Planet of the Unknown Kais

Chapter One

 I leaned back against the thickly barked, pink blossomed tree and closed my eyes, ready for a long nap. As my hands fell to the dirt beside me, a finger from my left hand brushed a mound of earth, bringing stinging tears to my tightly shut eyes.

I slowly opened my eyelids and patted at the dirt, my eyes shiny and watery. I tried smiling, but it was no use. Too many memories were already flooding my mind.

"Today's a bright one, eh, ma?" I asked the mound, wiping the tears away from my face with the back of my hand. I faced forward and managed a tiny smile. "You sure are missing out on a lot of work. It would be a whole lot easier with you here."

I closed my eyes once more and breathed in the sweet, summer breeze. I was just about relaxed when I felt a soft tug on my ragged dress.

I turned my head to the side, where my eyes were laid on both of my younger siblings. I managed a small smile and ruffled their hair with my hands. "Hiya, kids!"

Oniko, the oldest of the two, frowned and swatted my hand away. "I am twelve years old, not a kid," he said, obviously irritated. "If you wanna call someone a kid, there is a four year old right here for you!" He pushed our little brother Tiloli toward me and crossed his arms. Tiloli just grinned and clapped his hands.

I chuckled as Tiloli climbed onto my lap and snuggled against my chest. Oniko sat next to me and leaned on my shoulder.

Tiloli patted the mound of dirt to my left and giggled. "Hi mommy!"

Oniko crawled around the tree and sat on the other side of the mound. He smiled a little and sighed. "Miss ya, mom..."

Tiloli pulled out a blue flower from inside his ragged shirt and stuck it into the middle of the mound. Then, a grin came upon his face and he whispered, "I picked this for you! Your favorite!"

I stood and scooped up Tiloli in my arms, nodding Oniko along. Oniko slowly stood and waved goodbye to the mound, then followed behind me.

We walked across the field of tall grass and yellow flowers until we came to our home, a small cabin that was burned almost halfway down the walls. Nothing was left of the roof, and coals and ash littered the ground inside.

"And to think," I began, setting Tiloli on the ground and placing my hands on my hips. "A couple months ago, our house would have been perfectly fine."

Oniko spat on the ground and walked through our doorless entryway. "And a couple months ago lightning struck our house and started a fire." He turned to look at me and frowned. "We don't need to go through this every time you see the cabin, Niplo!"

Tiloli giggled and jumped into the ashes. He rolled onto his back and looked up at me. "Yeah, Nipple!"

I rolled my eyes at Tiloli. "No, no, you are saying it wrong!" I crouched down next to him and spoke in slow motion, "Niiiiploooo. Got it?"

Tiloli giggled and sat up. "Nipple!" He stood up and started jumping on the ashes chanting, "Nipple! Nipple! Nipple!"

I smacked my forehead and Oniko laughed at me. "Niplo," he began between giggles. "You just got ash all over your face!"

I pulled my hand away from my face and examined the black ash that was coating my skin. I wiped my face with my ragged dress and stared at all the soot on the floor. "Why haven't we cleaned this yet?"

Oniko shrugged and leaned against the charred wall. "We lost all our cleaning supplies in the fire." He pointed out at the fields. "All we have left is crops and water from the stream."

I scratched the back of my head and looked outside. "We need money. Without it, we will have to sleep on ash for the rest of our lives."

Oniko looked at me and frowned. "We would have money if you would get a job." He studied my face and continued, "You are twenty years old, aren't you?"

I frowned at him. "You know I can't get a job. That would require going to town. And going to town would require a three hour walk across the fields." I looked out at the fields and continued, "And we can't exactly buy a house in town without money, can we?"

Oniko hung his head. "We need to get out of this house."

I walked over to him and ruffled his hair. "It's okay, kiddo. We will."

Oniko swatted my hand away and mumbled, "Stop doing that..."

I smiled and clapped my hands together. "I am going out to fetch us some dinner." I snatched up my empty flour sack and walked out to the crops.

After a couple minutes, I was already throwing berries and flowers into my sack. When I was finished collecting, I made my way back to our home, where my brothers were hungrily waiting at our dining rock.

I sat down next to my brothers and dumped the sack's contents onto the rock's surface. I let them pick out what they wanted before me, just because they needed it more than I did. When they had finished selecting their food, I popped a couple of the leftover berries into my mouth.

When we had finished dinner, we went over to mother's grave to pay our respects. We all prayed and laid flowers on the mound of dirt until dark, then when we were all done, we returned to our home, nothing but the light of the stars illuminating our path.

My brothers both crawled into bed, or as you would call it, the pile of ashes in the corner of our house. I grabbed a few flour sacks and crawled down next to my brothers, covered us with the sacks, and stared up at the moon.

"Nipple..." Tiloli whispered.

"Hmm?"

"Could you tell me a story?"

I smiled and sat up, millions of old legends and stories flooding my mind. I set my focus on a specific story, one that mother used to tell me when Oniko was only two.

"Once upon a time there was a kai," I began in a whisper. "He lived alone on this very planet, and he had the power to create anything he wanted, but only three things, or he would die. First, he rose his staff to the air and wished for friends to keep him company. And friends he was granted. He ranked them all based on their abilities. When the friends became boring, he rose his staff to the air and wished for three million more friends. And three million friends he was granted. They roamed the planet and made it their home, but they quickly became boring to the kai. So, once more, the kai rose his staff to the air and wished for a billion planets, all with civilizations and species of their own. And a billion planets he was granted. The kai was relieved, for now he would never get bored of his new friends. The kai took one happy step, then dissolved into the air."

I smiled at Tiloli, who was now sound asleep. I cuddled up against my brothers, and with my eyes shut, I whispered, "The end."