heat shimmers. The more I watched the more I was certain that they were not people. They looked to be too tall. Parts of them looked to be on fire in the same way that the fish were. They walked about and sporadically knelt down to the water.
“What are those?” I asked.
Ramonia looked over and waved. One of them saw and waved back. “Those are Sun People.”
“And what are Sun People?”
“You are acting like you’ve never been here before.”
“No, I have. I just happen to forget the exact definition of Sun Person sometimes.”
I don’t think she bought it. At least she looked at me like she didn’t. “Sun People are the indigenous beings here. They have lived here for thousands of years before we ever arrived. They are very friendly and keep to themselves. They build all the sun buildings including the sun palace. Is that enough for you?”
“Yes thank you.”
That brought up more questions than it answered but I didn’t risk asking any yet. I could tell she didn’t think I was quite right today and I didn’t want to give any indication that I wasn’t who she thought I was.
The Sun People kept on with whatever they were doing and soon they were out of sight. My mind wandered around. As with the city I began to remember things about my life. Only this time I knew it wasn’t real. I didn’t know about my past too well but I seriously doubted that I grew up on the sun. This was just another bizarre situation I found myself in and I was certain that before too long I would be someplace new wondering how I got there. So I let the memories come.
I worked as a bridge between the humans and the Sun People. I could speak their language and could make sure that they had everything they needed. Because of this I wasn’t very popular. There were some people who didn’t want the Sun People around and did not like those who did. That’s why Ramonia and I were on our way to the palace. We had to meet with those who were against our wanting to make sure the Sun People had their own town just for them. We were sure to meet great opposition, but we came prepared.
Ramonia grabbed my arm. I came back to reality. She pointed ahead at something. There was nothing there at first. And then it began to appear, a giant palace shimmering and glowing. It was so tall it disappeared into the yellow haze. It was orange and yellow and red. It had balconies and towers and a dome and everything else that could be thought up architecturally. My eyes could not find anything else to look at. The palace was so large it took up my entire field of vision at once.
The canoe steered itself up to a solid patch of bright stone and we disembarked. Other people were also getting out of canoes and going towards the palace. It had great doors that stood fifty feet high. They were made of a substance I had never encountered and would probably never encounter again. It looked like liquid metal, rippling when touched but still solid. I made sure to touch it when I passed through. It felt like regular metal.
The entryway had a high ceiling that must have gone all the way up to the ceiling because I could not see the top. It was plain compared to everything else. There was no carpeting, no furniture, and not ornately carved statues like I expected. Instead it was simply a room with a high ceiling and dazzling walls. In fact the walls were the only sight that grabbed my interest. Colors swam through, moving like fish through water. It was not just the oranges and yellows represented in the walls. There were blues and greens as well.
A Sun Person led all of us through the building. After seeing the outside and the entryway the rest wasn’t that great. I expected large rooms with beautiful paintings. Instead the inside was full of small hallways with pictures of the sun.
This was the first time I got to see a Sun Person up close. Intense was the best word to use. They were around eight feet tall and had faces that reminded me of Foo Dogs. Small flames protruded out of their arms and legs. This one walked slowly and left burn marks on the floor that disappeared in seconds.
We were corralled into a meeting room with a long table and seats for all of us. This room did have a chandelier but it was not a bright shimmering one. It was a dull stone one. I guess to them that was as beautiful as crystal was to me.
Everyone sat and we waited for whoever was in charge. A man came in with two assistants. This must be him. He stood at the head of the table and welcomed us. He went straight into why we were there. Most of the people around the table were against the idea of having a town for the Sun People. They were business types and grandparents. There was really no way to categorize them in one way like I had hoped to. I wanted them to look like degenerates that I could put into one category in my mind and write them off. But just like me and the three other people there for the town, they were just regular people with their own ideas.
After the speech he called on the leader of those against the town to state their reasoning. An old woman appeared right across from me and stood up. I did not notice her sitting there. She started speaking in an old and shaky voice.
“I believe that people have inherited the sun.” She began. “And I believe in a sun rid of these supposed Sun People. Now I know that this hasn’t been the most popular idea as of late but here us out, Mr. Councilman. I do not want to live in a star where these strange creatures have a town of their own. Together they pose a threat. They can conspire and eventually overthrow us. And what did they do to earn our money to build them houses? It costs quite a bit to build one house. We don’t need to build these creatures anything unless they want to finance most of it themselves.”
She nodded and sat down. Those around her shook her hand and patted her back. The Councilman looked to me next. Apparently I was the leader of this movement. Without knowing where it all came from the words to say came to me.
“I believe,” I said, “in a sun where people are treated fairly no matter what they are. These Sun People had the sun before us and we came in and took it over. They are too gentle to fight back and too nice to even want to. Now I don’t want them to take all of our money and give nothing back in return for these homes either. But let’s see what we are forgetting. They built this palace. I’m sure that some if not most will want to build their own homes since that has become their primary role in society anyway.”
I could not think of anything else to say and sat down. Ramonia clapped loudly, she was the only one. I felt good about stating my opinion. I could tell that the councilman looked a little happier now that I spoke. That gave me the impression that he may have been on our side. He stood again and told us to leave the room so he could decide.
Strange should no longer be in my vocabulary after what I had been through the past few days. If anything strange was the new normal. But what happened next was strange even for this new world I was going through.
The air grew tense suddenly. A man at the end of the table caught my attention and I grew wary of him. There was no reason to. I glanced at him and at first he was calm and intent to leave, but then his face took a turn. He looked like he had been insulted in the worst way imaginable. He looked at me with the utmost hatred and stood up. To my immense surprise he pulled a gun and pointed it at my head. It was not a shimmering bright gun. It was simply a black gun. It looked out of place there. I could see Ramonia stand up next to me. She grabbed my arm and shouted something at the man. He didn’t take his eyes off me. As if in slow motion I saw him pull the trigger and the gun pop up slightly. The bullet moved slowly toward me. I could not move. I had to watch as it flew to me. It made contact with my forehead as my vision shut off.
9. The Plateau and the Very Familiar Face
It was dark again. I seemed to be spending a lot of time in the dark recently. I knew what it meant now. My surroundings were changing. It was like a play. The stage gets dark as the stagehands change out the sets and props. That’s all this was to me now. I was in an overproduced play and couldn’t get out. I just hoped the audience liked it.
; An image entered my vision. It was small and blurry like before. It wasn’t as wonderful feeling as last time. This new image had a more somber tone. It became bigger and got closer, becoming less blurry all the time. There wasn’t any sound, or if there was it was too quiet to hear. The image took shape before me. I blinked.
When I opened my eyes I was standing in a small room. It was dark; the only light came from the hallway behind me. There was a television attached to the wall on my right and a white board below it. The opposite wall had a lot of openings where things could be plugged in. A chair faced a large window. It was night and nothing could be seen. There was a person sitting in the chair, facing the window. They sat completely still. I went up to the back of the chair. I could feel a sadness emanating from somewhere.
“Are you alright?” I asked quietly.
They did not turn or even acknowledge hearing me.
“Where are we?”
Still no response. I heard footsteps come into the room. I turned to see a young woman come in. Even in the darkened room I knew it was Ramonia.
“I’m so sorry.” She said. “I don’t know how you feel but I want you to know that I am here.”
“Don’t say that.” The man in the chair said softly. “I don’t want to