Moonless World [EDITING]

Chapter 2 - Caelie

"The Eternal Winter is due to arrive in a few decades, the human race must be prepared for all kinds of trials, or it won't survive."

- Introduction to the book "Survival: A Pressing Matter" by Glauco Hersburgg

Caelie woke up with a scare. Her eyes wide-open staring at the room taking place around her. It was the same room as always, the one she had been sleeping in for the last few years since she was promoted from an orphan to orphans' teacher. Everything was in its right place, exactly where she left it the night before. Except for her. She was off, somehow.

She sat down on the bed and stared at a small point on the wall. What was that dream from last night, again? She frowned. Definitely weird. Everyone would laugh at her if she talked about it. But somehow, Caelie didn't want to share it with anyone, not even the other teachers. Only she could know about it, and that's how it was supposed to be.

The girl shook her head. No good would come from thinking about that early in the morning. She had a lot to do and couldn't afford to be worried about a dream or whatever it was.

Caelie had been teaching the orphanage's children in the building adjacent to hers. She would usually walk together with Lyn or another one of her colleagues, every morning. Lyn was waiting for her by the door of the building.

"The sun seems weaker than normal today," Caelie said, staring at the sky.

The other woman glanced at her and then at the sky. She seemed reflective for a while. "It does, indeed," she said. "But it's no surprise, right? It's dying every day a bit more," rolled her eyes and went back to staring at their path.

Caelie couldn't stop looking at the sun. Yes, it was dying, but she had always thought they would have a bit more time before it was gone entirely and the Eternal Winter arrived, which would probably kill half of the human population, that wasn't really significant by now.

Lyn turned around. Caelie was walking right after, but with her eyes still on the sky. "Hey, watch out."

The girl stumbled on a rock and dropped the notebook she carried. Shoot. She had to be more attentive, or at least don't waste so much time staring at something that would never stare back at her.

"You have to be careful with that," said Lyn, picking up the old book from the floor and giving it back to its owner.

Caelie picked up the book from the other woman's hand. For a fraction of a second, she saw something. The images passed through her eyes, like a vivid dream or a memory. Someone holding that same notebook that was hers now. A young boy with messy red hair, he grinned at it, staring at the journal like it was the most important thing in the world.

She frowned. What the heck was that? It was for sure not her memory. Great, now she was hallucinating. Caelie was, indeed, going crazy for what it seemed.

Her entire body was dizzy, and she had to lean on a wall near, or she'd crash. Her eyes now that the vision had vanished from her head were locked on Lyn.

"Are you okay?" the other teacher asked, lending her a hand.

"I'm sorry. I'm fine. I just felt sick for a second," Caelie said and shook her head. Lyn stared at her for a minute, with squinty eyes. "If you're okay, we should go, or else we'll be late." Not that anyone was counting the time now that the world was dying. Keep learning was one of the few things that still made them few human and not just animals trying to survive.