Rosemary's toes were beginning to throb from standing on her tiptoes for too long. Her calves ached and her stomach trembled as she stretched out a long arm , her fingertips flexing as long as humanly-- or hybridly-- possible in order to reach the desired object mere shelves above her head. Her favorite denim jacket did nothing to hold her back as she stretched for the book. The old, silver ladder she was balancing on gave a warning squeal as it wavered beneath her. It was already extended to its farthest length, which should have been longer. She was eye-level with the eighth shelf of books on a bookshelf.
The smell of dust hit her sensitive nose, making her sneeze as the pads of her fingertips brushed the spines of countless novels-- the shelves were completely packed with books, making it hard to pull out a single one. It was rare to see so many books--real, paper books-- in one place, making this library a wonder, as miraculous as a museum, but in Rosemary's opinion, better than one, as almost all of these were fiction and fantasy adventure novels. This was all still on Rosemary's mind as her long fingernails finally snagged the ridge of a hardcover novel she had yet to read. Yes. All she had to do now was ease the book out from between its peers-- slowly, steadily... Rosemary bit her lower lip, not recognizing neither how close she was to accidentally breaking the skin on her lip-- her teeth were extemely sharp, after all-- nor the second squeak from the ladder as it again shifted beneath her weight, she was so intent on getting her prize. She pulled... And pulled... Just a little more...
Beep. Beep. Beep. Rosemary let out a yelp of surprise as her port rang out, startling her. She jerked her arm back, wrenching out not just her desired novel, but many of its neighbors as she leaned too far backwards. She grabbed the metal shelf to stabilize herself--her port falling out from the small bag hanging at her waist--but it gave way, releasing its entire shelf of priceless second-era books tumbling down onto her head. Just at that precise moment, her faulty ladder gave way, collapsing into itself and making her lose her footing. She slipped off and crashed down the length of the bookcase and onto the floor, fallen books piling on top of her. She grimaced as she lifted the book she had so wanted to read from its landing spot-- her head.
Just her luck.
Her phone wouldn't stop as it shrillily demanded her attention. Her "best friend," Sophie--the daughter of her mother's best friend, Émilie--laughed at the entire commotion, looking up from her sparkly- shelled port for only a split second. Rosemary didn't even know why she had tagged along. She didn't like reading.
"Stars," she whispered, still tinkling with mirth. "That was so stellarlishously funny!" All doubts about her laughing at an entertaining post instead of Rosemary were erased with a scowl. "Oh, don't take it personally, dear. It's not your fault your so clumsy. But oh, I do hope you don't mind that I already posted that on my SnapStar page."
Rosemary's brain was throbbing from her ringtone, her excellent hearing making the ring sound ten times louder than it would appear to a human in her head. She scrambled to turn it off, momentarily forgetting to be upset at Sophie or distressed over the state of the priceless books. The annoying pain subsided as she answered her port. She breathed a sigh of relief as she mentally kicked herself at the same time for letting her port's volume be so high.
"Hello? Rosette, are you there?" It was Scarlet. Rosemary couldn't help but feel comforted by her mother's voice, prickly as she was. She almost let out a whimper of relief. How embarrassing would that be, right in front of Sophie, who frequently teased her about her hybrid genes and wolf-like tendencies.
"Yes, Mom. I'm here at the library." The relief shone through Rosemary's voice like a beacon.
"Still? You left hours ago! You're not done yet?"
"Well, it is far away, and then I couldn't find a book I hadn't read yet, but then I just found a great one, and I'm just burning with curiosity to read it--"
"Rosette." Her mother's voice was full of fondness and amusement. Well... And some firmness, too. "The library is only a mile away from town. Just come home. It's time for dinner, and your father is getting worried."
Rosemary looked forlornly at the time on her port. 5:48 p.m. It was getting late. And she was hungry.
Very hungry, in fact.
"Okay, Mom. I'll get home soon-- I-I'm coming back to the farm right now." Rosemary stuttered, bending down to fill her arms with the precious novels, flipping through each one, looking at them with brown eyes full of barely veiled worry. The second-era merchandise was irreplaceable and would cost a fortune if she damaged even one of them.
Of course, her parents were the Scarlet and Wolf, actual rebels in what was now referred to as The War Between Worlds, and could easily pay the fortune many times over if they wanted to. But her farm-girl mother had given most of it up to charity, as she absolutely refused to raise her children with that kind of money. Rosemary knew that it was out of fear that they would grow up to be conceited and spoiled. Rosemary felt a flare of indignation behind the chest every time she heard that her mother could ever had worried about her or her siblings being spoiled.
They lived on a farm. When they met new people the first get-to-know-you question her family asked was What's your favorite vegetable? There was absolutely no way she or her siblings could ever be spoiled.
