The Above || Completed

01 The Above and its Society

After my ascent to the Above, I had been slightly disoriented. I was no longer used to walking on cloud soil and seeing plants that barely had much colour beside pale greens and perhaps a few muted purples, yellows, pinks and reds. The trees with their white trunks and branches, giving off an eerie mist. The buildings of ice, concrete and cloud metals somehow put together in balance to form this ethereal city. The colder temperatures seemed foreign. I had even forgotten about how the people looked here. Our skin tone was limited to the white of the clouds we dwelled in and our eyes were all an intense sky blue.

The Above was a land of clouds and cloud people if I could put it that way. No, it wasn't Heaven nor did it consist of angels. On the contrary; it was a normal civilization among the clouds. See, Gods and angels are not the only celestial beings that roam the clouds.

People living in the Above weren't very different from humans themselves. We lived and breathed as they did. We used the same resources; except they were born of our own efforts. We had comparable governments too. Aside from these similarities, we were an extremely diverse population with different ways. Which, in a way would qualify as yet another similarity but I'd rather not get into the topic of human diversity.

My story was not very different from anyone else's. My name is Maddison Devonne Zeph. I ascended to the Above in return from a short visit to Earth. It was more of a vacation, really. All I did was explore. I grew up in the Above. Not many people knew me before the Renewal.

The Renewal was the day when five selected teenagers had the opportunity to give speeches about new laws that could be passed. For some reason, this year, I was among these five people. I guess I qualified as a teen; I was nineteen at the time.

All five of us were escorted to the Above's council on the day before the Renewal. They gave us a speech on how we should choose wisely what is best for the Above and its people. Which I hardly listened to. I'd never actually bothered with anything concerning law or politics. Apparently, the Renewal was more competitive than I thought. All of us had to make our assigned speeches and then, once we'd finally put on a show for the entire Above community, our laws and suggestions would be judged. The judges -basically the council- would pick the most reasonable and wise suggestions. According to them anyway. This entire thing was pretty much a political game show. I hated it.

Anyway, after we met with the council, we were escorted to our dorm. A single dormitory for boys and girls. It wasn't unheard of in the Above. Besides, we were five teenagers. What was the worst that could happen? The dorm was spacious and dank. Five dusty single beds and a heavy-looking bathroom door. This place was worth a five-star rating for sure. A perfect place to think about a law to pass overnight.

^^^