eyes, and gave me a faint smile.
I squirmed as he continued to observe me. Now after the fact, I felt like an idiot. Although I have to admit, I did feel somewhat better after crying my eyes out.
“You don’t have to apologize for being upset, Key. You shouldn’t have to be dealing with all of this stress, none of should.”
I nodded, and got to my feet. “We should probably go, Pixie said something or another about going somewhere.”
Chess agreed, and standing up, headed out of the door. Following him, I took a deep breath and tried to calm the feelings that raced through me, like electricity.
*
I glared at the bowl in front of me. It contained increasingly soggy cheerio’s, drowning in milk and tasted like sawdust. I set the spoon down, and looked up. The cramped table, where we were all seated, was a sorrowful sight. Each occupant, lost in their own thoughts, was at different stages in cereal consumption. A pain ripped through my heart. This wasn’t us, this wasn’t how we were supposed to be. We should be laughing and joking, at least talking to each other. Or having eating competitions, and food fights.
Sighing, I grabbed my bowl and headed for the sink.
“Key,”
I looked back as Lion’s voice stopped me.
“You need to finish that.” He ordered, indicating the still half full bowl in my hands.
“It tastes awful,” I complained. “Besides I’m not hungry.” I added, speaking the truth. I rarely ever had an appetite anymore.
“Key, just do it. You look like hell, and you’ve lost way too much weight.”
“Thanks for the confidence building, charmer.” I glowered at Lion.
He pointed towards my seat. I reluctantly obliged, and sat huffily in my seat, shoving tasteless mush into my mouth.
“Ok guys, listen up.”
Everyone looked towards Lion.
“Today, we’re going to visit the library. I thought you all might enjoy it since you’ve never been around books.”
“Books?” Pixie questioned.
“Books are like text documents except they’re made out of paper that you have to physically turn the pages of. You’ve seen pictures of them back home, and they’re all over the place here. You’ve all seen them before, just probably haven’t made the connection of name and object,” Lion told her.
I rolled my eyes, a little ashamed that Pixie hadn’t even paid enough attention in school to know what a book was. She was a genius mechanic, but a lousy student.
“So what’s the point of a library? Why don’t they just have all documents in files? They have computers, and it would save on their natural resources,” Chess asked.
“Not every human has a computer, or access to the internet. Besides, going to the library is free, and it’s an ethical choice for many humans,” Lion explained, taking his now empty bowl to the sink.
“Well, count me out. I’m not going.”
I turned to look at the solemn Who.
“Sorry Who, no choice in the matter. We’re all going,” Lion informed him, gently.
Who crossed his arms, but stayed silent.
“Ok, everyone clean up your dishes, and we’ll head to the bus stop.” Lion rallied us, Pixie the only one returning the slightest enthusiasm.
*
“Who?” I stared on in amazement with the rest of my misfit group, as Who did . . . something. I had no word for what he was doing. Sitting in his wheelchair, a book in his lap, he held his hand over the pages that, seemingly of their own accord with incredible speed, kept turning. Who’s eyes looked like they were having seizures as they erratically skimmed the pages.
“Who,” Lion whispered loudly, nervously glancing at our surroundings to make sure we were alone.
“Yeah?” The last page settled, and Who looked up. “What is it?” he asked, taking in the shocked looks on our faces.
“Did you just read that whole book?”
A confused look crossed his face. “. . . Yeah, I guess. But how. . .”
“I think you just discovered another Power you posses.” Lion mused. “It would seem that you have the Power of ‘speed’, in other worlds the ability to read really fast. I guess you never knew of this Power before, because we don’t have books, and the pages have to physically move.” Lion explained.
I tried to grasp this new development. Did this mean we all would uncover dormant Powers? Did this mean that Chess’s Power’s would possibly manifest? I glanced over to where he was leaning against a book shelf, a blank expression on his face. I couldn’t tell if he was upset or not. He was so difficult to read.
I let my gaze wander and took in my surroundings. I still couldn’t get over how amazing this building was. Now that we were here, I was quite impressed. Rows and rows of shelves stuffed with books, filled the reasonably large room, and extended to a whole other floor that I had yet to explore. I still thought it an immense waste of paper, but it was kind of neat to see so many books, and know that each one contained untold amounts of information. It was also a bit overwhelming, but whatever. It paled in comparison to the recent events of my past.
“Well Who, aren’t you glad you came now?”
I turned back to our small group, as Pixie kneeled in front of Who, holding a large stack of books. Who looked up at her, and I felt tears prick at the back of my eyes, as for the first time since his accident, he smiled. A gesture filled with true excitement, and proof that maybe even here, lost in outer space, we could someday look past all of the pain and hurt, and smile.
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