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…

 Oxford is what can only be described as a ghost town. Not many people live there and the few that do work in one of the factories scattered around like noisy, odor-producing Giants, exhaling filthy air through holes in the high ceiling into the atmosphere.

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.

 You get the idea.

          This is a story about one individual who burst through to a totally different World.

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.

 Meanwhile…

         At the Oxford District Guards, Darla’s father sat in a locked cell. On the outside of the cell stood an officer dressed in a black uniform with the letters IRU (Inmate Relocation Unit) emblazoned in gold across the back. 

         “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.

 Darla and her Mother took one last look at their surroundings and closed the door behind them.

          Transportation to the Terminal waited outside and without a word, the driver took their bags, then held the doors open motioning for Darla and her Mother to get inside.

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.

           Then…everything went blank.

           Darla and her Mother barely spoke for the duration of the transit. The driver was unwilling or unable to answer the simplest of questions, so they finally gave up and sat back in their seats behind the shield separating them from the driver.

          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.

           They soon accepted the fact that no one was coming for them.

 Ever.

           When the Sterlings finally overcame their fear they prioritized their next steps.

           First of all, they found a cave which seemed suitable shelter for the time being.

           This became their life.

           During a forage for food, Inmate Sterling was suddenly overcome with fear upon hearing a noise in the bushes nearby.

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.

 The End. 

Or was it just the beginning…..?