Sashataakheru (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wolfanfics) wrote2009-08-13 10:56 pm
wolfanfics) wrote2009-08-13 10:56 pm
Original fiction: Starlight and Centaurus in the Big City MkII
Mostly written for my own amusement creative writing unit this semester, this is a first person version of this charming little piece. I, uh, changed some of the dialogue somewhat, if only to avoid repetition, though I kept the ending because, well, I liked it better and didn't think I could perfect it further.
Not sure if I'll keep this or not. Might just revise the third person version to reflect this one. I like the flow of dialogue better. It sounds more natural. Or something. XD
One of the symptoms of living out West where I do, on the wrong side of the quarantine border, is that there are no cities. There are small settlements, towns and villages, and many more wandering cowboys. You get used to not seeing anyone around.
I remember the first time I went to Darwin was scary enough. The streets were narrow, there were all sorts of people around, and it was the first time I’d seen a Chinese soldier. You were always aware of the Chinese presence; all the money you ever saw was Chinese, but seeing Chinese soldiers was rare if you lived out bush.
Ironically, it was Darwin where everything changed. That’s where Rogue and Puppy found me. They wanted to take me, and my mate Centaurus, back to Melbourne. Across the quarantine border. Into the Big City. For someone not exactly comfortable in Darwin, the prospect of crossing the border was not exactly a good one. The East Coast was a whole other country. Little news of what life there was like had filtered across to us in the West, and what we did hear was frightening.
You see, what’s missing here is basic infrastructure and governance. Once the State Governments disintegrated, everything else crumbled into disrepair. The Chinese forces, while occupying the territory, are not governing it. They just keep the peace and make their own money. They couldn’t care less about us.
We approached the border in the dead of night, being careful to avoid the Army stations guarding the border to ensure no one got in or out. I’d never seen the border before. I’d always known it was there, but because it was so far away, it had become somewhat mythical in nature.
It consisted of two barbed wire fences and a moat on either side. The land between was rumoured to be littered with landmines to deter illegal crossings, but there were so few trying to get across that it seemed somewhat redundant. But that was where my nerves began and I wouldn’t relax til I was back home in the West again.
The crossing was painfully slow. Search lights crossed the land. When there was an explosion, or what sounded like an explosion, in the distance, we made a run for the fence and dashed through the makeshift hole cut into the wire. The only shelter we had was a small brushy tree. If we’d been seen, we’d have been shot.
It took another three days to reach the city. It just delayed my anxiety as we travelled further away from home. Nothing smelt right, and the stars I’d grown used to seeing every night were dim and quiet. Talking with the stars had always calmed me. Not being able to hear them was disconcerting. I missed the comfort of Ara’s words, how she was always there, up in the sky, like all the others.
We stopped on the higher ground before descending into Melbourne. We were surrounded by suburbia. I had never seen so many houses so close together before. It was just before dawn, but already there were strange vehicles travelling along the roads towards the city, with its forest of tall buildings blocking out the sky. I clutched Centaurus’ hand, afraid to go further. Rogue and Puppy stood beside us.
“We’re gonna get killed in there. Where did all these people come from?” I murmured, watching my breath in the cold air.
“This is city living. Far too many people crammed into as small a space as possible. You get used to it,” Rogue said.
“I feel like I’m being strangled. There’s no air, no trees, no space. Do you even have stars? What have you done to the land?” I said, gazing at the city before me in horror.
Centaurus wrapped an arm around my shoulder. His touch calmed me a little, but I wasn’t sure I could make myself go in there. The stars had finally been silenced, and the lack of their comforting presence seemed overwhelming. It was the last tie to the home I’d left. Without it, I was hit with the realisation that I was alone in a foreign land.
Rogue moved in front of me, thankfully blocking out the sight of the city, and took my hands. I wanted to cry. What lay before me was completely outside my sphere of experience. He brought me into a hug and I wanted him to make everything better.
“I know you’re scared, Starlight, but you need to come with us. The twins, Xavier and Azarius, are eager to meet you. They said we weren’t to return without you, that it was Ara’s wish for you to come here,” Rogue said
I felt a shiver of familiarity as he spoke the name Ara. I had been convinced Ara only spoke to me. That she was known to others was a shock. No way did they know Ara. “No, not Ara. How do you know her? No one but me knows her. It can’t be possible.”
“Come with me to the city. I know it’s scary, but I’ll keep you safe, I promise,” Rogue said quietly.
