Two Worlds

Chapter 2

Kat:   “NO! No I’m not going!” I screamed and started to cry. “Zeron has no problems, why can’t we stay here?” I whined.

“Don’t worry, I guarantee you, Earth is better; it is where we were meant to be” Mom says simply. I wanted to totally scream at her. I mean, who could care less? Since I wouldn’t pack my things, Mom packed them, and told me anything unimportant, doesn’t come. She put in pretty much nothing. Because of this, I just had to pack my own things. I thought Earth was make-believe. I thought it was just a boring old story. I liked it that way, not knowing.  

I bet Earth was still terrible. I had heard a story about a girl who lived on Earth. It was like totally boring but that was just ‘cause it was in school. I even looked up the story for more details. It was pretty darn sad but it’s not like I’m a nerd….

Just one more step and the grape was mine. A beautiful, fresh grape. I stare into the glass case yet another time. I’d bring it to Mama, and Papa, and Joshua. We’d then be a happy family, split the grape, and have an extra twenty days to live. Then we wouldn’t be like the rest of them, then we could stay in America, then we wouldn’t have to go underground, or to Zeron. Then, everything can be like always. I just had to get that grape. I remembered before, where getting a grape would not mean surviving, it was just a simple snack. Now, if I didn’t, we would have to move.

“Iris! This is the best! Thanks so much!” Joshua cried out when I brought that special grape home. So what if I cheated? Everyone else didn’t need it as much as my own family. Mama cut the grape evenly into four pieces and I began to eat. The smooth skin and juicy inside made me feel like I was in heaven as it slid down my throat, everyone else were just as joyous.

Seriously, who would be so desperate for a grape? A tiny, grape. I hoped I would not turn out like that.

Just as I predicted, we stayed on Earth another twenty days. Those days, we scraped the land clean for food, and when the slightest thing was found, we celebrated. We even ended staying for another year. I kept thinking perhaps we would not have to move. But I knew that was not possible. Eventually, the drills would turn, and the ships would leave; when Earth lost its gravity, and when the danger started we would die, so we had to go.

That day finally came. Joshua packed his bags quickly, since he wanted to take a last walk around. “Wanna come along?” he had asked me. There wasn’t anything to actually see anymore, so I turned down the offer. Earth no longer had its beautiful scenery, blue skies, clean air or fresh water. I wished none of it had ever happened. Why did I have to be alive, why was I born right in the range when all this would happen?

If Earth really was real, well I was so glad I was born after the move.

“Mama, Papa, are we going to go underground, or live on Zeron?” I asked when we went to the station. It turned out that my family was not the only one to wait until the last minute, there were so many people at the station, and I could barely stay with my family.

“Well,” Papa said, “It’s hard to decide. Honestly, I’d feel safer being on Earth, but so many people think so to, it would be crowded. Besides, it’s not good to breathe dirt.”

“Soo… you still don’t know?” I asked. This was bad. Papa really had waited last minute.

It turned out that the girl in the story of Earth had the same problem as me, except we didn’t want to go to each other’s planets.

“We’ll go to Zeron.” Mama decided. She grabbed four tickets and we boarded onto the ship. There was a large crowd of people and I could not see Joshua.

“Where’s Joshua?” I cried out. Mama, Papa and I looked frantically around. Joshua was not there. Suddenly I saw Joshua; he was standing by the drills, inspecting them carefully. The drills were about to start. He was going to get hurt. The ship was about to go. I was going to miss it. I swung open the ships door and jumped off.

“Hey! Kid! Where’re you going? We’re about to leave!” The pilot called out, but the ships engine was already rumbling, so he couldn’t stop it.

“Iris!” Mama screamed. She didn’t want to lose both children, but I had to save Joshua. She was about to jump off too, but the ship started going, and flames burst up.

“Close the door!” The pilot screamed. I ignored them all; my one goal was to save Joshua. The drills engine began to start, and the tip was slowly spinning. Joshua stood there and stared.

“Idiot! Get out of the way!” I screamed and pushed him over-

There was no end to this girl’s story. I supposed she had died. It was like, totally gruesome but it taught me something. Zeron people would never start an engine until everyone said one-by-one everyone was there, and they don’t start drills if a little boy is standing in the way. I didn’t want to go, it sounded so dangerous, then again, I didn’t realize at one point, and those people were just like me. And if I was so worried about the underground people, I didn’t have to. All those Earth peeps were dead too.

Cecilia:   “Oh Mom, it’s beautiful! Look, I can spread out my arms, I can run, and I can breathe!” I giggle, we all took great, big breaths, and not needing to worry that dirt would come into our noses. I also heard that the next day, the Zerians would come to Earth too; I couldn’t wait to see them!

The Zerians did not look all that good. Of course they were all in some way different but they had different clothes. Flashier, fancier and there was this odd aura that told me they would have preferred to stay on Zeron. I then saw a girl about my age. She had pretty blonde hair that was really long and nicely French braided, her eyes were cute and green. She wore purple plaid dress with a low collar and it only reached right at the edge of her bottom. I thought this was odd, but perhaps that was the style (I later on found that it was a shirt) in Zeron. Even weirder though is, she had another skirt, which I could see, under the gown. She wore a scarf tied nicely around her neck, and she had various bracelets- including lumpy rubber bands- on her wrists.

“Um… hi, I’m Cecilia,” I said, nervously approaching her. She gave me an odd look, as if I were weird. I knew I wasn’t in my best clothes, baggy cargo pants and sweater- all in which were dusty, but at least I wasn’t in a double skirt! “And you?” I tried again.

“I’m Kat… Why are you like wearing that? You look like a boy.” She snorted. Truly! Snort! Like HONK! I scowled at her rudeness; I would most definitely not be friends with her. Everyone there was new, so there was no one in higher power, except some people were more accustomed to Earth’s atmosphere.

Kat:     The stupid underground people looked like they were from year one. They wore shabby clothing, and the fanciest clothes the underground people were wearing- was a long skirt- and everything they wore was covered in dirt. “MOOOOM! Why are these stupid people wearing things from like, year one?” I whined. Mom quickly hushes me, jabbing her elbow into my side “Ouch! Mommy!” she ignored me and walked to some of the shabby women and they conversed. A girl approached me. She looked so stupid, like a boy, which I didn’t hesitate to tell her. She glared at me but I merely ignored her. An extremely hot guy walks toward me. I had never seen him before which meant, sadly, he was an underground person. But he was different. His clothes seemed cleaner, and much cooler. He had slightly long- of course at a normal boy’s length- brown hair, and he was wearing a white t-shirt and black skinny jeans. He was totally my type.

“Hey, I’m Luke.” He said, flashing me the most adorable smile. He looks so much like a Zerian I almost lose myself in his big, brown eyes. His voice is deep, but not booming, he’s perfect. I then remember he’s an underground person. He continues talking. “So, I’m the descendant of Joshua’s relatives, your planet taught you about him, right?” he looked at me in such a way, I know he thinks I’m intelligent, I nod mechanically “so, it’s my duty to make sure Earth is ready and healthy!” he said, looking proud. He looked back at me. “I hope you like the Earth I worked so hard to prepare.” He said flirtatiously and I totally fall for it, swooning over. Maybe Earth won’t be so bad after all. Tiffany walks up behind me.

“Who’s that hunk?” she asked. I would respond but I am in such a shock my lips glue together and my ears are dulled. I can’t respond. Maybe, just maybe, Earth wouldn’t be so bad.