FirstLineFiction beta

from Contest #6

            Almost everyone thought the man and the boy were father and son.  Judging by how they behaved towards one another, even I was fooled.  The man being old in his fifties, smiled happily at the boy as he threw the ball to him.  The boy smiled back at him, showing to us how happy he was even though the world was in shadows.  This world was cold and dark, not just by the weather but the environment as well.  We all lived on a remote planet which was seventh from our red gaunt sun.  The days were warm and peaceful but once night set, the darkness took over our minds.  Being in cold and dark for so long drove us all crazy.  The second the sun hit the horizon, we were all out doing our jobs to survive.  When night set in, we all knew fifteen hours of hell were upon us before we would ever see light again.  Although the nights were the worst, people here still looked at the morning and saw hope. 

            Like the man and the boy, few others seem to smile every now and then.  Everyone here had a story, one that was just as bad as anyone else here but seeing those two every day play ball, erased those sad memories.  No one really knew they weren’t father and son but the bond they had, didn’t prove to us anything less than that.  They lived across from me in a broken down storm seller they turned into their home.  Most homes were built as a brick cubical with steps inside which led underground ware the rest of the home was.  The whole planet was a desert but not as dry.  There weren’t many towns where we lived; the area here had about fifty people total and only a few stores.  Everyone mostly kept to themselves but the man and boy showed kindness to all who walked by, even me. 

            I had moved here from a much bigger planet about three years ago, after winning my freedom.  The man and boy arrived here my third year which I mostly kept my distance.  I could tell from the first time I saw them; they weren’t like any of us, especially the boy.  The man, who the boy was with, wore black leather pants with chain loops on the sides and a camalflash war coat. The coat was torn up and dirty with no sleeves.  His hair was a mix between blond and grey which was long.  Wearing boots, he reminded me of a solder of some kind which after speaking to him for the first time, I realized I had mistaken him for someone else.  The boy looked very different, he had what people called an emo cut hair style because it was black and covered his left eye.  The boy was very skinny like most kids here from lack of food but still showed some muscle in his arms. He wore shorts and a muscle t-shirt which I thought was interesting.  Since I wore thick black cacky pants and thermal muscle shirts, the boys look was different to me.

             Ever since they both arrived here, things were never the same again.  We lived in a disserted area, about ten houses around us.  There was a small town nearby ware I would normally go for work.  I was a fuel inspector for a town nearby called Goza.  Besides my desk job, I also went around every three mouths and check the energy meters at the resident’s home.  The town had about five hundred homes which I could get done easy since days lasted around seven hours.  The gages on the houses measured how much energy the homes had which would supply there eletricity.  Since technology was old on this planet, most people could go a half a year without a refuel.  Any time a home was low, I would just write down there address and in two days, it would be field all back up which is how I manage to actually meet the boy.   

            One day dressed in my grey uniform, I stopped at the town’s coffee shop ware I would buy a mocha lota before heading home.  It was around 7p.m when I entered into the store, most of the time it wasn’t busy.  The room was small and only fit about fifteen people.  That day, there was around five including me, everyone was always scattered around and never spoke much.  The front entrance had two windows on its side with square tables next to them.  There were three circle tables located in the center and then the cashier area on the far wall with a large TV in the right corner.  TV was rare around this area, those who had it could only afford the weather and news which was on all the time here.   

            When I walked in, there was a young couple on the right table window talking and two other guys sitting at different tables in the center.  Walking passed them, I heard the two men talking but ignored the rest of their conversation once I got to the cashier.  The cashier was a young attractive woman who I knew only by coming here a lot.  Her name tab said Katie, which I thought was a nice name.  She looked around eighteen, not to for from me since I was twenty.  Living a single life was hard for me but I enjoyed it knowing I could stop and admire the beauty of her.  Every time I came in, she would always notice me but like others, she was just a normal person.  Her long black hair was divided in the middle, blues eyes and tan skin.  Unlike anyone else, she was friendly and smiled when I talked to her. 

            “Hey Katie, how are you?” I said smiling. 

            “I’m good Sai,” she replied smiling back at me, “How is everything at power plant?”

            “Pretty busy, I had to write up about seventy addresses that needed refueled.” 