Well, he was right about the city. It was terrifying. I had never seen so many people before, and there was so much traffic on the streets… It was the fear of not being trampled that kept me walking along beside Centaurus. People kept staring at me. They knew I was an outsider. The city smelt bad. I had no idea how to react to this new place. The rules were strange and confusing. I had never seen a revolving door before, nor traffic lights. I just wanted some space to breathe, to get away from all the deafening noise and smell and chaos. I longed for home.
It was the Australian currency that I was most shocked to see. It was incredibly rare over in the West. To possess Australian currency in the West made you incredibly rich. I hadn’t even realised Australian currency had coinage. We had only passed some sort of shop and I’d glanced at the open till in wonder. I had never seen my own country’s currency in such quantities before. I took out the last roll of yuan I had and marvelled at how useless it was in this strange city.
“What’s that? That the yuan you were telling us about?” Rogue said.
“Yeah. It’s the currency of the West. Kinda worthless here, isn’t it?” I said.
“Not quite. I can’t remember the exchange rate. You’re really fascinated by the Australian currency, aren’t you?” Rogue said as he allowed me to hold what he had. There were a few notes of different amounts and some coins.
“Where do you get it all?” I asked in wonder. I stared at the coins and the strange designs on them.
“What, the money? It’s what we use here,” Rogue said.
“No wonder you want to keep us out. You’ve got all the wealth, and we’re left with nothing,” I said. I slipped the yuan away, ashamed at what it represented.
“Here, buy yourself something nice,” Rogue said, handing me a note.
It was nothing more than a purple plastic note, five whole Australian dollars, but it was incredible to hold it. I had never possessed so much. I was rich. My yuan weren’t worth the paper they were printed on. In my anxiety to make sure I didn’t lose my new-found wealth, I hid the note inside my roll of yuan.
And then some sort of large, long passenger vehicle rumbled past us on the street and I hid behind Centaurus in fear. Even he startled as it blasted its horn at us.
“Ókay, so maybe it is a bit scary in here,” Centaurus said.
“I miss home. This is all so … wrong,” I said.
Rogue took my hand. His smile was sort of calming. “Come on. Nearly there,” he said.
With some trepidation, I let him lead me away. I felt better once we arrived at his party’s office. There weren’t so many people there, and the noise was distinctly less. He showed us around. The technology in the place was incomprehensible. His desk was… I don’t even know what it was. There was something etched into the surface of the desk and at Rogue’s command, a thin sliver of a screen rose from seemingly nowhere and words appeared on it. I could see no way it could possibly work, nor any concept in my head to compare it to.
“Isn’t it great? It’s the latest model,” Rogue had said with some sense of pride.
I just backed away from it, unsure how to accept it.
Rogue just clapped me across the back and led me onwards. We settled eventually in the lounge and Puppy brought us some food. Finally stopping allowed all the emotions I’d been holding back to spring forth. Centaurus wrapped an arm around me as I cried. I felt hopelessly isolated and cut off from everything that had ever given me comfort. I was not that well adjusted to begin with. I had my own demons lurking in my mind, and trusting strangers was not one of my strengths.
I had seen too many things I had no name for, things I could barely imagine, let alone work out how they worked. What I was used to out West was nothing like this. What the East had was incomprehensible. Puppy showed me a book, but it looked nothing like a book. It was some sort of strange device and words appeared on a screen. There was no paper, no pages to turn, nothing. Puppy said the publishers updated the book for you automatically so you always had the latest copy. It sounded horribly suspicious and I threw the device against a wall. I decided I hated it, whatever it was.
“So you’re the one Ara sent. She said you would be troubled,” came a soft voice from the doorway.
I looked up and saw the twins. They looked identical. I had no idea who had spoken. Flame red hair and green eyes and somewhat identical outfits of black and red leather did not distinguish them. But I could feel her. Ara. Just faintly, and without the strength I had gotten used to, but she was there.
“I don’t like it here. It’s too scary. There’s nothing here that I recognise,” I said. “How can you hear Ara in all this mess and chaos? My ears are ringing from the noise. It’s so deafening here.”
“It’s not easy. She only talks to my brother, Azarius. I have to keep him as pure as possible,” said one of the twins. He must be Xavier.
His brother knelt before me and took my hands gently. Meeting his gaze, I could feel her. Ara did indeed speak to this one. “She says not to worry, that you are safe. The stars are always around, even if humanity wishes to silence them.”
“If I could just hear their voices…” I said, my voice trailing off as I strained to hear them.
Azarius brought me into a gentle hug. “She always speaks to your heart, even if your ears cannot hear. We are never deaf to the stars, not while we live,” he whispered to me.
