My dear friend
Dean challenged me to write a story using these words: Oxford, millwright, chewy,
galaxy, female. Let me know if you find any typos! A writer RARELY sees their
own mistakes.
In the Beginning…
Career
opportunities for a female in Oxford are
non-existent: you go to school, you grow up, you marry a millwright, and you move to a different house
in Oxford, where you have babies and start the cycle all over again.
If
you LIVE in Oxford, you will most certainly DIE there. No hope
for a future. There IS no future.
I
introduce you to Darla Sterling. She’s 13. Dark brown, curly hair, grey eyes. Very
smart. So inquisitive.
Her days
were spent the same as most teenagers: school, chores, homework. Plus, for
Darla, lots of reading about a World she could only imagine. Totally out of
sight, but never out of mind.
For
her birthday, her parents gave her a telescope. It was peering through it with
squinted eyes that Darla was introduced to a DIFFERENT World. Quite unlike the
one she currently inhabited.
So
this is where she would spend every darkening hour, staring into the unknown galaxy. Imagining what it might be like to escape the
grip of the stinky Giants and soar into the sky.
“It
HAS to be better than HERE!” she said to anyone within earshot.
It
was after just such a day that Darla changed into her purple pajamas and sat at
her telescope pointed out the bedroom window, with her much-loved stuffed dog, Chewy, beside her.
“Inmate Sterling, the Supreme Panel has judged you to be a danger to your community and you will therefore be relocated to a different facility.”
While elsewhere...
Darla
was totally focusing on the Universe on the other side of her telescope when
her Mother entered and sat on the bed.
“Baby,
you have to pack your things. Only your most TREASURED things. We have to move,”
and with that, her Mother handed her a small suitcase. “Just wait in your room
until I come and get you.”
“Move????
Why do we have to move? Where are we going? Is Dad okay?”
“Yes,
he’s okay, but….” and the Mother sighed.
“But
WHAT????? He’s okay BUT…..?”
“Everything
will be fine, Darla. Just do what I said. Hurry up. We don’t have much time.”
By
now, Darla was totally confused, with absolutely NO idea what was happening.
She continued
to sit at the telescope for a few seconds, trying her best to make sense of
this strange turn of events. Then she changed out of her pajamas and rummaged
through her few possessions, tossing rejected items over her shoulder.
She didn’t
have many things to pack, except for her toothbrush, comb, her telescope, and
Chewy of course, all of which barely fit into the bag her Mother had just given
her.
Then
she sat on her bed.
Waiting.
After
a bit, her Mother opened the door and motioned for her to come out.
“Where’s
Dad?” Darla asked.
“Someone will take us to meet him.”
“Meet
him? Meet him WHERE????”
“The
Terminal.”
Darla
had only heard rumors about “The Terminal.” Nobody seemed to know much about
it. What they did know was that you didn’t come back from wherever it sent
you.
It was a moment Darla would never forget.
As Inmate Sterling sat inside his cell, thinking about the circumstances that brought him there, the cell door opened and the officer entered. “It is necessary that you have the proper medication before your transfer. Please roll up your sleeve.”
Inmate
Sterling did as he was told and soon felt a sharp sting in his arm. “It was an
accident! I didn’t MEAN to hurt them!! They jumped out in front of me! It was
dark and I couldn’t avoid them!!”
“Them” being native inhabitants of Oxford.
Finally, the vehicle pulled to a stop at a medical facility
Darla’s Mother recognized from a previous visit.
Following the driver’s instructions, Darla and her Mother
went inside and were immediately ushered to a private room.
“It is required that you have the proper immunizations
before you relocate,” said a male whose face was covered in a white mask, and
with that, he injected them behind the ear.
Moments later, they were escorted back to the vehicle and again
seated behind the screen separating them from the driver.
Not long afterward, both mother and daughter were asleep.
No one ever remembers how long it takes to be transported to another facility. They simply awaken to strange, unfamiliar surroundings.
Eventually, the Sterling family awoke to find themselves sitting together in some form of…airplane? Slowly, they roused themselves.
“Daddy!” Darla cried out, reaching across the aisle as soon
as she opened her eyes and looked around.
Just then, a door opened in front of them and a Guard
stepped through.
“Good. You are awake! Please follow me.”
After getting their bearings, the Sterlings were guided
down a rampway to the ground below, with another Guard following.
Darla and her parents tried to take in the strange sight around
them.
Nothing. No people, no houses, nothing.
“Where
ARE we?” they all gasped at once.
“You
have been relocated to another Planet which serves as our Prison. There is no
way to escape. You will remain here for the rest of your lives. Please step safely
away.”
Without another word, the Guards placed their bags on the ground, and retreated back into the vessel they had exited moments before.
Though
getting no answers, all three Sterlings in a panic, continued to yell questions
at the Guards.
Silence.
Only silence.
The next hours were spent foraging among the trees for food and water, unaware of what was and was NOT safe to eat or drink.
First of all, they found a cave which seemed suitable shelter for the time being.
He ran
back to their cave/home, ducking behind the rock pile he’d constructed as a
barrier, against…well, he didn’t really know what, but he didn’t want to
be exposed in case of animals entering.
Moments later, he heard voices speaking in a strange,
grunting manner.
He slowly peered above the rock barrier and was shocked to
see another person staring back at him. This person had black skin, slanted
eyes and wore no covering other than some sort of leaves wrapped around his
waist. Just behind him stood a much smaller person.
It slowly became apparent that this person meant no harm
and was equally startled to see a person with white skin and grey eyes that
weren’t slanted!
They both spoke at once, but neither could understand what
the other was saying. Very different languages.
After what seemed an eternity, Inmate Sterling stepped out
from behind the rock barrier and extended his hand. (He could never explain WHY
he did that, other than to say he didn’t know what else to do.)
For a while neither could understand what the other was
saying. Eventually – somehow – they created their own language of sorts.
In time, Inmate Sterling discovered this other person had been
taken from his home under the same circumstances on another planet close to the
Sun. Guilty of some wrongdoing.
As
time passed, Inmate Sterling became a friend of sorts to the other person,
whose name he could only pronounce as “Ming Choy.”
Gradually, more people of different bodily/facial features appeared, with those speaking the same language merging together into colonies.
The surroundings slowly evolved into various structures and
dwellings so that in time, this planet wasn’t so different than the ones
left behind, minus the stinky Giants.
Although she missed her friends, Darla adapted easily, gazing each night through her telescope with Chewy by her side, on Planet Earth.
Or was it just the
beginning…..?
