Labyrinth: Saving the Fallen City

Chapter One: Bloma

My eyes opened slowly, taking in the dimming sky. I was not in my home. My fingers traced the hard, earthy bed I was lying on. I pushed my fingertips into the ground and felt the untreated soil beneath the grass. I took a deep breath to smell the thick air, anxiously waiting to release its rain from the heavy clouds above. Sounds of lapping water and laughing in the distance informed me that I was not far from home. I was not in a field. I was not in danger.

I sat up slowly to take in my surroundings. I was in a small clearing. I recognized it as where I would eat lunch with a few of my friends. I must have fallen asleep on break. By the looks of the darkening sky above me, I took an extended nap. I could hear talking from my learning group and winced. They must be upset I had disappeared for so long.

"Good morning sleepy sprout" I let a small screech and turned to see Abeisa, one of my friends in my year. Abeisa chuckled and jumped from the limb she was lounging on. She helped me stand and crossed her arms. Her impressive attitude made up for her small stature. Abeisa stood to my shoulders. She was one of the taller ones in her family. Her skin was a light green. Her eyes and hair matched pink.

"How long have I been asleep?" I spoke, still half asleep.

Abeisa shrugged before turned to gather a basket beside the tree. "You looked exhausted during lunch. The group thought you needed to rest, so we told you to stay back and rest. The day ended a little while ago and everyone left. I decided to wait with you after you wouldn't wake up!" The group she was referring to was the bunch of seven people my age who study and work with each other until graduating and getting a career.

The learning system in the community starts at age four. Children report to a learning facility in the Great Center near the market until they reach the age of eleven. Once the child graduated the in-house lessons where they learn about each family and the trades, they go and work alongside each trade to determine what they want to do when they graduate the system. There are many trades specific to each Bloma family, so the five years that they spend experimenting each trade are of the utmost importance. The last year of the system is spent in the persons top three trades and one day a week in the Great Center to prepare for their trade. Groups of seven who are interested in the same three trades will spend this time together to build relationships for the careers they will likely share.

Today marked the last day of the system. Tomorrow and three days after would be a celebration called the Gathering Ball, but the fifth day would be the start of the graduates first day on the job.

"I can't believe we're finished" Abeisa said dreamily as we walked down the path hidden from the fields and towards the community.

"It's like we just started. I don't know if I'm ready to choose. It's kind of frightening after the excitement wears off" Abeisa seemed to grow visibly nervous.

"We still have four days! Let's celebrate for now. Worry later" I nodded as the community came into view and we grew quiet.

The community was filled with people called the Bloma. The Bloma world consisted of four different families with the same or similar genetic traits, like a race. Each family lived within the greater family in what we call a vicinage. Each vicinage has specific advantages for the families. There was some interchanging between the marriages, but the physical needs of each Bloma weighed heavily on the place they lived.

The original Bloma families came together to build our world in between mountains hundreds of years ago for protection. Each family built a vicinage specific to their kind in various locations and connected them in the center with a large marketplace. The vicinages were built in a field for sunlight, in the woods for shade, over water for moisture, and in trees for some light. Each vicinage is strategic in the way the Bloma live their lives and contribute to the community.