Memories of Alturast: The Battle Against the Kikk'n

Unara looked out her window. The fields were becoming barren. The crops were sucking the life from the soil and they would need to be replanted soon. She had no time for this nonsense though. There was a field that needed tilling, but her father needed her help with something first.

“Where are you going?” asked her mother, looking up from her weaving. She had been weaving ever since Unara could remember and it seemed like she never slept. “You should be in the field, Unara! We need to get those seeds planted!”

“I know, I know!” Unara rushed from the room, then realized that she didn’t know where her father was. “Where is dad?” she asked her brother, who was playing some sort of tower-building game on his holo-pad. He shrugged at her, so she walked into the living room where their grandfather was sitting in front of the television. He was watching a news program about a war on a planet far away.

“Grandpa, have you seen dad anywhere?” said Unara as she sat down next to him. “I don’t see him anywhere around here.”

Her grandfather grunted at her and pointed towards the kitchen with his walking stick. Unara sighed and walked towards the kitchen to find her father sitting at the table with a cup of tea in front of him and his feet propped up on another chair. He was staring off into space with a strange look on his face and Unara jumped when he spoke to her softly: “Unara...where did you go after we left? After your mother died? We couldn't find you anywhere? What happened to you that day? Why did you leave us behind? I've tried everything I can think of to get you back but I just can't find you anymore...where did you go, my daughter? Where did you go after we left?"

Unara stared at him in shock as tears streamed down his face and she noticed that all of the plants in the kitchen were wilting fast. “Dad...dad what are you talking about...? You didn't lose me! I'm right here! You always say I'm so difficult to follow behind because I walk so fast! You lose sight of me whenever we walk together! That's why mom made me wear those red ribbons in my hair!" Tears started streaming down Unara's cheeks now as well, but she didn't understand why she was crying. "Dad...you're scaring me! Please stop!" The plants continued dying around them until finally they were all dead and brown, including their father's eyes.

"Unara?" Her brother touched her shoulder lightly, snapping her back into reality as an old memory flashed before her eyes. "Are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost." He gestured towards their grandfather who was still staring blankly at the screen, not moving or blinking. "He hasn't moved since mom left last week..."

Unara took a deep breath and stood up straight as she wiped away tears from her eyes with both hands. "No...no I'm fine." She turned around and began walking towards the door again, wiping away more unshed tears as she went along. "I have things to do outside now so let's talk later." She opened the door and stepped outside onto the porch to look at all of those sad faces staring back at her from their little beds in the ground waiting for someone to help them grow again, even though they already had plenty of time for that...so many memories just sitting there waiting to be harvested instead of being protected like they should be...so many things that could make this barren planet thrive again if only people would stop fighting each other over useless conflicts like religion or food or species or anything else that wasn't really worth fighting over in the first place...and suddenly it hit Unara: If people fought over these stupid things then they wouldn't have enough time left over to grow anything new without fighting themselves over who got to eat what first or how much anyone else would destroy their hard work if they got too close to it or any other stupid thing people had done throughout history when they weren't fighting each other directly...but if people had nothing left worth fighting over then maybe they would stop fighting altogether just long enough for something beautiful to grow back here on Alturast...something strong enough that no one could fight against it when it finally grew strong enough to stand up for itself against these idiots running around destroying everything good out there in the world...something beautiful like hope itself...