Chapter One
Welcome to Starship Valley!
YEAR: 2074
My father's footsteps pounded on the ground behind me. I picked up the pace and ran a little faster. You're not bringing me back home this time, I thought to myself. I glanced at the train ticket in my hand. I had bought it so I would have somewhere to go, but I didn't even know where it led to. I saw the train arrive at the station. Thank goodness…
The doors to the train opened. I was so close to the train. Just a little further, and I'll be free! I told myself. The train's doors started to close. My dad's feet still pounded behind me. I did a roll and got on the train just in time, with my father's fists slamming into the doors. I took a seat and breathed a mental sigh of relief. I finally got away…
Breathing heavily, I plopped down into a seat and closed my eyes. I had walked miles to get here, and a least a third of that was spent running once my dad spotted me on his way home from work.
I sucked in a deep breath and smiled to myself. Wiping the sweat off of my forehead, I allowed myself to drift to sleep with no worries for the first time in thirteen years.
"Well, hello there!"
I fell out of my seat at the sudden voice. My eyes adjusted, and there, standing in front of me, was a cat. A talking cat.
"Am I dreaming?" I whispered to myself.
"Well, if you're dreaming, then that would mean that I am too, so I guess not," the cat replied. My eyes widened. Yeah, I was definitely not dreaming.
"Well, as long as I'm here, do you mind if I take a seat?" he (I'm assuming it was a he) asked me.
"Go away, Kitty!" I screeched at him. I didn't want a talking cat sitting next to me on a train with no one else on it! Wait a minute… that's strange, I thought to myself. There's no one else here…
"Hah, don't be silly!" he said, taking the seat next to mine. I scooted over a little bit and eyed him cautiously.
"So, I see you've got a ticket for Starship Valley," he spoke.
"Huh?" I instinctively said. I glanced down at the ticket in my hand. Sure enough, it said Starship Valley on it.
"Oh, yeah. I guess I do," I softly replied, still glancing at my ticket. It was strange. I had never in my life heard of a place called Starship Valley.
"Well, tell me about yourself," the cat asked.
"I will," I told him, "but first, you have to tell me who you are."
"Okay then. My name is Rover. I love riding trains because it's so relaxing, so that's why I'm here on this train." The cat told me.
"Oh. Well, that's pretty cool then." I said. I guess it's my turn now, I thought. Guess I can tell him the whole story.
"Well, my name is Adelaide Brooks, but everyone calls me Luna," I began. "I'm 17 years old, and my hometown is Moonlight Mountains. I love to design Halloween costumes and stay up late. I've been neglected and abused by my parents and my brother, and I pretty much just left all of my friends and family by getting on this train." I finished.
"Well, if you were neglected and abused, then I can see why you got on this train," Rover admitted nonchalantly. But Starship Valley is a great place with kind and friendly people. You'll love it." Rover assured me with a warm smile.
"Now arriving in Starship Valley! Please take your belongings and have a nice day!" the train engineer said through the speakers.
"Well, it was nice talking to you, Luna. Good luck!" Rover called out to me as I got off the train with my bag, the only thing I had brought with me.
When I got into the train station, I checked my bag. All that I had was a hairbrush, a toothbrush, an extra pair of clothes, my music box, a peach, a cherry, a pear, and my designs.
I sighed and exited the train station. But when I walked down all of the steps, I stopped in my tracks and my eyes widened in shock.
"Wow, she's pretty!" a pink, spotted bunny fawned.
"She looks like fun!" an elephant with a green helmet exclaimed.
"Do you think she'll be my friend?" a black and white bunny whispered to the pink one.
"Guys, stop it. I think she's confused. Give her some space," a snow white squirrel softly said. He glanced over at me. When he saw I was looking at him too, he flashed me a shy smile, which put me in shock for a moment, before I heard another voice.
"Thank you, Marshal," a yellowish-white dog with a ponytail said to the squirrel. "Hi there! We've been waiting for you to arrive!" the puppy said.
"Wait, what?" I asked, surprised and confused. "I think you have the wrong person. I didn't even know I was coming here until about an hour ago! How could you have been waiting for me?"
"Oh, don't be silly, Mayor! You're the only one who got off the train! What are you talking about?" the puppy asked me.
"What am I talking about? What are you talking about? And Mayor? I'm no mayor! This is all a mistake!" I pleaded with her.
"Oh, stop it with the jokes," she giggled.
"I'm not joking! I'm not creative enough to come up with this big of a joke!"
"Mayor, please," she begged with a pout. "Just come to the Town Hall when you're ready, okay? Good. Bye-bye!" she squeaked as she waved and trotted off.
"Wait!" I called after her. "Where's the Town Hall? And what are you talking about?" I sighed as she continued to walk, apparently not hearing anything I was saying.
"Really?" I mumbled with a groan.
"You really don't know what's going on, do you?" a questioning voice behind me asked. I spun around, and behind me was the squirrel from earlier.
"Hi, my name's Marshal," he told me. "Welcome to Starship Valley."
Author's Notes:
This is my first story, so please don't be too critical! I tried really hard to come up with an idea for a story that wasn't too common, so I'm pretty proud that I came up with this in only about an hour or so. I'll try to upload as much as I can after I get school out of the way. Rate and review, please!
- Tara