Short Stories

Blank World - First Story

           The world was a blank canvas; the people, the buildings, and the ground. There wasn't a sliver of difference, from pale gray eyes to albino hair and skin. In this world, no one had ever stopped to think about the world around them, it just was. Nothing was documented or remembered, it just was. Amethyst Raile was a woman from this world. She never liked it here, simply having the purpose to live in the moment. That was until the fated day, the day of dropping.

           "Amethyst!" her mother called from the living room. Each person living in Buranku has a family. If the entire family that the person is living with passes away, the remaining person will switch to another family. Currently, Amethyst has a mother and her brother, Liam. Luckily for her, there had never been a time where a person had been chosen to join their family. It was always hard to accept someone new, but it must be done so the other is taken care of.

           Amethyst made haste steps towards the living room, where she found her mother combing her hair, a beautiful pale blonde color. Although in the academy, everyone learned that each person is the same, it isn't necessarily true. Amethyst looked towards her mother, who was wearing a chalky white dress and flats. She then glanced towards her younger brother who displayed an ashen dress shirt and white dress pants. "Are you ready?" Kathy questioned as she scanned her daughter. She got a nod in response, and they started to their city's dropping.

           They walked for a while, taking in the scenery of the city they've lived in for their entire lives. The dropping is a wonderous thing that encourages everyone to wear their best clothes and even decorate their homes with bright fairy lights and crafts their youngest children make in the academy. It's a time where the gods drop down a newborn child to each city. The governor chooses a family that gets to keep the child, and it's a wonderous honor to be the chosen family. As the family of three reaches the eye of the city, where every person living in the city is making their way to.

           Liam looks up towards the silvery sky, at the hole in the center of the city. "Amy," he started, "where do you really think the children are from?"

           Amethyst glances towards her younger brother, "Liam," she smiled, "you know this." She quickly gazed towards her mother to make sure she wasn't listening and leaned down. "No one truly knows, but it's said that gods are what give us them." She stood up and looked back towards the hole in the sky. "And you should believe it too," she muttered, more to herself than anyone else.

           Liam sighed and focused his vision back towards the silvery sky. "I never liked this tradition," he continued, louder than Amethyst would have liked.

"Liam," she warned.

           The boy ignored her protest, "Don't you ever wonder what happens beyond the city?" He glanced towards his sister and back up, "Or why we can't go past the barrier and see the other cities?"

           The older of the two sighed, "We'll talk about this later." She didn't want to have that conversation, per se, since she has been questioning things too. Each time of dropping, she would strain her eyes to see the slightest bit of this god that lowers the newborn child. She had yet to detect anything, but she had seen moving bits sometimes. Even if she could define what it was, she wouldn't be able to tell anyone. It's taboo to try to look at the great god that gives them their children.

           The history of Buranku wasn't supposed to interest anyone since they were taught at young ages that what happened before doesn't matter. All that is important is the present and future. But, she couldn't help but wonder what Buranku was. Amethyst had realized she'd been staring at the hole in the sky for quite a while. It's been long past the time the child to lower. She started to strain her eyes, but she was only left with shock. There were multiple flashes of light, then a spark.

           She looked around, noticing that she wasn't the only one who saw it. The spark enlarged, waving around and covering the sky. Not seconds later, people started to rush in, but they were different. They tried to get everyone out of the city, but Amethyst just stood there, even when her family left. "Buranku isn't all there is," she murmured. She looked towards the exit, "there's more."