Breathe

Chapter One - New Beginnings

The first time Ava felt the wind in her face was as if the world had stopped. The cold made her shiver and, in that moment, she was sure that was what ice felt like. Her legs were trembling and the clothes stuck to her skin like a second layer.

When the wind stopped, so did the cold. Something started to burn the girl's skin and she looked up to the sky, seeing a giant ball of burning fire - the sun. At last they could see it, even if it burned her eyes she just couldn't avert them, and she knew the others couldn't either. After centuries they could walk the earth and feel the soil under their feet.

The sea people, if they could be denominated as such, quickly found an old city covered in moss and dirt. They settled there making it a base of sorts, clearing the vines, cleaning the spiderwebs and all signs of dust. Ava immediately found her favourite place in that town, a library, perfectly hidden in-between two larger apartment buildings. It was very simple but she was baffled with its beauty and the treasures it contained. It was true that time, humidity and bugs had rendered many of the books barely readable, but to Ava just feeling a leather cover or the different kinds of texture of the pages was as satisfactory as absorbing the knowledge from each and every one of them.

"Well, now I know where you spend all your time! I was worried that you had rushed back to the sea, scared by all this dirtiness... I wouldn't judge you, for sure!" She heard a voice say, one that she recognised all too well.

"Hello Sam. I am just trying to clear this building, it may be very useful in the future!" Ava answered to her childhood friend, turning to him with a bright and excited grin.

"Yeah, right... Preach it to someone who doesn't know you! You are just in it for the books!" He teased with a wide smile. Despite his words he was happy for his friend, although not so happy for himself and certainly lesser when a spider fell down in his direction. "Ugh! You should dedicate yourself to the cleaning, not to the reading! It's bad enough this world is covered in a disgusting cloud of pollution and dirt, there is no need to worsen it by living in this dark hole with weird tiny creatures!" Sam said pulling away and rubbing his arms to shake off the feeling of tiny beings crawling all over him.,

Ava shrugged after he called her out but immediately turned her concerned eyes to his gloved hands and tense body. It was clear he was uncomfortable with all this.

"We can start cleaning it now then. Dust the books and the shelves and then put all of them in alphabetic order. What do you think it would be best, by author or title? Or by date of publication?" She said, trying to distract him from the mess around them.

The truth is: everything was dirty; especially if you compare it to their buildings in the sea or to the sea itself. The earth had been abandoned for so long, it turned the human buildings part of nature again and she was sure it would take a long time for them to reverse it. Sam was one of the cleanest people she knew though, it was normal he was uncomfortable with their living situation.

"Let's just focus on the cleaning, okay? I'll help you with the organization after." He said with a grateful smile. The clear question was: how would they clean it? The library was huge, every little corner of it was disgusting and there were only two of them. They could ask more people of course, but this was Ava's precious room now and she wouldn't trust just anyone with her new books.

Their decision was made when a guard entered the room, his chunky waterproof boots thumping against the dirty floor.

"Lady Ava, Mr. Sam." He acknowledged them with a nod and a little smile. "Your father is calling everyone to a hearing right now where he will talk about our landing on earth and our plans for the future. If you could please accompany me?" His words were stilted and formal but it was expected from Java; he was the Chief of the Guard, very competent and trusted by Ava's father so it was normal he was the one that went to fetch her.