Beneath the Blind Sky

Chapter 2

"Charlotte, it's visiting time," Nanny says as she pushes open the door. It squeaks loudly, as it always does. However, I notice that her footsteps seem lighter. Not on purpose though; it doesn't sound like she's tiptoeing. I brush it off, assuming that it's just a change in shoes or something like that.

I nod my head and stand up, reaching for my walking stick. Nanny -evidently still annoyed from earlier- grabs my hand and begins to walk me down the hall without my stick. I trip over my feet and yell for Nanny to stop, but she keeps dragging me down the hallway until we reach a door. A small beep sounds, and the whoosh of air coming out of the hatch follows.

Mina's footsteps approach the door, and she throws her arm around me.

"Charlotte! I missed you! Come in, come in," she squeals.

I run into the room with her and Mina slams the door behind us. I expect Nanny to barge in and yell at us, but I hear her footsteps retreating from the room back down the hallway.

"Charlotte, I missed you," she whispers in my ear as we embrace. I step back from the hug and sit down on her bed.

"Any stories?" I ask.

No matter what, Mina always has a tale to tell and a song to sing. There's a prolonged silence, and my hands begin to sweat. I'm not quite sure why I'm so anxious, but cold flashes make sweat break onto my brow.

"There once was a group of people," she begins, voice unsteady. "People were dying all around them, and the air was polluted. Electricity was sparse and the economy was high. About 14 countries decided that they needed to leave Earth, so they put together their money and built a rocket. They gathered their friends, family, and the few people that could pay their way onto the rocket, and took off. The goal was to go to Mars but there was a complication with the ship. They ended up drifting away...and that's how we wound up in space," she whispers.

I whip my head around and pull my face into what I would assume a confused face would look like.

"What do you mean we?" I ask, voice sharper than a knife.

I can feel Mina taking a step back, so I step forward in an attempt to get an answer.

"What are you saying?"

Mina takes a deep breath and gives me a whispered answer; "We're not on Earth."

"How are we not on Earth? Are we...in Space?" I already know the answer. She's finally told me the truth through her story, but I wish that I never heard it.

"Charlotte? Are you okay?"

I nod my head, and then shake it. "Mina...Mina you're joking. You're lying," I whisper, too shocked to speak clearly. She has to be joking.

Right?

She puts out her arm and hugs me tight, running her fingers through my hair. I cry into her shoulder for a few minutes, and when my sobs quiet down she whispers in my ear. "I know it's coming as a shock...but it's true."