August

Chapter 6

Discovering the past is like delving deep within a treasure chest full of the unknown.

It was 9 o'clock, and Klaudia's shift was over. The floors had been swept, the bathrooms cleaned, and the counters scrubbed. Ronan was locking the front doors when she approached.

"See you tomorrow?" she asked.

"Yeah, unfortunately," he mumbled, pocketing the keys.

Klaudia rolled her eyes and pushed the door open, trying to get out of there as quickly as she could.

"Hey," Ronan said after her. She stopped. "Are you sure this is the job for you? You seemed really freaked out down there."

She sighed, "I don't really have a choice. I had this dream of..." she trailed off not wanting him to interrupt with a rude comment about how he didn't care.

But Ronan didn't interrupt. He nodded at her, "We all have dreams. But some of us," he looked at her, "have nightmares." With that he closed the door in her face and locked it.

Klaudia walked down the long paved driveway, thinking.

"What did he mean by that? Was he being nice for once? Maybe he's one of those deep emotion people that act all rude, but actually care," then her thoughts left Ronan and started wandering elsewhere, "I wonder what the history of this place is. Maybe it had something to do with how weird I felt in there. One part of me wants to quit and run as far away from that place as I can. The other part of me wants to be there, in the basement, as if I need something there." Coming upon this realization, she made a plan to try to find out as much as she could about the palace.

"And this planet. I have no idea what the history is here," she added. But she sensed this wasn't entirely true. Once again, she felt as if she had a memory here, and that she was deeply connected.

Klaudia had just moved to the planet of Urbanus (Ur-Bah-nus) just one month ago. She was born on earth, but after her family perished, she hadn't seen earth again. She had gathered her things and took the fastest flight out of the atmosphere. She hadn't known where she was going, but when the shuttle stopped at Urbanus, and announced that was as far as that shuttle went, (and that it would return to earth) she had jumped from her seat and boarded the platform.

"And now here I am. Out of money and renting a room in a motel. How did I get here? How did things change so quickly?" this last question she said aloud, asking the cool night air.

She heard a rumbling behind her and stepped to the side as a vehicle rolled by. The autos in Urbanus were usually longer than they were wide, and had two or three back seats, but no passenger seat. This one was old and rusty, and its engine rumbled loudly. The window rolled down,

"How far is your walk?" Ronan's voice called from inside. He leaned an elbow on the door and peered out at her.

"It took me half an hour to walk here," she replied, staring at his darkened face inside the auto.

He tossed his hair from his eyes and wrinkled his brow, "You want a ride?"

Klaudia gawked at him, "Why are you being so nice?" she asked.

Ronan glowered. "It's a yes or no question."

"Yes then. Thanks," she mumbled.

He sighed dramatically, "Hurry up, I have things to do."

"Yeah, studying for school. I know." She opened the back seat door and slid in, "it smells like rotten leather in here," she added, wrinkling her nose.

"Shut up and be grateful."

Klaudia smiled, and then realized that was the first time she had smiled since her family had... her smile dipped back into a frown at the memories that were omnipresent in her mind.

Ronan powered the auto back up and it leapt forward with a jerk, sped up, and rumbled onward. Klaudia leaned forward and asked, "Do you mind if I ask you the history of this planet?"

"I knew you weren't from around here. You have an earthy accent," Ronan sneered. He didn't say anything for a while, and Klaudia was about to lose hope when he said, "Urbanus doesn't really have a past."

"What do you mean? Everything has a past. I can recount the entire history of Earth for you!" Klaudia said angrily.

"Please don't." Ronan sighed. "Earth people don't really get it. Urbanus is similar in shape and fertility, but it has different dimensions."

"Dimensions." Klaudia raised her eyebrows. Was this guy pulling her leg?

"Yes, dimensions. Time isn't very fluid here. The past is the present, and present is the future, etc. Didn't you go through orientation when you arrived?"

Klaudia didn't answer. She hadn't even known there was an orientation. When she arrived in Urbanus, her family had just died that day, and everything was blurry and surreal.

"Anyway, Urbanus' government has figured out a way to stop the time line from jumping every day, and now we live somewhat normally. But in certain areas around the planet, dimensions blur and jump around. So as to the history of the place, historians can only guess. The only thing we know is the present," Ronan laughed and yelled, "that's the way to live!"

Klaudia jumped, startled, "Don't do that. I'm trying to wrap my mind around this. It doesn't make sense."

Ronan shrugged, "Left, or right?"

"Huh? Oh, right."

Ronan turned the auto down the street and the two fell silent for a while.

Klaudia directed him to the motel, and he pulled into the driveway, the headlights lighting up the path. The two floor motel looked as if it sagged into the night, and that any minute it would disappear or collapse.

"You're lucky you live on the way to my place, or this would be the last time you get a free ride," he said as she stepped out of the auto.

Klaudia rolled her eyes, "Thanks. See you later."

"Yeah, tomorrow at 2, don't be late!" he called before slamming the door shut and speeding away into the night.