Dreaming of Stars

Light Gives Way to So Much More

A large crash in the distance tugged me back into the problems of life. Shrugging my crowd of friends back I decided it was time to stop living in the past I had never known. It was time to save the present I could still experience.

"Onca, hand me your gun." my hard voice never quivered as I held out my steady hand. When the weapon was placed in my palm the fingers I had lived my entire life with curled around the machine's body, pulling it closer to me as I began to walk off.

"Don't do anything rash Vela, try to keep in mind what your mother would want." Aquila shouted from behind.

"You have the nerve to say I should think about my mother?" I turned around and aggressively spat at her venom filled words. "I never knew her! Time made sure of that, it erased her from my life! I never even got a memory of holding her hand, and yet she is all I have." my eyes drifted to the ground. Is this what life will be like now? Will the wounds she left on my body ever be dressed? She wants me to smile. I finally broke through my thoughts and turned my intentions back to where they should have been. "I'm sorry, I won't do anything bad. I just need protection, just in case." the end of my last sentence was a whisper to myself as I turned my gun into safe mode and clipped it onto my dress.

Moving over the land that once had been so full of love instead of this ice cold sheet of fear I followed the smoke path Corvus's ship had created. The wisps of grey and white against the white speckled black sky acted as my tour guide while I climbed over the expanse of land.

Then it all bunched up. A large concentration of smoke loomed I front of me like a death filled ghost. Leaping over one last stone I finally found my objective. Striding over to the dust streaked heap of metal my hand covered my mouth and nose to avoid the foul stench.

Spotting the door I crept over. My eyes wandered over the side of the ship for about as long as Onca would wonder about wether or not to steal a coin. Taking my protection off of my dress I aimed it at the beat up door. Fire, fire, fire, fire, fire. So, it took many, many tries to blast the door off but at least I was persistent. Ok, maybe I did take two ten minute breaks during the time period that I was blasting but hey! The important part is I got in.

"I've been expecting you miss... Vela! That's your name!" Corvus blurbed once I found him crunched between a chair and the wall like a misfortunate taco.

"Are you ok?" I wondered aloud, almost feeling bad for the wretched man as he lay exactly like a trapped turtle on its back.

"I am the mighty Corvus, I can never be hurt!" That sentence was followed by a slight groan as he tried to move his hand.

"Well, I've got to find my dad so, see you later." Leaving him in agony that he rejected with all his strength I found my father in a metal suit to keep him contained.

"Dad?" I inquired.

"Vela! Oh, it's been so long! Get me out with the key. It's in Corvus's pocket." He said excitedly with a flame of passion jumping in his eyes. Going back to Corvus who was conveniently right behind me I reached into his coat pocket I pulled out his key, all the while silently thanking he had no pockets on his pants.

"Oh, Vela!" My father shouted after I undid his prison. He then embraced me in such a wholehearted hug I couldn't resist letting my tears take over once more.

"Father." That was when I imagined all the kids I had left in the orphanage. For some reason in that moment of peace I found something I wished all their poor souls could have.

Returning to the wreckage of what once had been such a wonderful sight I praised the voice I recognized too well. I now had memories of the familiar hands and voices that had pushed me all those times. I now mourned for the one who had fallen while my father listened to my memory of it.

Onca eventually freed Corvus and his men putting them all in the prison we had built. Aquila became an expert on space and great with computers. She would help my father find locations of past citizens and make a way to notify them about the planet's revival.

One day while Vela, my father and I were walking through the halls Vela asked a key question. "Hey dad, why did Corvus want this planet so much?"

"Oh, dears, he is your uncle! I can't believe I let your imaginations run on for so long! Enough of my worries though, let me get to the answers. A long time ago when a group of scientists found this planet they recruited only the best, most trustworthy people they could find. Corvus, being my older brother, predicted he would make the cut. When we received word that I would be leaving and not him something about him changed. He swore that he would either rule or destroy the world that had laughed in his face. There were plenty of others like him though, all wanting the same thing, Paradise." After that moment we lived without secrets. We worked to rebuild the abandoned planet that had brought hate and death to many but now we thought it would be different.

One day watching the stars flee into space I realized something. Darkness seems to cloak the universe, leaving everything in black but when even the smallest beauty breaks through it's spell darkness gives way to light and light gives way to so much more.