            Katie looked at me surprised, “Really, that’s high for an early mouth.”

            I laughed, “Yeah it is, I’m thinking some people might be keeping power on more at night to heat their homes.” 

            “Yeah that might be it,” she paused, “So will you be having the usual?” 

            “Yeah I will,” I replied. 

            As Katie went to go fix up my drink, I noticed the couple getting up to leave. The two men sitting in the center were still socializing quietly about something I had no use of listening to.  Most of the time when I came in here, I just sit down and drink my mocha wail listening to the news.  Katie spoke to me every now and then but let me have my peace.  I never mind her talking to me since, I enjoyed her presents.  It sadden me every time we would start talking, she would always let me go.  I wasn’t to social with people, mostly because I enjoy being alone.  Having no one around was great but after a wail, it would get to me.  Since I was very quiet, I didn’t have many friends.  Katie and I were friends but only socially.  We never hung out or saw each other outside of the shop but every once in a wail, I thought about asking her if she wanted to do something together. 

            “Here you go Sai,” Katie said handing me my drink. 

            I smiled, “Thank you.” 

            As I went and sat down at the left table by the window with my drink, I thought about my day.  It was the second mouth of the New Year and yet, the number of addresses was higher than normal.  Usually around this time, I would write up close to around forty five addresses but seventy was really high.  Since energy was the most important thing on this planet, people knew better than to waste it.  It was hard to fuel homes since the fuel we used was nuclear plasma.  Plasma was the waste left behind from the power plants which we just recently found out, could be used as an energy source.  Even though it was new to us, others around the galaxy used it like paper.  Here, things were different, our planet was small and hard to live on, so most of the technology was old.  People saved energy well until this day which wasn’t normal.  It coast about one thousand dollars every three months to get a refuel, most people saved their money before that time came. 

            Taking a few sips of my drink, I looked out the window and noticed the sun was going down.  For me, my job was good but once it ended life officially sucked.  Pretty soon, I’d have to walk home before it got dark, that’s when life was the worst.  Once home, I’d be spending the next five hour bored, eight more hours asleep and the last two hours waiting for morning.  It was the law to stay indoors at night, mostly because the air was freezing and the sky pitch black.  Since people couldn’t see too well and could die of frost bight, the law was unforced for our own safety.  If someone was caught walking around at night, police would eminently take them home and fine them twenty dollars for the first couple of times.  In my years of living here, I had only been picked up once because I lost my key to my house but surprisingly, it had turned up here the next day.  Katie told me I had left it on the table when I left which was like me.  I always would think a lot and forget things but I must say, I’m glad I did.  Forgetting my key, gave me the chance to actually have a conversation with her and get her name.  As I finished my mocha lota, I quickly got up and throw it in the trash which was next to the counter.

            Katie was washing glasses on the other side and noticed me, “So you’re finished already?”  She asked. 

            I smiled, “Yeah, now I’m heading home.” 

            “Well guess I’ll see you the next time you come in.” 

            At that moment, my mind had a thought.  Since I was off work tomorrow, I knew I would be seeing her in the afternoon which gave me an idea.  Since I had only known her for about a year, I never had the chance to hang out or get to know her.  She didn’t seem like a bad person to me and I knew I was attracted to her in a way. 

            After giving it about a minute of thinking, I finally made up my mind and spoke, “Hey um… since I don’t have to work tomorrow, would you like to go see a movie or something before dark?” I asked. 

            Katie thought for a second and smiled, “Well since you asked so nicely, I guess I could close up shop early.” 

            I smiled back at her, “Alright cool, I’ll meet you at the theater around 5p.m.” 

            “Ok, sounds good to me.”

            As I turned and walked away, I quickly spoke once more, “Ok then, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I replied waving goodbye. 

            Outside, people were hurrying back to their homes.  My home was south from the coffee shop but not too far out of town.  Along the way, I couldn’t stop thinking about my actions of getting Katie to go out to the movies with me.  It had been so long since I dated anyone let alone, go out to the movies.  Even though we were just friends, it still made me happy knowing someone was nice enough to appreciate my kindness and respect.  Expressing those two things to people, made me feel better about myself but most people never really seem to care.  Luckily, Katie was different from everyone, she too was kind and knew how kind I was.  It amazed me how two people, could go a whole year without even getting to know one another.  I guess it didn’t matter too much, now the time was right and I was glad it did. 

