Story Excerpt - An Old Girl's New Beginning

2016 TA - Kailix

There’s always a time when things start changing for everyone. A point where some weeks later one sits down and realises that they are not the same person they were, that some chapter of life has been opened and there is a new journey to embark upon.

Most people, however, don’t end up sat cross-legged in the middle of their new room, staring into oblivion as they realise that the last hundred years of their life were real, and coming to the conclusion that a century is rather a long time to only have grown one year.

Amy Benson was coming to the conclusion that this new chapter in her life, as Anton had so enthusiastically described it, was not going to be an easy one.

There wasn’t much in her room. She hadn’t had the chance to keep anything from the war, and a life as a tool was not one that afforded personal possessions. There was a bed. The sheet, duvet, pillows set out neatly. Almost too neat. There was a wardrobe. It possessed some jackets, some shirts, some trousers, and one dress. A cabinet besides it held the smaller articles. There was a bookcase. It was bare. The walls were a pale beige, the curtains were drawn, but did little to let in any light, made of a heavy dark material. The only decoration, a mirror, had a towel hung over it, and the suspicious glimmer of reflections on the floor beneath it. Her light was off, she had needed to silence the faint buzzing above her, a crack in the silence that had been pressing in around her.

But it wasn’t silent. Not really. There was a background clatter of cars, the traffic of central Kailix, the train that passed through on a crossroads rattling past. Vendors were selling their goods, kids were shouting, chasing each other, kicking a ball around, she could hear the ringing of bike bells.

It was so different.

Amy was brought back to Racë by new noises. Creaking floorboards, hinges squeaking, and the once again buzzing of the light. She looked over to the door, squinting at the figure in the door.

“Settling in?” She let her shoulder relax, withdrawing her hand from her sleeve. It was Maia, and her unmistakeable optimism.

“I guess so,” Before she could stand up to talk to Maia, Maia sat down next to her. Amy had to do a double take. She didn’t know what she had expected when Maia had been assigned to look after Amy after certain… incidents had subsided, but she was suddenly aware that she had never seen Maia outside of her job. This dark-haired woman next to her looked positively normal, geared up in a hoodie and jeans, instead of the armoured suit that was her usual attire at the Gal headquarters, “Anything’s better then a cell,”

“Oh, it’ll be a lot nicer once you’ve been here a few weeks. Books, pictures, decorations,” Maia looked around the room, hesitating when she saw the mirror, but if she’d noticed it’s state, she didn’t say anything, “Maybe a desk if you need that. I’m not quite sure how the Gal do their studying, but you might need a desk,"

“I might,”

“Amy?” She turned to Maia expectantly, “This isn’t another cell, I promise you,” Amy looked away.

“You’re here to make sure I don’t go rogue, aren’t you?”

“Yeah, officially, I am, but…” But? There was a but? She looked back to Maia to see a sly smile, “Technically, I’m not one of those stuffy Gal, 'Powered Protectors of the Free Land of Kailix'" She said in a silly voice, before looking back to Amy, softening, "which means I have a lot more leeway than anyone else might have. You’re free to roam the house. I’m afraid I can’t remove the tracker, but I’m adamant that this is a second chance for you, not another prison. So, are you going to sit in here, or are we going to have a shot at making pancakes in the kitchen?”

Amy couldn’t help but stare. She searched Maia’s face and saw nothing but honesty, and in Amy’s own honesty she was a bit thrown. Maia had always been nicer to her than the others but this wasn’t what she had been expecting. She watched as Maia stood up, and grabbed a yellow hoodie from the wardrobe, along with some other clothes and threw them at Amy. She caught them all without too much effort, her arm spiralling into a net of branches, catching and bringing the clothes in in towards her.

"I’ll see you in the kitchen in five, and I want to see you in normal clothes, and hopefully grab a smile, what do you say?” Maia smiled at her by the door that she was holding open. Amy stared for another few moments before unzipping the hoodie, it was yellow. A nice yellow. She didn’t think she’d worn yellow before, she’d always worn blue.

“I’ll see you in five,” She responded, “And you’ll be lucky if you get that smile,”