It's not that she didn't love gardening-- she did. Her calloused hands and the dirt that was perpetually gathered beneath her fingernails testified that she gardened often, working on the farm with her brothers and pack members, and not just as the delivery girl with her sister. Some people in town said that her love of gardening contradicted her love of reading-- how could one of her hobbies require getting one's hand dirty, while the other was imagining herself away into characters and plots where she her hands could only get paper cuts. She was drawn to both reality and imagination.
Scarlet chuckled at her rushed tone. "Just make sure you're home soon, Rosette," she said finally. "Or else I swear, I will feed your dinner to your siblings," she added as a fierce afterthought.
Rosemary slid the last of books into a neat stack, taking only her originally desired book. "If even one of them dares lay a claw on my food, they'll regret it for the rest of their lives. See you soon, maman."
Beep. The chat ended.
Rosemary had already placed the book lovingly in her satchel by the time she spun around and faced Sophie with her unwavering confidence. "I have to go--" she began.
"Yes, yes, I know, and my mom's coming to pick me up too. I don't know why you like this dusty place so much! Anyways, go eat your dinner. You might starve if you don't get some food. It's been what, two hours since you last ate? You must be famished!"
True.
The statement sounded offensive towards hybrids, who couldn't control their fast metabolisms, but Rosemary just grinned, taking care to not open her mouth too wide. She wouldn't let Sophie spot her wicked sharp incisor and canine teeth, even if she was a decent friend at times. "Bye, Sophie!"
Rosemary waited until the strict librarian wasn't looking, then snuck out of the library, moving just how her father had taught her to when she didn't want to be seen. She clung to the shadows, crouching down and silently bounding past the checkout counter, which was for tablets only-- the priceless second-era books weren't allowed to be brought home, and she wasn't on best terms with the librarian, who was extremely old and still held a lot of lunar and hybrid prejudices close to heart.
Rosemary walked towards town, where her mother's delivery ship was waiting. A cool breeze lifted her dark auburn hair away from her face, sending a few brightly colored leaves through the air. It had been raining while she was in the library, and Rosemary's nose picked up on the scents of several small creatures among the smell of wet earth. She shook her head. Don't get distracted, Rosemary, she told herself. Rain tended to bring out the childish pup-side in her. At least the crops would be happy, she knew.
Rosemary suddenly stopped and frowned. There were clouds darkening on the horizon, and she noticed that the chilly late-autumn air felt tense and charged. A storm was coming. A large storm-- she needed to be home, helping her pack get the animals inside and the few androids out of the weather.
She took off running, sprinting down the road, suddenly eager to get home. She pressed herself for time, her bag bouncing against her hip, her hair streaming out behind her.
She was panting, but not exhausted, by the time she reached Rieux. She checked her port time. 5:54 p.m. A mile in four minutes. Not bad.
She took longer to find her way to the spot she parked the delivery ship in, behind a tavern belonging to their most loyal customer, Gilles. Her eyes passed over her parents' plaques, proclaiming them town heroes. Scarlet had let Gilles put it up all those years ago, but she had made sure that Wolf's name was on it, too.
Scarlet and Ze'ev "Wolf" Kesley
Protectors of the Galaxy
126 T.E.
It was pretty dramatic and outdated by 24 years, but she guessed that if you fought in the War Between Worlds, you deserved it.
Rosemary sometimes wished that she had been born back then, that she had been part of the War. She yearned for adventure, whereas all she got was glances that were always either superior or fearful.
Always superior or fearful. Never friendly. Never kindly. Always superior or fearful. Always.
Such was the life of a hybrid. Even the life of a half-hybrid.
"Salut, Rosemary." A deep --yet familiar-- voice behind her snapped Rosemary out of her thoughts.
There was a man standing a few feet away, a man with haughty blue eyes and curls upon curls of perfect black hair and cruel, chiseled features. His eyes gleamed with self- satisfaction. She could smell his overpoweringly disgusting cologne coming off him in waves. He reeked of it so badly that she developed a headache immediately. The wind picked up, sweeping his hair across his forehead. It whispered warnings of storms to Rosemary, but the man seemed to glorify in it. He posed.
Actually posed. How conceited could this guy get?
He smiled, showing off his pearly whites in a carefree way that Rosemary would never be able to do. She pushed away a pang of envy, annoyed at herself for such a thought. She chided herself silently. She would not be ashamed of who she was.
The man's cunning smile widened. The wind grew fiercer. Stars, it seemed to be laughing at him.
Rosemary put on a small, fake smile. She barely held back an instinctive eye roll.
"Bonjour, Gaston!"
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Hey guys! This is Jacinna Starlight. Thanks for sticking to the end of my story! I hope you enjoyed this. Right now I'm just setting up the stage, but I promise I'm saving some big events for a chapter or a few in the future. Feel free to comment. Unfortunately, I won't be able to post on this regularly, but I hope you live it anyways. TLC forever! Peace out.
--Jacinna Starlight