Rose [A Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction]

Chapter 2

Rose grasped the lukewarm mug of tea in her fingers and gazed out of the window wistfully. She had long since retired to her small bedroom, changed into a nightgown, and settled herself in her warm bed, content to stare out the window at the sky. The collection of stars and satellites winked down at her teasingly, as though they knew that she felt trapped, when those stars and satellites were so far away and free from the confining home she lived in.

Suddenly feeling restless, Rose set the tea down on her bedside table and slid her legs out from under the warm blankets. Standing up and ignoring the protesting bottoms of her feet—the floor was cold, see—she made her way down the hall and pulled open the door to what one would consider an attic; Rose, however, had converted the unused space into a space for herself. The walls were covered with maps of everywhere on Earth. There was a detailed map of the Eastern Commonwealth that covered half of the far wall, and a map of the African Union in the remaining space. The others walls were covered with small, touristy maps she had gathered from recycling bins, books, and portscreens. These maps—some of them crudely drawn on scratch paper, especially those she had seen on her portscreen—covered areas that Rose knew she would only dream of visiting. She ran her fingertips along a refined map of Paris, France, and then approached the large map of Africa.

This map had been a birthday present. Rose had so often spoken of wanting to travel to Africa, to see the desert and the cities and the villages, that her father had used the only spending money he had earned from a recent job to buy her the map.

"Oh, Papa!" she had exclaimed after unrolling the textured map. "It's so amazing!" And Rose had not been lying. Rolling plains of green and dusty sections of gold and brown were spread across the map, elevated places raised for an added textural element, and the ocean was painted in rich blues along the edges of the continent.

The current map's beauty had long since begun to fade, and Rose had taken to marking the trips she took in her wildest dreams. Rose stood gazing at the map for longer than she cared to think about. She was startled out of her stupor by the front door opening and closing. Turning, she exited the room, but not before giving one last glance, and went downstairs to greet her father.

Rose stopped at the bottom stair and smiled at her father. He gave her a tired smile in return. "Hello, my beauty. You should be in bed," he chastised, though the exhaustion in his voice told Rose that he didn't really want her to be in bed.

"Hello, Papa," Rose replied, following him into the kitchen and watching him take off his coat and drape it over a kitchen chair. "I was in bed, but I couldn't sleep. Derek came to the library today." Her father turned on the kitchen sink and ran his hands under the water to wash off whatever substance he had used in his job today. He had been working in the ports today, probably repairing whatever technology those who docked there would allow him to touch.

"Is that so? The boy hasn't decided to read for once in his life, has he?" Rose chuckled as she hoisted herself onto the kitchen counter. She shook her head.

"Not yet; he just came to waste my time, really. Oh, and of course, to tell me for the hundredth time that I need to come to the town celebration."

"Classic Derek Baines. Did he say please?"

"Of course not, Papa, you know his manners lie only in his charm, and his charm comes from his vanity; he'd never think to use manners towards any but himself."

Her father turned to gaze at her. "You're far too patient with him, Rose." Rose shrugged and slid off the counter, preparing to go back upstairs.