Counting
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Chapter 1:- Calculations
Under a rather large gupawuk tree on a faraway planet, a young girl squinted at the dusty orange sky, cupping in her hands the warm sand upon which she sat, scattering more into the already saturated wind.
Shura mentally calculated the days until her uncle would return from the second planet. She calculated this every day, but today it totaled 2 years, 34 weeks, 5 days, 14 hours, 29 minutes, and 57 seconds. She was a day closer to reuniting with her parents. It had been 4 years, 22 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 52 minutes, and 26 seconds since her uncle had left and gone to the new planet that had been discovered.
Everyone thought that perhaps they could relocate to the new planet and escape their planet, which was deteriorating at an alarming rate. She knew it was just another false alarm, and that they would still not be able to leave. It was her people’s destiny to remain on this dusty planet. It was written in the books, the walls, the sand. It even seemed to resound through the air at times, whispering, “You will not leave.”
But, yet, they still tried to escape. Shura’s own parents had tried and failed. One day, they left for the moon and never came back. That was what she had been told growing up.
She wondered if her uncle was never going to return, just like her parents. All she could do was count the minutes until she knew for sure that uncle would never return with her parents. She was the town Time Counter, after all. It was her job.
Shura got up and moved down the dune-filled hill towards the town she called home.
She was a mere 8 minutes and 40 seconds away from an encounter with destiny.
Under a rather large gupawuk tree on a faraway planet, a young girl squinted at the dusty orange sky, cupping in her hands the warm sand upon which she sat, scattering more into the already saturated wind.
Shura mentally calculated the days until her uncle would return from the second planet. She calculated this every day, but today it totaled 2 years, 34 weeks, 5 days, 14 hours, 29 minutes, and 57 seconds. She was a day closer to reuniting with her parents. It had been 4 years, 22 weeks, 3 days, 10 hours, 52 minutes, and 26 seconds since her uncle had left and gone to the new planet that had been discovered.
Everyone thought that perhaps they could relocate to the new planet and escape their planet, which was deteriorating at an alarming rate. She knew it was just another false alarm, and that they would still not be able to leave. It was her people’s destiny to remain on this dusty planet. It was written in the books, the walls, the sand. It even seemed to resound through the air at times, whispering, “You will not leave.”
But, yet, they still tried to escape. Shura’s own parents had tried and failed. One day, they left for the moon and never came back. That was what she had been told growing up.
She wondered if her uncle was never going to return, just like her parents. All she could do was count the minutes until she knew for sure that uncle would never return with her parents. She was the town Time Counter, after all. It was her job.
Shura got up and moved down the dune-filled hill towards the town she called home.
She was a mere 8 minutes and 40 seconds away from an encounter with destiny.
