The Twilights: The Basics of Secrets

Chapter 1

15 Years Later

Azura

            He wouldn't take the power cell. Or the hand blaster. Or the spare droid hands that I brought. Instead, he picked up the hands and waved them around.

"What the bloody hell am I supposed to do with all the bits of robots you bring me?" Omer screamed at me.

I raised my hands in defense. "I brought you a leg last week, and a torso and arm before that. You can build a droid." I explained.

"How about next time you bring me a whole droid, then you'll earn something. Now, if you don't have anything, piss off street rat," the angry frupert said to me. I didn't want to give Omer the best item I had to trade, but I know that I can pawn the other items at cheaper venues. Omer is a disgusting slug, but I know I can get more money at his stand than others on the black market. I pulled out a arroz gem from my backpack. I cradled the glowing red gem in my hand before showing it to Omer. His big brown eyes lit up at the sight of it. "Is that an actual arroz gem? You've been holding out on me, my dear."

Omer turned the gem over in his big brown hands. Eventually, he gave a low hearty laugh. He pulled out a small purple box and put the gem inside. He grabbed a bigger box and cracked it open. I held out my hand as he placed ten marrons and four harrons in my palm. The cold metal circles of the marrons and triangles of harrons felt nice in my hand, but not enough.

"Oh come on, that gem is more full and intact than half of the other ones that people trade." Omer twisted his face and placed two square garrons in my hand. Satisfied, I smiled and put the money in my pack. "Can I get anything for the robot hands?" Omer grinned and raised his arm. In the middle of his forearm, a purple flower bloomed, which he picked and handed it to me. I flashed a smile as I put the flower in my right pigtail braid.

"Pleasure doing business with you, kid," Omer said. He called next and another customer or trader went up to his booth.

There were still items clanking around in my bag that I could trade. Someone would take the hand blaster, it was basic made and nothing interesting, but a man defending his life would pay for it. A few blocks from Omer's shop there's a small eating area and food stands that are on the outskirts of the black-market limit. A few dealers have middle men stationed there, I can tell them what I have and wait to see if someone wants to purchase from me.

I immediately spot Kym. She sits at the top left table of the eating area. She was eating fruit and reading something on a small tablet. She didn't look up as I sat down and told her what I had. Her bright pink skin stuck out in the dark. She pointed to a table a few seats away. I know the routine. I went and sat down on a bench with my pack held at my side.

The stars are bright out. They blend in with the small lights that are strung across the top of the eating area. On our planet of Sugloria, most, if not all, towns use fire to light their towns and homes. Very rarely do I see electric lights. And even though these electric lights are strung up across the market, there are plenty of shops that have fires going out in front to light the streets or homes. It's hard to have electricity flow since everything is mainly made of wood due to the forest geography. Still, I like to look at the electric lights. It's different from the fires.

After several minutes, a young frupert woman came and sat in front of me. She's the same species as Omer, but where he resembles a big and burly tree, she's slim like it's branches. Her grassy green hair is tied back in a bun and she had flowers growing from her shoulders.

"You have hand blaster?" she asked with a frupert accent. I nodded. Her face was worried, but she put a basket on the table. Inside was a head of lettuce, cabbage, carrots, largot fruit, and bread. "Please. I have no money to give, but I have food. It is all I can give."