Earth - District of Persia - Sunrise
The desert was never ending, in all directions from where one stood, all that could be seen was the endless horizon and the never ending sea of sand dunes. Due East behind the horizon the morning light can be seen. 150 million kilometers the light from the sun has traveled, only to be stopped by a sleeping creature. The only monument left behind in its travels, a shadow. The long silhouette of an animal slowly being developed as the sun peeks above the horizon.
Besides this creature, a poor lone girl. Betrayed by her own, cast and thrown off into the unknown. Of Course, to an average person, they would see a beautiful innocent member of the female gender. One would even want to run to her, protect her from the harsh realities of life around these lands. Women, children, and men all killed in the name of an all-loving God, the sacrifice of a martyr pure with intention of to rid the world of non-believers.
Men who misconstrued the words of a Holy book to justify their actions. Beheadings and attacks on both outsiders and their own people. This is where Clara is, the heart of what these extremists call home. But who was she to know better, all she has known for the last three days was the desert.
She also knew her time here was running up, for she had run out of drinking water and her resting creature, hungry. Her dry eyes opened, the blue glow of her Iris grew as her dilated pupil pulled together, minimizing the amount of sunlight being perceived. She winced at the developing light around her, the sky clear and blue, while beautiful in its own sense, it was counterproductive to Clara's intentions. She wanted shade from the sun, minimal exposure to its deadly rays.
Clara pulled herself from her trench, she pulled her robe, dislodging the sand which found itself under her clothes. Her creature, the first living thing she saw when she arrived in the desert started to stir. The camel itself feeling the primal call to wake up the creature pulled itself forward and lifted itself off the ground. Clara's laid her eyes upon the creature, if not for it, Clara would probably be dead by now.
She pulled at the straps of the camel walked with the creature in tow due West. After a minute or two both companions fully awake, Clara could see the creature walking with proper pace, laying its foot in front of the other with ease. Her cue was given and she mounted the camel, again journeying into the endless horizon.
*******
Earth, Undisclosed Location - 2012 April 19th 14:00
Corporal Edwards marched with men in tow upon the top of the sand dunes. His rifle hanging on the side of his shoulders. They had a routine on which to follow, every two hours of marching they would rest for half an hour, after two and a half hours of rest has been accumulated they would sleep for 8 hours and continue their march. Maximizing daylight and optimizing their schedule helped. Resources weren't of lacking. Plenty of water was brought along, and more could always be called in if needed. But the desert was not what was worrying the soldier. It was an undying itch that something was out of place, the Corporal just couldn't place a finger on it and his ears were starting to ring.
"Edwards!"
The Corporal turned to see one of his men crouched over in the sand, he grabbed something and raised from the ground. In his hands a thin plain white gown. It had a button on the top and an open back, traditional for medical garments. But that did not answer the question what was it doing in the middle of the desert.
Edwards made his way to the soldier, he grabbed the gown. It wasn't buried deep under the sand, couldn't be longer than two days or so. Around the top was a strand of a golden lock, a single long strand from an individual. Edward's noted it was long, and it was blonde, he took it and passed it to another soldier to hold.
The person who previously held the gown was obviously a woman, he then passed it to Aaron who obviously had the same thoughts going through his mind.
"Bag it, the general might want it." Edwards piped to Rodriguez.
The soldier replied without raising a question, two seal tight bags were brought out and both the golden lock and medical gown were placed inside, and sealed.
Edwards returned to the front of the marching column and continued West. The itch at the back of his mind still wasn't going anywhere and the ringing got louder, Edward needed a distraction. He rubbed the back of his ear feeling his scar, he traced the tendril flesh following the base of his jaw.
He often traced it to distract himself, at least that is what he tells himself. The reality was that Edwards was a scarred man, both physically and emotionally, the constant tracing of his scar calmed him in the worst of times.
This time was no different, he could feel his heart rate now slowing down, the ringing in his ears subsided. He raised his head and looked upon the horizon, he needed answers.
****
Earth - District of Persia - Post-Midday
Clara was shaking, not from the cold, but from dehydration, her muscles were consuming themselves. First, her body burned all its fat and now her muscles were burning itself to keep her vital organs alive. Clara could no longer sweat to keep her body cool, her breaths came in sporadic waves, she wanted to heave and throw up but nothing would come out.
Clara was falling, her hands tried to grip at the camel but her hands just slipped through. She fell onto the sand and her vision started to darken, the world grew dark around her. She was then engulfed by darkness, she was so tired, the feeling of falling never left her, she was falling and falling. Suddenly she felt the ground, her feet felt the ground, and she opened her eyes.
