Anthology (A Pen of Thousand Words)

The Curious Eyes

Lut had been very inquisitive about what lies on the vast space. All she saw beneath their family's ship was a dead planet, which she imagined was alive for some time ago.

But what had happened? She didn't know, for centuries had past after the great ancestral prodigies invented the ships that made the human race advanced to space... to avoid the consequences of the planet's destruction.

"You're drown with thoughts in your mind again," She heard her mother commented. She sat beside her, watching the mystical nothingness of the space.

"I am quite attached with the celestial bodies beyond the ship," she said. "It just makes you wonder if there is something out of nothing."

"And the bodies you're talking about is full of peril. The space is malignant, Lut."

Lut stayed quiet until her mother stood up, fighting the will to forbid her daughter's curiosity. "The space is indeed full of mysteries, but your wish to explore it is prohibited. It's against the law of the Cordelia Royal."

All Lut could do was to nod. It was truly prohibited... to show inquiry about the space. But everytime she looked outside, all she could feel was the yearning to explore and experience the adventure the space could offer. Yes, what was beyond the ship might put her in danger, but a life inside a cage was more miserable than to live a life glorifying ignorance and imprisonment.

Her mother could do nothing but to leave her. She was young afterall, and a child's nature was to question. A mature adult will just focus on surviving, but children seek living.

Lut was so preoccupied staring that she lost count of the time. She blinked, and saw her reflection on the glass pane. Her eyes, in the middle of the shade between blue and green, showcased the youthfulness in her.

But the reflection was replaced by a pair of pitch black orbs. She blinked again, and she realized, someone was staring back at her from the other side! Outside the window were alien creatures with bald heads with an insignia marked on it... the mark of the Cordelia Royal! They were the royal warriors of the monarch!

The creature stared at her, and in the moment, she didn't know what to do. Panic filled her to the brim when the warrior took and aimed its advanced weapon to their ship. She screamed and ducked, and all she could hear was the deafening destruction of her home.

Mother... Father...

'Why had it blown our home?  We didn't commit any treacherous act against the Cordelia!' Lut thought. 

Her eyes opened, and she saw the broken pieces of the ship floating everywhere. She felt the nakedness of the space and her lungs were tightening, dying, and exploding.

This is the first time she felt the true danger of the space. It was killing her.

And the true pain was the fact she loved it for years yet in the end, it had betrayed her...

"Randevald Gilophio of ship 907," the creature anounced, "you are to be the Cordelia's prisoner for studying illegal science."

Randevald Gilophia? It's his father!

Lut tried so hard to stay conscious when she saw her parents being carried by the Cordelian warriors. She wanted to scream for help but all she could do was to fight the impossible, until the blackness consumed her.

Lut woke up with a strange feeling. She felt unusually heavy. She tried to reminisce what had happened, but all she could feel was the headache.

She tried to stand up, to balance her body with her new weight, but she fell down to her knees. What was this force that kept on pulling her down? She didn't know. She held on the headboard for support. The door opened, and she saw the alien Cordelian warrior.