I clutched onto him, chasing the safety of Ara and her words. She had indeed spoken then. I had felt it in my heart. I fought back the urge to cry. Azarius began humming quietly as I held him. I tried to calm down, to settle, but the sound of a loud horn shattered the illusion and all I wanted to do was flee home to the desert, to the West, to where the space was great, the stars were bright and the air was sweet and clean.
Not sure if I'll keep this or not. Might just revise the third person version to reflect this one. I like the flow of dialogue better. It sounds more natural. Or something. XD
One of the symptoms of living out West where I do, on the wrong side of the quarantine border, is that there are no cities. There are small settlements, towns and villages, and many more wandering cowboys. You get used to not seeing anyone around.
I remember the first time I went to Darwin was scary enough. The streets were narrow, there were all sorts of people around, and it was the first time I’d seen a Chinese soldier. You were always aware of the Chinese presence; all the money you ever saw was Chinese, but seeing Chinese soldiers was rare if you lived out bush.
Ironically, it was Darwin where everything changed. That’s where Rogue and Puppy found me. They wanted to take me, and my mate Centaurus, back to Melbourne. Across the quarantine border. Into the Big City. For someone not exactly comfortable in Darwin, the prospect of crossing the border was not exactly a good one. The East Coast was a whole other country. Little news of what life there was like had filtered across to us in the West, and what we did hear was frightening.
You see, what’s missing here is basic infrastructure and governance. Once the State Governments disintegrated, everything else crumbled into disrepair. The Chinese forces, while occupying the territory, are not governing it. They just keep the peace and make their own money. They couldn’t care less about us.
We approached the border in the dead of night, being careful to avoid the Army stations guarding the border to ensure no one got in or out. I’d never seen the border before. I’d always known it was there, but because it was so far away, it had become somewhat mythical in nature.
It consisted of two barbed wire fences and a moat on either side. The land between was rumoured to be littered with landmines to deter illegal crossings, but there were so few trying to get across that it seemed somewhat redundant. But that was where my nerves began and I wouldn’t relax til I was back home in the West again.
The crossing was painfully slow. Search lights crossed the land. When there was an explosion, or what sounded like an explosion, in the distance, we made a run for the fence and dashed through the makeshift hole cut into the wire. The only shelter we had was a small brushy tree. If we’d been seen, we’d have been shot.
It took another three days to reach the city. It just delayed my anxiety as we travelled further away from home. Nothing smelt right, and the stars I’d grown used to seeing every night were dim and quiet. Talking with the stars had always calmed me. Not being able to hear them was disconcerting. I missed the comfort of Ara’s words, how she was always there, up in the sky, like all the others.
We stopped on the higher ground before descending into Melbourne. We were surrounded by suburbia. I had never seen so many houses so close together before. It was just before dawn, but already there were strange vehicles travelling along the roads towards the city, with its forest of tall buildings blocking out the sky. I clutched Centaurus’ hand, afraid to go further. Rogue and Puppy stood beside us.
“We’re gonna get killed in there. Where did all these people come from?” I murmured, watching my breath in the cold air.
“This is city living. Far too many people crammed into as small a space as possible. You get used to it,” Rogue said.
“I feel like I’m being strangled. There’s no air, no trees, no space. Do you even have stars? What have you done to the land?” I said, gazing at the city before me in horror.
Centaurus wrapped an arm around my shoulder. His touch calmed me a little, but I wasn’t sure I could make myself go in there. The stars had finally been silenced, and the lack of their comforting presence seemed overwhelming. It was the last tie to the home I’d left. Without it, I was hit with the realisation that I was alone in a foreign land.
Rogue moved in front of me, thankfully blocking out the sight of the city, and took my hands. I wanted to cry. What lay before me was completely outside my sphere of experience. He brought me into a hug and I wanted him to make everything better.
“I know you’re scared, Starlight, but you need to come with us. The twins, Xavier and Azarius, are eager to meet you. They said we weren’t to return without you, that it was Ara’s wish for you to come here,” Rogue said
I felt a shiver of familiarity as he spoke the name Ara. I had been convinced Ara only spoke to me. That she was known to others was a shock. No way did they know Ara. “No, not Ara. How do you know her? No one but me knows her. It can’t be possible.”
“Come with me to the city. I know it’s scary, but I’ll keep you safe, I promise,” Rogue said quietly.
Well, he was right about the city. It was terrifying. I had never seen so many people before, and there was so much traffic on the streets… It was the fear of not being trampled that kept me walking along beside Centaurus. People kept staring at me. They knew I was an outsider. The city smelt bad. I had no idea how to react to this new place. The rules were strange and confusing. I had never seen a revolving door before, nor traffic lights. I just wanted some space to breathe, to get away from all the deafening noise and smell and chaos. I longed for home.