Clara was having a dream, she was with her father, they were holding hands. He was walking her along the coast. Never had she seen such an endless horizon of water. He said it was called the ocean, so blue, she saw hydroponics modules above the water, they were needed if they ever wanted to feed such a large population. Her father told her to wait there, she saw him run down to one and talked to the man, he must have been working there since her father walked in and quickly walked out with something in his hand. As quick as he was gone he was back, she smiled at his return.
"Put out your hands and close your eyes dear" His voice soothing and calm. She complied and couldn't help but wonder what he wanted to give her. He then dropped a weird round ball in her hand, and told her to open her eyes". It was bright red with yellow seeds, she had never seen these fruits before, they were almost alien to her.
"They are strawberries dear, they're very sweet, try it". She was scared at first putting she didn't know what into her mouth and when she started to nibble on it, sweet juices filled her mouth. A plethora of taste she couldn't even explain. "Unlike back at home, on Earth, they still use dirt and seeds to make food, Come let's go to the grand Library", he said as he held her hand and walked her towards a large building.
At the base of the building she stopped smiling, she remembered this dream, she looked towards the ocean, it was blue as ever. She heard her name being called from behind her, she turned around and saw no one. But it kept calling, she turned to her father, he was still there. Fear engulfed her and the name kept calling. The sky started raining and the ocean picked up with waves, the building still standing.
Her father waved her inside, she followed him. Her name stopped being called and soon she was filled with eerie silence, the library was filled with rows and rows of bookshelves all fully stocked.
She felt happy, relieved, the stress of the desert all behind her. The smile on her face returned, she followed her father, he stopped at the base of a staircase.
"When you want to leave go through the way we came in, you're not allowed to go up these stairs ever Clara. Only I am, is that understood?"
She nodded in return, her father's face lit up with a smile and he ascended the stairs leaving her alone at the base. She trotted around the Library, the books on the bookcase were all blank, none of them had titles and all of them filled with empty pages. But it didn't deter her, she was filled with joy, she couldn't care less that she was just running in circles. She didn't know why she was happy but she just was.
Then she heard it. She heard her name being called. It was now ringing in her ears. It was coming from the outside, she walked towards the door. Her hand just about to grip the handle when she paused.
She turned around to see the library still there, and the calling of her name stopped. But when she turned towards the door, it returned. It was as if it never was gone, the world around her started to turn gray. She pulled down at the handle and walked through, she was blinded by a bright light.
Pain entered her body, her mind was clouded, her vision still blurred. She was lying something soft, but it wasn't sand, the sand filled wind was not biting her skin. Where was she? Clara's vision started to return but the bright lights were taken away only to be filled with blurry darkness.
There were two looming figures over her, she could see their outlines, it was a man and a woman, they were mumbling something to them in a language she couldn't understand. The woman was holding a cup of water to her lips, and the man was on his knees behind her with a bowl of water.
Clara couldn't keep her eyes open and she fell into a deep slumber, exhausted from her journey, her vision again was filled with darkness.
*******
She opened her eyes, the sunlight was filling through a small window and striking at her eyelids. Clara' opened them in response. The desert was not what greeted her, it was a man in the corner of the room. He was skinny and was opening the blinds of a curtain. She looked around and noticed she was in a small room.
The walls made of sandstone, a red intricate carpet covered the entire floor. It was worn out, no doubt it has not exactly lasted the test of time since the red was graying out. Her bed was pushed into the corner of the room and the bed touched three walls of the room.
Besides her a bedside table. It was small, handcrafted and in no way considered sturdy, on top of it was a cup of water and an oil lamp. She groaned while reaching for the water and the man in the corner reacted to her movements. He walked closer to her and she could now see his facial features.
He was old, his beard covered his face ear to ear. He seemed tired, but content. He spoke to her in some language she couldn't exactly understand. She was scared at first when he reached below her head, but when he lifted her head, he brought the cup of water to her lips. She lost her fear, she was safe for now, swallowing was hard, her throat was no longer dry but the cracking in her voice was still there.
He softly laid her head down and walked out the room. She couldn't tell how long he was gone, but when he returned, he brought back a young girl. She was also skinny and was holding a metal bucket. She laid it on the ground next to Clara and brought up a wet towel from the bucket.
The man filling the cup on the table with water and again lifted her head and brought it to her lips. All while the girl was brushing the wet towel all over Clara's body. Clara tried to get up, she pushed her hand and the girl started to contest. She kept Clara down and started to hum a melody.
