My World, Our Life

by CEverw00d

Ch 1. A chance encounter

Ch. 1. A chance encounter

It was a Wednesday in January, I woke up like any other day, had some eggs, orange juice, and toast for breakfast. As I ate, I watched one of the episodes of an anime I had loaded up the night prior. I try to have a little variety in my interests, even though they all involve the computer. My breakfast was eaten, the episode ended, so I put on my work clothes and headed off.

I'd mindlessly built a routine for myself, one that my body could follow without any cognition, leaving my mind to wander on anything and everything. My imagination was the most active thing, envisioning tales of heroism and romance, of adventure and danger, of glory and fame.

I made my way to school and began my lecture as any other day. Something was odd about today. It was dark outside for the entirety of the school day, yet the weather didn't say anything about clouds or rain. It was odd, but nothing so significant that would drag my interest outside of the classroom. It wasn't until school was out that my interest directed my eyes skyward and my mind jumped.

There was a solar eclipse. The sun was almost completely covered up, only a ring of light hanging there. I quickly looked away, I remember hearing that looking directly at an eclipse was bad for your eyes, and the last thing I need is for my eyesight to get worse. It was interesting, rare, once in a lifetime in fact, but that was it. I'd seen it, it was interesting, but now I was done. It was time to go home. Still, it was strange. I hadn't seen anything online that told me about a solar eclipse, and I think at least one web site that I check would've mentioned it.

I pondered as I rode home. It was about a 30 minute bike ride. It was about half way when there was a flash from behind me and then a sudden rumble. Thunder and lightning? But there weren't even any clouds. I stopped and turned to look behind me, I'd missed the lightning but I still felt like looking for some reason, curiosity I suppose. Without even noticing, a thick sheet of clouds was rolling overhead, moving quickly. It was fascinating to me to see clouds move so quickly. It wasn't fascinating to feel the heavy rain that quickly washed over me. Luckily I'd brought a jacket with me. Preparedness was one of my strong suits.

I continued my ride through the rain, biking a bit slower as the water was getting in my eyes and making it harder to see. I eventually made it back and parked my bike in the only bike rack around, which was out back of a neighboring building. As I walked through the alleyway, something moved. It was next to the dumpster, on the opposite side of the sidewalk, on my side. I couldn't really tell what it was, there were cardboard boxes everywhere. I knew it was probably a stray cat or dog or possum or something, yet as ordinary as those are, I was curious to see it. I didn't have any pets, so this was my chance, I guess.

I carefully approached, slowly removing cardboard boxes and putting them behind me, thinning out the pile. I got closer and closer, no sounds or movement from the pile. I figured whatever it was must've gone under the dumpster and ran off, but I kept going. Curiosity is a powerful thing.

As I reached for the top-most box on the pile, a voice shouted from the pile, "Go away!" It was a young girl's voice. I was shocked, there's a PERSON in there? Curiosity gone, I knew that I had to get this child somewhere where she might be cared for. She might've been someone's lost child.

Curiosity gone and no need for caution, I pulled away the boxes more quickly and did not find a child. I found a small unicorn. It was a sort of blue-ish purple color with a mane of every color between blue and dark purple. Its mane had some curls in it, but was completely drenched and straight. Her eyes were glaring at me, a brilliant emerald color, frightened but ready to defend herself. What was more astounding to me was that it had a great lack of details, like a cartoon character. In my shock I just stood there, dumbstruck and staring. She shouted again, "I said, GO AWAY! I...I don't wanna hurt you!"

Hurt...me? She's cold and wet and....I didn't even know. So much was going through my head. I finally caught myself and pulled off my jacket. She backed herself up more, cornered between the wall and the dumpster. I backed away and knelt down, "I don't want you to hurt me, and I don't want to hurt you either. I....you...i-it's cold and raining you know. Please, let me take you inside where it's warmer." I wanted to ask her so many questions, know all about her, why she's here, how long she's been here, everything. But it was raining and cold, and those questions can wait.

