Part V: Seeds of Rebellion
No matter how much I chewed it over, I was still stuck on one thing; why those teens, my age group, would care about rebellion? I thought I was the one exception to "leave it to someone else to do it" attitudes kids have. I was shocked, yet somewhat glad. I didn't have to speak up; I could talk to my peers.
It was sunny again, but dim. I guessed it was getting close to evening, but in a place like this, who could tell? A faint outline of the moon, like a melted marshmallow in hot cocoa, was already present in the sky, promising a full, beautiful, endless darkness kind of night, where the pale shadow of the moon lit your way and created pools of moonlight where the sun's rays once ruled. A shiver of delight ran down my spine.
The night, tired as it sometimes made me, was my home turf. It was something I'd gotten used to during the sleepless nights that came with being what I was. And, as I got older, a secret preference for the cover of darkness formed within me.
Other things, however, came with night. Such as dinner. I groaned as my throat tightened and I began to feel just a bit off balance. I was beginning to realize that Moonshine Land, as beautiful as it was, had broken my internal clock. I felt like I hadn't had a bite to eat in three days instead of just one. I didn't even know if a whole day had passed!
I wobbled unsteadily, no longer at home on my feet, and gazed below me at the full moon beneath the clock. My focus on the white light coming from behind the clock made me lose what little balance I had left and before I knew it, I was on my side against the clock face.
I sneezed, more as a reaction to my sudden situation than to allergies or dust, and rolled over onto my stomach, waiting for the clock to strike the hour or for the strength to stand again. Neither came. I yawned and rubbed one eye sleepily. I was tired and hungry, but I needed a plan for the rebellion. After all, I had planted the seed and the tree had started to grow. What I needed now was a way to get the kindred spirits together.
The giant clock's chime got me to my feet at an instant. I counted six times and looked below me. Six PM. The numbers were a deep blue against the pale moon. And, if I remembered correctly, one hour until the shooting. That sent a shiver down my spine. Maybe rescuing the two destined to die would be a way to set off rebellion. But, it was too soon! And, my face would be on the top of this government's "most wanted" list in due time. If only they were going to jail instead of being shot!
"That's it!" I snapped my fingers and smoothed a hand down the ruffled fur on my chest. It was the perfect way in! All I had to do was…oh. I realized that I had no idea how I was going to do that. My mind was far too scrambled, anyway, to think clearly. I wondered why…until my ungrateful stomach let out a groan. I wondered why hunger was the thing to stop me, but remembered why I'd come here in the first place.
Fiona. I walked down the houses on the left, silently counting, until I reached the forth one. If she hadn't told me where her house was, I would've never found it. Each house, I might remind you, looked exactly the same. Everything looked the same, and it was starting to make me seasick. I knocked on the door quietly.
I didn't have to wait long. Fiona was expecting me. She opened the door, and I found her dressed in a pale blue and green kimono hanging open over a tee shirt and shorts. A cool breath of air greeted me from the inside. It was obviously much colder in there. "Hi." Fiona's hamster ears were sticking out now, her brown locks long about her shoulders.
"Hi." I managed a weak wave. She stepped aside and I entered. The scent, again, hit me like a bomb. Only this time, it was much more tempting.
Ham. I felt my tongue cross my dry lips. I felt like I hadn't eaten in days, but I managed to restrain myself. Fiona sat on the couch and I crossed my legs by her feet, content on the floor. I was shivering, so much more adapted to warmth than cold, but Fiona was indifferent.
"Why do you guys get food?" I found myself asking, trying to keep my teeth from chattering.
Fiona chuckled. "Because we have no sons."
"Excuse me?" I thought this was a rather odd reason.
"Boys go into the army, you see. They didn't get away with killing male babies, since so many people got smart and hid them, so they just starve the sons out of families."
"Really?" Again, I found this odd. My head found its way to my knees, which were curled against my chest. It didn't do much to silence my stomach and I heaved a huge sigh as it growled again.
Fiona wrinkled her nose. "It's disgusting."
"What's disgusting?" I asked, lifting my head up off my knees to look at her.
"The ham." She hissed. "It smells bad."
I shook my head a little to toss my quills around my face. "Are you a vegetarian?" I couldn't eat something she wasn't going to. I was easily getting over most of my crush, I realized. But, on the other hand, I wasn't going to live on wiry grasses for the rest of my time here. Ick!
"I didn't choose to be," was her airy reply as she turned herself upside down so her feet were dangling over the edge of the couch and her head rested by my shoulder. "But, I'm part hamster. We're not built to be omnivores. My stomach can't take meat."
"That sucks," I chuckled. "I couldn't live without it!"
She smiled at me. "You'll have to tell me if it tastes good."
I nodded. "It will, no matter what." When I was starving, my empty stomach wasn't picky. Normally, I could be a real pain in the ass about my food. I was kind of glad I was hungry enough to eat pretty much anything.
Fiona laughed and rolled to the floor. "So, have you thought about starting the rebellion?"
I sighed again, my eyes closing. "Well…I had this one idea…"
Fiona punched me lightly in the arm. "Well? Are you going to tell me?"
I inched away from her punch, a smile crossing my face. "Is there any way to get those people out of the shooting and into…oh, I don't know…maybe jail?"
She giggled at my nonchalant attitude, than became serious. "It'd be pretty hard." She frowned. "It would take a lot of trouble-starting teens or a rhino herd to do that."
"That can be arranged." I grinned.
Fiona stared at me quizzically. "How?"
My eyelids became low over my eyes slyly, the grin on my face getting wider. "I'm the Fastest Thing Alive."
~16~16~16~
(Lol, I just pressed "21" without thinking about it! Oh no! An omen!)
I stretched and let a huge yawn cross my lips. "Ah. That's better." True, for I was a whole lot warmer inside because of my recent meal, my stomach churning happily. The ham had tasted perfect, just the right amount of hickory smoke and honey glaze. Delicious, and quite filling. "Now, back to business."
Fiona and I were relaxing in her bedroom, she sprawled across her bed, and I with a map of the city under tracing paper in my lap. I was using a rather large history text book for a base as I traced a compass across the surface of the thin paper, muttering to myself about coordinates and longitude and latitude.
Fiona leaned over my shoulder, watching me scribble notes in the margins, quickly flipping back and forth between map and tracing paper. "What are you doing?" She asked, a laugh stuck in her throat.
"Mapping possible escape roots and hiding places in case we get caught or need a quick getaway." I sketched a drainpipe that conveniently led out of the local jail and just outside the city's gates.
"Oh." Fiona rolled over onto her back. "We'd better get going. It's almost seven."
I nodded. "I hear ya. C'mon!" I got up and offered my hand to her. As soon as she took it, I scooped her up into my arms.
"What are you doing?" She quizzed. She didn't sound angry, which was good.
"We don't have time for normal running speed." I told her. "It's time to go fast."
As soon as I thought about running, I was transcending reality in a beautiful burst of silvers, browns, blues, and whites. I was so close to the square, I could almost taste it.
We were going to water the tree of rebellion. And, of course, that had to start immediately.