2199 Extinction

Confusion

            The next thing I'm aware of is the sound of my own breathing, and a faint beeping noise. I keep my eyes shut, afraid of what I might find. They killed me. I'm dead. But if I'm dead, why does every part of my body hurt? I don't think you are supposed to feel anything if you are dead. And then I hear it, the sound of scratching nails on a hard surface, followed by a skittering noise. Furbos! My eyes fly open, and I sit straight up. Two of them stand right in front of me, two more approach from my left. Where's my blade? Where's my blade? I quickly scan the ground but don't see it. But what I do see is that I appear to be tangled up in some kind of thick vines. I start yanking and pulling on them, trying to free myself before the Furbos can get any closer.

            They sure are taking their sweet time to attack me. I yank harder and hear a hissing sound as I free myself from the vines. I manage jump to my feet and take a defensive position. One of the Furbos gets closer, I have nothing in my hands so, I use what I do have and punch it in its mouth. It's screams in anger and stays where it is. Two more approach, and I swing at them as well. These two are smart, and duck, causing me to miss. Ugh! You have got to be kidding me! "I'm not going down without a fight!" I scream at them. One of them turns to look at the other, and I take advantage of the distraction, slamming my fist into it's face as well. This one staggers backwards and hits the floor. But it doesn't matter, I am finished. While I was watching the one's in front of me, two more snuck up behind me and grabbed ahold of my arms. I scream and kick and try to free myself, but its no use, they are stronger than I am. I feel sharp teeth sink into my neck as I black out. The last thought I have is at least I went down fighting.

           I feel something. I'm not sure what. The pain feels far away. I open my eyes and blink as bright light obscures my vision. I sit up and as the world around me comes into focus and I notice that I'm in a beautiful green meadow, a small brook flows nearby. I hear birdsong above my head. I recognize this place; I'm home. I climb to my feet and walk around, touching trees and flowers as I go. Mother used to bring me here when I was a child. We would eat lunch and swim in the nearby pond. Pond. That's right. The brook empties into a small pond. Everything that happened the past few months had to have been a dream, a terrible dream, but a dream. This place was added onto the castle for mother. It's a recreation of the place she grew up. The strange planet called Earth. Since she wasn't raised on Talfar, she quickly grew homesick, and this place was built for her. If I'm not mistaken, someone even rescued some of the plants and animals from that planet. I follow the small gurgling brook, in the direction of the pond. There's the bench that we used to sit at and have our heart-to-heart talks. But who is that? Someone is sitting on the bench. A woman. As I get closer, the woman becomes clearer, and I realize it's my mother.

           "Mother?" I ask, rushing to her side and wrapping her in a hug.

         She giggles and hugs me back, before pulling away. Mother pats a spot on the bench, next to her. "Come. Sit. Let's chat."

          I sit down beside her and before I know it, everything I thought had happened starts to spill out of my mouth. I tell about her funeral, Malum's execution of my people, the time travel, being in love with Amlican, the baby, everything. She sits quietly and listens while I unload five months' worth of activities on her. When I'm finished, I just sit there and wait to see what she will say.

         "Astra." She says, in that tone of voice she uses when she wants me to understand something. "You know I love you. I have always loved you. I will always love you. But this. This here." She raises her arms out to indicate everything around us. "This isn't real."

         "No. No. Don't say that. Of course, this is real. It has to be real. I want it to be real." I say panicked.

            She reaches a hand out to briefly touch my face before putting it back down. "You are stressed. A lot has happened, quickly. Your mind is trying to cope, so here I am. But Astra, you have a baby. I know you can feel it's fluttering inside of you. Your baby needs you. You can't stay here in this dream world. You must cope. You must accept the truth of what has happened and love your child as I have loved you. You can't go back to Talfar, now. I don't know you in this timeline, and surely the people would kill you. Stay here. Raise your son as fellow Copaie. Learn about your people. Enjoy your new life."

           "No. That's not true." But even as the words pass my lips, I can feel the stirring of life inside of me. Fluttering caused by tiny feet and fists, remind me of my responsibilities. "I love you. I'm glad I was able to save you."

           "Astra." A voice I don't recognize whispers.

          I turn my head side to side looking for the source of the voice but finding nothing.

            "Astra. Astra!" the voice gets louder and more urgent.

            "Who's there? What do you want?" I call. The world around me starts to collapses in on itself and everything fades to black again.