text: CornFlower Moon Harley Seesholtz Aaria was just another part of just another normal day. A day on a planet that was so, so special. This planet was called Soha, and Soha’s days were years and years long. They never ever seemed to end, and nobody on Soha really counted anymore. Aaria loved the warm, welcoming sunshine on her face, even if it was artificial. She wasn’t sure how the big corporations and producers did it- made fake sunlight. It seemed impossible, she thought. She loved the warm feeling on her face when she walked outside, but something deep inside her remembered... something inside her remembered that it just wasn’t as good as the real thing. She had read books about Earth (she, of course, had been there before, North Carolina, but it was becoming increasingly hard to remember Earth.) Not that there weren’t other planets- but Earth interested her the most. Maybe it was because she was born there, but it's more than that. It had other people- an atmosphere, warm, real sunshine, and healthy, green plants that grew with the help of the sun. It’s an almost magical process that people call photosynthesis. Her parents on Earth would send her little packages with things from Earth in them. They never failed to get to her. So far, she was sent a leaf, a branch, a small, smooth block of wood, a coconut, an acorn, a deer antler, a pinecone, a porcupine quil, a small portion of Fools Gold/ Pyrite/Iron Sulfide, a flawless sketch of a sunflower done by her Mother, a bluebird feather, a turkey feather, a flower petal, a decorative butterfly pinned down and secured in a case/frame that hangs on the wall many, many, MANY letters and postcards, and a jar of dirt. Dirt didn’t sound that special, but it was Earth’s dirt. It was capable of growing plants and holding life. Well... not on Soha it wasn’t... All these things brought back memories that were buried under her knowledge and need to learn from her expensive, non-Earth school. Almost all life on Soha was artificial. Their food was all fake nutrients, because it was too much work and took too long to send things from Earth to Soha. If it could spoil or wasn’t worth anything, then you wouldn’t be allowed to send things back and forth between planets. All that did was waste fuel and time. Aaria thought the people on Durva were pricks anyway... What with their riches and huge colonies. One colony on Durva could swallow the entire Soha population in one fell swoop. Luckily, they haven’t. Yet. There has been some heat between them and Soha... I guess Aaria hasn’t really had a proper introduction. Her name is Aaria Lia Katz. She is a 14 year old girl from Earth. She is part of a group of kids who are actually from Earth on Soha. Everybody else is a person who has a family history of ancestors on Earth, but there are no people who have touched Earth’s land and lived there that aren’t these kids. Aaria is part of a small group who was sent by rich families on Earth to go to school on Soha. These kids have all seen the sun. The adults have not. Not unless they are driving the shuttles that send packages (and, at one point, these kids) to and from Earth and Soha. And even then, they have never stepped foot on the soft grasses of Earth’s fair surface. They have not appreciated the fine textures and gorgeous sights of all the nature and beautiful things Earth has to offer. Aaria didn’t want to go to school on Soha. Her parents made her. They claimed it would help her make more friends and give her more diversity. She couldn't stay in North Carolina forever. They had money to throw away, so they decided it would be used to send her to school on a planet that still takes days and days to get to even while going lightspeed in one of the highest quality shuttles Soha has to offer. The days on Soha seem to never end. People there have just sort of stopped counting as the days went on. They just let time do what it wants, and if they feel it will be night soon, they cancel plans for the next few hours. If they were right, they get some favour and praise for accurately guessing. If they get it wrong, they are reprimanded by their bosses for canceling work when they weren’t supposed to. Aaria thinks it’s unfair, but she, as a 14 year old, can’t do anything about it. Aaria, in her 8 years and many school grades of being on Soha, has never seen the Moon. Every day, when they are sleeping, she sneaks out of the facility she stays in with the other kids and waits. She waits for the fictitious lights to go away, and for the moon to come out. Nobody ever knows when it will happen... Soha has its own Moon, and to see it is a treasure, so once every... Well, who knows how long- the big, rich companies and producers turn out all the fake lights so the kind, patient people of Soha can see the Moon. Soha’s Moon isn’t the gray colour she remembers Earth’s Moon being, no, Soha’s moon seems to glow a beautiful cornflower blue. It shadows their entire world in a lovely shade of blue, and everybody cancels plans so they can see the gorgeous night sky. Sadly, the moon stays out for around 4 hours and then leaves, not to be seen for years and years on end. Or, well, years and years on never end. Aaria- just once -would love to see the Moon. She just knows that she will take enough pictures of the night sky to fill an entire house, but it’ll be worth it, because she can say that she has seen something that only happens for 4 hours every who knows how many years. Aaria, that little girl with a big dream from bum nowhere North Carolina, will be special. At least a faint bit.