It was the Australian currency that I was most shocked to see. It was incredibly rare over in the West. To possess Australian currency in the West made you incredibly rich. I hadn’t even realised Australian currency had coinage. We had only passed some sort of shop and I’d glanced at the open till in wonder. I had never seen my own country’s currency in such quantities before. I took out the last roll of yuan I had and marvelled at how useless it was in this strange city.
“What’s that? That the yuan you were telling us about?” Rogue said.
“Yeah. It’s the currency of the West. Kinda worthless here, isn’t it?” I said.
“Not quite. I can’t remember the exchange rate. You’re really fascinated by the Australian currency, aren’t you?” Rogue said as he allowed me to hold what he had. There were a few notes of different amounts and some coins.
“Where do you get it all?” I asked in wonder. I stared at the coins and the strange designs on them.
“What, the money? It’s what we use here,” Rogue said.
“No wonder you want to keep us out. You’ve got all the wealth, and we’re left with nothing,” I said. I slipped the yuan away, ashamed at what it represented.
“Here, buy yourself something nice,” Rogue said, handing me a note.
It was nothing more than a purple plastic note, five whole Australian dollars, but it was incredible to hold it. I had never possessed so much. I was rich. My yuan weren’t worth the paper they were printed on. In my anxiety to make sure I didn’t lose my new-found wealth, I hid the note inside my roll of yuan.
And then some sort of large, long passenger vehicle rumbled past us on the street and I hid behind Centaurus in fear. Even he startled as it blasted its horn at us.
“Ókay, so maybe it is a bit scary in here,” Centaurus said.
“I miss home. This is all so … wrong,” I said.
Rogue took my hand. His smile was sort of calming. “Come on. Nearly there,” he said.
With some trepidation, I let him lead me away. I felt better once we arrived at his party’s office. There weren’t so many people there, and the noise was distinctly less. He showed us around. The technology in the place was incomprehensible. His desk was… I don’t even know what it was. There was something etched into the surface of the desk and at Rogue’s command, a thin sliver of a screen rose from seemingly nowhere and words appeared on it. I could see no way it could possibly work, nor any concept in my head to compare it to.
“Isn’t it great? It’s the latest model,” Rogue had said with some sense of pride.
I just backed away from it, unsure how to accept it.
Rogue just clapped me across the back and led me onwards. We settled eventually in the lounge and Puppy brought us some food. Finally stopping allowed all the emotions I’d been holding back to spring forth. Centaurus wrapped an arm around me as I cried. I felt hopelessly isolated and cut off from everything that had ever given me comfort. I was not that well adjusted to begin with. I had my own demons lurking in my mind, and trusting strangers was not one of my strengths.
I had seen too many things I had no name for, things I could barely imagine, let alone work out how they worked. What I was used to out West was nothing like this. What the East had was incomprehensible. Puppy showed me a book, but it looked nothing like a book. It was some sort of strange device and words appeared on a screen. There was no paper, no pages to turn, nothing. Puppy said the publishers updated the book for you automatically so you always had the latest copy. It sounded horribly suspicious and I threw the device against a wall. I decided I hated it, whatever it was.
“So you’re the one Ara sent. She said you would be troubled,” came a soft voice from the doorway.
I looked up and saw the twins. They looked identical. I had no idea who had spoken. Flame red hair and green eyes and somewhat identical outfits of black and red leather did not distinguish them. But I could feel her. Ara. Just faintly, and without the strength I had gotten used to, but she was there.
“I don’t like it here. It’s too scary. There’s nothing here that I recognise,” I said. “How can you hear Ara in all this mess and chaos? My ears are ringing from the noise. It’s so deafening here.”
“It’s not easy. She only talks to my brother, Azarius. I have to keep him as pure as possible,” said one of the twins. He must be Xavier.
His brother knelt before me and took my hands gently. Meeting his gaze, I could feel her. Ara did indeed speak to this one. “She says not to worry, that you are safe. The stars are always around, even if humanity wishes to silence them.”
“If I could just hear their voices…” I said, my voice trailing off as I strained to hear them.
Azarius brought me into a gentle hug. “She always speaks to your heart, even if your ears cannot hear. We are never deaf to the stars, not while we live,” he whispered to me.
I clutched onto him, chasing the safety of Ara and her words. She had indeed spoken then. I had felt it in my heart. I fought back the urge to cry. Azarius began humming quietly as I held him. I tried to calm down, to settle, but the sound of a loud horn shattered the illusion and all I wanted to do was flee home to the desert, to the West, to where the space was great, the stars were bright and the air was sweet and clean.