Flauraan

Chapter One

Chapter One

The day started peacefully enough; the sun shone brightly on the town and woke me up as it reached its way through my window. Sitting up blearily in bed and staring at the sky, I smiled. The sky was a clear purple colour and there was hardly a cloud in sight. It was perfect weather, and I knew today would be a good day. Once I managed to pull myself out of bed, I quickly dressed and walked out into the kitchen.

"Good morning Abigail." My mother greeted from where she sat reading a book, as she did every morning.

"Morning mum." I answered as I began to prepare my breakfast.

Once I finished eating I headed for the door.

"Going up the hill?" mum asked, looking up.

"As always." I replied with a grin.

I walked out and headed off towards the enormous hill that served as the border of our town.

We lived in the very last house at the edge of the village but it still took me a good five minutes to get to the top of the hill. From there, I could see the whole of the town spread out beside me, with all its buildings gleaming in the sunlight. In front of me, a field bordered by woods stretched out for miles until it reached the mountains off in the distance. It was always a beautiful sight. I loved living on this planet, the planet Flauraan. It was one of many in the Staarus System, and it had been my home since birth. There were other inhabited planets in the system, but I'd never been to any of them, though I wished I could. As I stood at the top of the hill and felt the sun beating down on me, I held my finger up to the wind. It was perfect weather! There would be a clear sky tonight as well, so I could come up the hill again and watch the stars. It was something I enjoyed doing, as there was something about the reaches of space that intrigued me more than anything else ever had.

After fifteen minutes of this I wandered back down and went inside my home again. Mum had finished reading her book by the time I arrived and was about to head into town.

"Did dad have to go to work early?" I asked her as we trudged along the street together.

"Yes, he got called in. Apparently an animal got in last night and they need help cleaning up."

I nodded. My dad had a job at a warehouse which worked in partnership with the spaceport in the Capitol City, and it bordered on a restaurant, which meant hungry animals sometimes lingered around and broke in, causing a right mess as they did so. Usually he wouldn't have to go into work until about now, but he'd been gone since before I woke up.

The trip into town was like most others; uneventful. We talked to some people, mum posted a couple of local messages, and we picked up a few things from the market. Normally when we went into town I would visit my best friend Leila, but she had moved to the planet Halapatov just over a week before. I was really missing her.

As we ate lunch in a humble little restaurant in town, I stared around me at the quaint buildings around me, trying to imagine what it would be like for Leila in the big city she now lived in on the other planet. I'd seen pictures of course; the city was full of towering buildings, fantastic sights and astonishing technology. We had some pretty neat tech here on Flauraan, but my people (the Paladanians) were a lot less ostentatious than the Halapatovians and preferred things to be simple rather than flashy. The Capitol city of my country, which was two day's walk from my town, was just as large and complex but definitely not as aesthetically outrageous. I knew Halapatov would be dreamlike compared to here.

After lunch we popped in to see dad, but he was very busy so we just said hello and then we went back home.

I sat on my bed, flicking through my book of star charts for an hour or so. At this time of year, the constellation Lye should be very bright, the book read. I pulled out my own charts, which I'd drawn myself, and compared them to the book. They were very close. I loved stargazing. It was my favourite hobby. I hadn't been doing it lately so I could spend more time with Leila before she left, and then because the sky had been really cloudy lately, but tonight would be perfect for watching the stars.