Prologue
Looking up should make me happy; it represents an exit, an escape—the freedom I desire. But no, nothing could make me leave this place. Not whilst my belonging and contentment remains here. For now.
"Mama, what's it like up there?" I whispered in a voice so quiet that even my own mother, who was directly beside me, could barely hear it. In the midst of the stilling black darkness a blue eye blinks back at me. Then slowly, the other amber eye does too.
"Rain, it is more beautiful than you can imagine. The night sky twinkles, brimming with stars, the trees grow higher than you can see…and the sun…oh I cannot even describe the sun." The atmosphere returned to its deathly silence as I waited for Mother to continue. When she didn't, I did.
"What do the stars look like Mama? I've forgotten." I ask, casting my eyes downwards. The truth is, I hadn't forgotten. I remembered every word of the thousand times she had repeated herself, yet I could only envision them when she told me from her heart. I hear her chuckle quietly then sigh.
"Darling, I really wish you could see them for yourself. Maybe one day, one day when we leave the Well." I blink and snuggle into her deep neck fur.
"We will Mama. We will. You, me and Blaze." I say, nodding back to the sleeping white form behind us. Mother purred softly.
"The stars…the stars are like bright balls of fire—tiny yet powerful. The stars bring light to the darkness, hope to the lost. As long as you can see the stars, you are not alone." But I can't see the stars from here…I think to myself in despair, not daring to speak aloud. Does that mean…are we…completely alone?
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~Jaffa Maze