There Will Come Soft Rains
Chapter 1: Aubade
Calliope awoke to a peculiar pattering sound outside of her house. It was very strange, because not only was the probability of precipitation was highly unlikely for her planet; it sounded very rhythmic and euphonious – almost like a harp playing an aubade to act as an alarm clock for her. Jumping out of her sarswapagus, the sound of her shackles disrupted the pleasant sound that came from the tinkling pattering. Jumping over pieces of raw meat, the broken chess board that her brother broke out of anger, and packs of jujubes that were haphazardly scattered; Calliope imagined herself as her trollsona Callie Ohpee swiftly avoiding the dangers that withheld inside Alternia – well, what she had imagined to happen inside such an interesting alien planet.
She pulled her white wig over the top of her skull, slipped on her grey gloves – which were now dirtied with grease and the smell of raw meat from her brother's habit to incense her, and carefully perched her perfectly shaped horns on top of her wig. Her horns were honestly her prized treasure of her entire costume. It took her months to perfectly carve the extremely difficult curvature she had designed for weeks to make them look as though they were genuine troll horns. Holding it up to the light, her exceptional gradient of high quality acrylic paints that were carefully painted onto her clay horns shone resplendently; as if they were almost chimerical. How devastated she would be if they became a part of her brother's toys of savagery, scattered on the floor in the same manner as the chess board.
In the mood of her character, Calliope snatched her White Wand and loaded it up with a few bullets she kept in her pocket; mostly just for safety precautions. With a wave of her wand, she fired a few shots towards the practice target she set up for her and her brother. In a flash, three bullet holes appeared just a hair from the bullseye. Tilting the tip of her wand towards her mouth, she blew the tip – like how she saw in the gun fights of Earth movies. Tucking her wand into her holster, Calliope skipped to her Juju chest to admire her Juju. Now this was essential for Calliope, constantly checking up on it out of distrust of her brother, it became a daily routine that would completely mess up her day if she didn't do it. Her face glowed with a green light that her Juju emitted. It was the most beautiful thing in the world, but how unfortunate that a reader like you wouldn't be able to have a glance at it.
By this time, the pattering increased, and the tinkling sound had become distorted – like a broken music box. The sound of what sounded like millions of tiny feet that knocked on her roof drastically increased her curiosity for such a peculiar sound. Climbing up the ladder that led out of her room and onto the roof, she felt the dramatic temperature change and her planet's red giant's rays on her face. The pattering became tapping, then knocking, then an intimidating thumping. Louder and louder it grew as she made her way up to the roof. Finally reaching the top, Calliope stuck her head outside of the hole, searching for the source of what was now a loud thumping. Nothing was there, just the ruins of the once highly populated city and the strange, shitty jpeg-looking earth "Statue of Liberty" artifacts that floated in the magma sea that surrounded the city. She looked out into the gigantic sun, waiting for it to collapse. Of course, it wasn't going to collapse today she thought.
Suddenly, from the corner of her right eye, a red light twinkled. It grew brighter and brighter and brighter.
Calliope fell back into her room with a thud, lying face down on the raw meat and jujube ensconced floor.
== Come back for more next week for the next chapter! See what happens when Calliope awakens in the next chapter: Sussurrus!