Hello again everyone! This story is loosely based on one of my former tales called "If I were An Angel". The only difference is that this story assumes that Prior did not bring the girls with him when he left the planet. Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the first chapter. and I swear it'll get more exciting as it goes on!

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I was but one of the many people sitting on the dirt floor of the dingy shack. Living off of clouded water that tasted of dirt and a small bowl of rice per day. It was hard not to feel hopeless. Even the normally brave looking Sakaki-san had taken on a look of fear and bleakness. That did not help my situation. Little Chiyo-chan was almost continually crying. We could do all we could to make her feel better. Words of hope and quiet coos of peace. Yet all the words seemed empty. It is difficult to calm others when you are not calm yourself. Osaka constantly paced the floor, Tomo sat beside Yomi, strangely quiet. It was all a surreal scene inside the shelter as the thousand or so people simply tried to mete out an existance in this dismal period.

My name is Kaori Aida and I am writing this as a letter of hope, a writing of inspiration in dark times. I want to tell everyone who reads this of unbridled courage, of the meek against the strong. I want others to live.

The beginning seemed not so serious. A visit from a strange man who claimed to be from another planet. Of course, everyone including myself, viewed this as odd. Although, maybe not as odd as it would seem to be. The man was nice. He called himself 'Prior'. He was handsome, charming and very honest. Sadly enough, he left before I got to know him well. Others filled me in on what exactly he said and did. Tomo told me all the exciting stories of epic battles and lost loves that he ahd told her. Osaka told me of his wild sense of humour. And Yomi told me about the devices. She first informed me of what she called his 'travelling device'. A pocketwatch-like object filled with complex gizmos and buttons. She went on about what she percieved to be it's technical aspects, and seemed extremely engrossed in its complexities. She then gave a fleeting description of another device, a 'communicator', that Mr. Prior said he had recieved on another world. Yomi described its cylindrical shape, its metallic structure. She said it was broken so Mr. Prior had thrown it into some weeds, distraught at his hope of rescue being gone. I had disregarded the second item. Me and Yomi had had many in-depth discussions about his travelling device. Yet, that was all so unimportant. Then again, hindsight is always 20-20, as they say in America.

After another bad day of Yukari's potty mouth and Kimura's sexual innuendo the only thing I wished to do was lay in my own bed and dream. Everyone always thought I was crazy for dreaming up wild stories and adventures for myself. My own take on that was it kept me sane. Sure, school is stressful, especially in my third year. With everyone pushing me to get into a good college and the work load bearing down on me, my only escape was to dream. It made me feel free. So, I walked home with my metaphoric head held high in expectation. Contrary to my actual head that was faced to the sidewalk, as if there was anything interesting there in the first place. I refrained from daydreaming, I always saved my dreams for home. After arriving and kicking off my shoes I passed by the living room, in which my mother was sitting watching the TV.
"Have a good day at school, Kaori?", my mother asked sweetly.
"Yes, mother.", I responded with a smile, as if I was going to say anything different anyhow.
She pointed the TV remote at the blabbering news reporter on the screen.
"20 more American soldiers dead in Iraq today. Isn't it a shame? You'd think the American government would be smart enough to know the dangers.", she shook her head in dismay.
I also hung my head. Just another example of the world I tried to escape every day.
"I'm going to my room.", I told my mother and trotted up the stairs.
"Ok, dinner will be ready in a few hours.", my mother yelled up after me.
I closed my door and flung my books beside my bed, where they clattered noisily. I then flung myself onto the bed. Greeted by the familiar slight bounce, I was comforted. The soft light from my window was fully blotted out as I closed my eyes. I must have fallen asleep quickly because all I can remember was flying through the air on a winged pegasus with Sakaki-san seated beside me. We were both laughing and simply enjoying each others company.
"Kaori, time for dinner!", came the call that broke my reverie.
Groaning, I plodded down the stairs and sat myself at the dinner table. My mother and father say somberly across from me, seeming to be intensely interested in the dinners on their plates.
"Is..something the matter?", I asked quietly.
"Kaori...", my mother choked as a tear welled in her eye.
My father gave a sigh. He placed his chopsticks gingerly on his plate.
"Kaori, I have to tell you something...", he began. My mother was still beside herself, in tears.
"What's the matter?", I became terribly concerned, "Did something happen to grandpa"
"No", my father shook his head. "Today, I...was cut from my job", he pursed his lips.
"No...but..why?", My vision was clouded with tears. My mother and father were no more than blurs sitting before me.
"My position was cut. Mr. Takamura replaced me with someone with more experience.", my father told me.
"No...", I stood up from my chair.
"Look, Kaori.", my father stood beside me and grabbed my shoulder gently. "This is exactly why me and your mother want you to get a good education.", his eyes grew red from the tears. "We want you to be more than we could ever be"
I tried to look at him, but I found it somehow hard. Without a word, I drew myself from his grip and bolted to my room. I locked the door behind me and threw myself once more into my bed. I thought all the common thoughts as I lay there crying. "What have I done to deserve this?", "Why me?". Then another thought popped into my head. "What if I can't be more than they could be?" "What if I'm doomed to work a dismal job forever?". I sniffled and turned onto my back. I had always been interested in astronomy ever since I was a little girl, but sadly they don't teach that at school. Best I could get was the Astronomy Club that I was the club chair of. One subject I was always good at though was history. History was also very interesting to me. I never really thought of myself as becoming a history teacher or researcher, but it was one of my favourite classes at school. I smiled thinking of how all of past history has influenced everything we have today. I was suddenly flooded with motivation. I decided to make my parents proud by making history my highest scoring subject.
Reaching over the side of my bed I picked up my World History textbook and flipped to 'Chapter 5: Greek History and the Hellenistic Civilizations'. I couldn't help but let a tear drop upon the page where it landed over a set of words. Upon wiping it away I read them out loud.

"The Battle of Thermopylae"

I then read with fervor about the brave defence of the Greek islands by a small group of Spartan warriors. The story told of how only a thousand Spartans managed to fend off a massive army of around 22,000 Persian troops as the rest of the Greek army retreated to regroup. Although the Spartans were killed to a man, the story filled me with awe of how marvelous history was and how different today's world seems.

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Well, I hope that was alright for a first chapter. Soory for how slow it seems. It'll get better, I promise!

peace,

-Jay