Papuru Star: Coalition Carnage

Chapter 20: The Gospel of Plunk: Lamentations II

Life on the world of Oym was carefree, for the most part, if a tad bit dull. The planet moving to its new home gave a sparkle of excitement that most never get to experience. Take the Gnimini, for instance. They live, generally, in mountainous regions or below the surface in hollowed out cities of rock and stone; rarely do they leave their homesteads unless to trade with other Gnimini tribes. Some within their culture never discovered their world had been moved by an unknown entity; in fact, it was several centuries before any of the Gnimini even realized visitors from other worlds now regularly stopped by for Oym's tranquility and unique safeness.

Events beyond Oym barely registered in the psych of those unaffected by the day to day intrigue of alien interaction. Their lives continued to trod along, oblivious to the wonders presented by our new neighbors. Until one day, a delegation from the technology heavy world known as Cy was granted permission by the Ancient to trade holographic equipment to the Gnimini in exchange for stones that held some type of monetary value in their culture. This revolutionary technology led to the creation of the galaxy renowned Gnimini Owned and Operated Disseminate To Viewers, or GOOD TV for short. They produced destination, children, or otherwise, what the Ancient considered 'wholesome' programming, to not just the homes here on Oym, but around the galaxy.

It was the sounds of a show from this network that woke me from a deep slumber. The bells and whistles that issued from a separate room within my home was a sound common to my ears. Once it dawned on me the current time, I sprung from my very comfortable sunflower bed and flew to the holoview room; where I knew I would find the best thing to ever happen to a Pixan of average manner. My wife, Lorix, fluttered back and forth between a vat of liquid and a rack of colorful powders, humming along with the tune of the singing trees displayed on the holoview. As my thoughts drift to her for dictation, my heart swells to burst and no mere words could paint for you a mental picture adequate enough to do my great love justice. Suffice it to say, sugar, spice and everything else you might consider pleasing to the senses, all mixed with a rainbow and poured into the shapely form of a woman with sheer, silk like wings. Her round face was sprinkled with a light coat of the powders she used when mixing a batch of pixie dust.

"Good morning, butter wings," she said with her usual sunshine tone and bright smile I adore so much. She was mixing the batch with a wooden spoon almost half her size.

"Hey, love," I replied hurriedly. I admit, I was not my normally affectionate self at that present time, believing I had missed my friend's battle. "Is it okay to switch the channel?"

"Why? I always watch this in the morning." She was still smiling, which almost had me flying up to the Ancient's castle, but that was quite a ways away and I was sure to miss the battle if I did.

"It's that show I was telling you about, Coalition Carnage. The one Ramza is competing in."

"Oh, yes," she said merrily, ceasing her mixing and placing the utensil on a flower petal beneath the rack of powders. She was slightly shorter than me and her wings floated her past as she delivered a quick kiss. "Go ahead. I would like to see this Coalition Carnage."

She was seated on the leaf couch by the time I reached the tuner wand and sat next to her. I quickly find Galaxy Station, home of all Coalition Carnage coverage. The holoview produced Ramza, standing in his heroic pose a second before he went tumbling down the side of the blue-white glacier from which he was perched.

"That's our deity," Lorix said with a humorous shake of her head. A gasp escaped her beautiful, full lips at the sight of Ramza's opponent who was on the ice ledge the deity just slipped from. He was laughing so animatedly that he too took a tumble off the screen. "What is that?"

"That, my dear," I said with an air of superiority I knew I always get when explaining a subject. "Is what's called a Preesling. Their home world, Prees, is a couple of planets over, closer to the sun."