The Under sky

Wise man once said... (pg 1.)

Its hot, its humid, and its late October. The ground is warm and the grass feels nice today.

I close my eyes for what I thought was mere moments only to be woken up by a heavy sack dropped on my gut except it... wasn't a sack it actually was my friend Del'quinn. The only reason I knew this was because her eyes have the common glow as Rastins 'should' have.

it was apparently Moon fall.

"you really shouldn't fall asleep in a open field like this, MONSTERS will get you" Del'quinn says with a snarky tone.

"The only thing that can see anything in such darkness are people like you Del"

she turns on a torch and throws it to me, I catch it then shine a cone of light at her sooty face, it contrasted her starry like black and blue eyes. It was clear that she just got back from the factory. I then take my horn bottle that I keep my 'fizzy caramel water' and hand it to her. instantly her eye dots shine brighter for a moment and she chugs the whole thing letting out a belch.

* Recently the water around our town has been polluted so the only things you can drink are highly processed versions of water or wine and ale unless you're poor then you gotta boil and filter it which is a huge time consuming task that takes hours for any significant amount of water and if its filtered or boiled incorrectly one would be hugging a toilet for hours. or worse... so its clear why she was thrilled to see such a simple drink.

She wipes her mouth and stands up I also slowly get up stretching my limbs Del slyly pipes back up"you know your mother is going to have your head when you get home Z'rajj"

I shrug "she'll understand that the winery was hard today. So I took a break from chores" I confidently say.

"Z'rajj you're useless"

I hang my head down in a fake sulk. "its true... ever since your parents died in the war Del, and mother took you in...you've become favorite quickly, I can never find the motivation to improve"

she looks at me like one would look at small child "its because you're lazy Z'rajj and you know it"

I let out an annoyed sigh and we head home using the light to guide our path.

we arrive at home and I use my key to open the door to be greeted by slap and a sharp pain in my ear. its my mother pulling the tip of my ear "Z'rajj you lazy go'ed fore nothin pigling" she pulls me to the dinner table where my father and my younger brother are sitting almost done with supper "now eat, tomorrow you 'ave chores to do"

"Welcome home Z'ragee" my little brother greets me.

"hello Timol'thee" I reply he giggles at our exchange of names being mispronounced.

"oh Del'quinn you're such a mess my dear" my mother frantically says

"no im fine mumma" Del hugs her and sits at the table then gets a carrot and eats it as is. my father looks at me with a gloomy face."Z'rajj I got bad news"

I look at him and say "A wise man once said 'there is only news no good or bad' so what is it papa?"

"the RHN is Drafting here in a week"

I keep eating "so? there are plenty of able men around here for the war the chances of you getting drafted are slim no worries papa"

"Z'rajj, they are now drafting children and women. and im worried about you and Del'quinn so for the next week im finding you two a place to hide for the week"

Del'quinn gets antsy "but what about my job? if they think I ran from the drafts ill be fired!"

my father shuts her down "Del, you have no say in this. I will not have you or my son marching with rifles. EVER!"