            As I got near my house, the night was falling upon us.  Before it was complete, the Goza town’s police office had a Cyrene that went off at exactly 9p.m. which was really loud, even out of town.  If you were sleep at the time it went off, you would soon be woken out of your bed by it.  As I reached my home, I notice someone play outside in front of my neighbor’s house across from mine.  With my surprised, I soon discovered it was a little boy throwing a small red ball at the front wall of the house.  It surprised me because I wasn’t aware of any news that I was getting new neighbors.  For me, I liked ware I lived because it was quiet.  I liked not have anyone around and seeing this boy, it disturbed my peace and tranquility. 

            Walking up to my door, I looked back to examine the boy once more.  He was about four foot and skinny.  His shin was very pale and had dark brown eyes.  As he smiling throwing his ball, he acsidentally threw it too hard and missed catching it.  Flying right over him, the red ball hit the ground and bounded a few times before stopping at my feet.  Turning around, the boy soon noticed me and paused.  We looked at each other for a second in silence, until finally the boy lifted his smile back up and spoke. 

            “Why hello there, my names Max,” he said as I just stayed quiet, “Sorry if I almost hit you, I didn’t know you were behind me.” 

            Taking my eyes off him and looking down at the ball, I realized he did almost hit me.  Binding over and picking up the ball, I soon felt negatively towards him, “You know, you should watch what you’re doing” I replied with a grumpy look. 

            The boy froze in fear towards my reaction, “Oh wow, I’m really sorry mister.” 

            “Good,” I paused throwing the ball back to him, “Best behave well by giving people some respect.” 

            The boy frowned, “Yes sir, I’ll do my best sorry.”  As I turned back around to go inside my house, the boy spoke out to me again, “Um... Sir Wait, I didn’t get your name.”

            I turned back around and spoke, “Why do you want to know?” I asked getting irritated. 

            “Well you see,” he paused, “From where I come from, when people meet each other they tell each other there name, that’s how we respect one another.” 

            “Really,” I paused, “Well since you almost hit me, you were disrespectful therefore; you haven’t earned that right to know my name.”

            The boy looked sad at me, “But I said I was sorry about that, how can I earn it then?”

            “It doesn’t matter if you apologized, if you want it so bad then leave me alone,” I shouted.

            Just as I spoke, the Cyrene went off which frightened the young boy to tears to the point of running inside his home.  As I walked inside and turned on the sealing light, I soon realized I had made a mistake.  Seeing that boy cry was hard but known I caused him to cry, made me feel so bad.  Heading down the steps, I quickly turned on more lights.  There was a long hallway, on the left was a doorway leading into the kitchen, the right was the bathroom and all the way down the hall was my room.  Walking into my room, I found my note pad and pen on a small table by my bed.  Picking it up, I quickly wrote a small note which said: Hey sorry for making you cry, that was wrong of me.  My name is Sai, nice to meet you. 

            After reading it, I thought about writing more but looking at the clock, I knew it was only a matter of seconds before the police would do a checkup.  Running back up the step and opening the front door, I quickly looked both ways to see if anyone was coming.  Seeing that the close was clear, I ran across the road and slept the note right under the door.  Running back into my house, I felt better knowing I tried to fix my mistake.  A few hours passed when I soon began eating dinner.  It was around 11 or 12p.m which and I was already started to fall asleep.  As I turned off the kitchen light, I heard a light knock on my front door.  Being so tired, it didn’t occur to be important until I heard it a second time.  As I walked up the step, I heard a third knock but once I reached the door and opened it, the person was gone.  As the cold rushed past me and into my home, I looked around but found no one.  Finally as I shut my door, I noticed a small note, like the one I made by my feet.  Picking it up and looking at it, the note said: Thank you.  After reading that, I realized the note was from that boy Max.  Hearing that, I felt forgiven by the boy and so I proceeded back down stairs with a smile. As I turned off the lights and went to bed, all seemed better.  That was the very first time meeting the boy and from that day on, my life quickly began to change.    

back to Contest #6