She continued glaring at me, cautious of me, but I think she could tell I honestly was not going to harm her, she was just scared. Her expression changed from one of hostility to sadness. It was an expression she tried her hardest to hide, but it was very clear. She whispered out, "Okay." I moved towards her slowly and drew my jacket over her, the hood propped on her horn and the rest covering her body as much as possible.

I motioned for her to follow me and we made our way inside. Nobody was at the front desk. Good. I went for the elevator and pressed the access button. Then we waited. She turned slightly and looked over to me, "What is this?" I looked down at her a little bit, "It's an elevator. It's like a closet that takes you up or down." She said nothing more.

The elevator came down, opened; we got on, and headed up. We stood in silence as the elevator took us up, but I could tell she was perplexed by the feeling of being pulled downward to the floor. We came to my floor and got out. Nobody was in the hallways. We made our way to my room; I pulled out my keys and opened the door.

Any other day this room would look the same to me, as it always does, and I would think nothing of it, but with this filly by my side, I couldn't help but start criticizing the small, empty, bland space that was my apartment. Still, we walked in; I closed and locked the door behind us. I looked around, somewhat nervous, and said, "Well, here we are. This is my home. Make yourself comfortable."

Despite saying this, I could tell she wasn't comfortable at all and had no intention of doing so immediately. She had something on her mind, and she was still scared. I'm sure that as much as this was for me, this was a thousand times more for her.

I made my way to the stack of towels and dried off my head and hair. I approached her with another one and knelt down, "Want me to dry you off?" She lowered her head and mumbled, "Yes please." I took off the jacket, also drenched and cold, and dried her off with the towel. She simply stood there with an embarrassed look on her face. She was all dried off, and I walked over to one of the wooden chairs at the table in the kitchen/dining room/living room. I sat in it and simply watched her. Nothing like this has ever happened before and I wasn't sure how to handle it.

She decided not to just stand there awkwardly and, instead, made her way over to my lounging chair. It was a chair that I typically used for thinking or napping; sometimes I would take my laptop into it. It was very comfortable, and she seemed more comfortable in it, though surprised that it also rocked.

I decided to just do what I could to make things less wary between us and asked her, "Do you want a blanket? If you're still cold that is." She didn't say anything this time, only nodded. I went into my room, her eyes followed me, and I brought her a blanket, one that I don't usually sleep in, but wrap myself in during cold winters. I lightly placed it over her and went back to my seat while she further wrapped herself in it. She seemed pleased, but quickly went back to frowning when I noticed.

"Are you hungry?" I asked without much thought. I wasn't even sure what she ate. I started wondering what horses ate. Hay was the first thing that came to mind. I don't eat hay so I wouldn't have any. Still, she nodded again, so I had no choice at this point. I went to my refrigerator and looked through it. Most of it is sandwich materials, cheap and decent meals that I can eat for many meals and easily alter whenever I get bored. I looked down to the bottom drawer where I kept the fruits and vegetables. Apples and carrots, I think she'd like those. I took a pair of apples and a carrot, put them all on a plate and brought them to her, placing them on the arm rest. She eagerly ate them all.

She seemed to be in a better mood now, so I decided to ask her the major question, "So, what's your name?" She looked at me now, directly in the eyes, I could tell she was deliberating on whether or not to tell me. "My...my name is...S-Stardust......what's yours?"

"My name is Charles Everwood. You can call me Charlie if you'd like," I replied.

"O-okay Charles....you can call me Star....if you want."

This whole situation brought a smile to my face. She smiled a little bit too, but she was still embarrassed and still thinking about something. I decided to find out as much as I could.

I asked, "What brings you here?"

Her face immediately lost its smile and she looked away. That was a blunder on my part; I should have known it would be a touchy subject. To my surprise, she responded anyway and said, "I'm looking for my big brother."

"Do you know where he might be? I could help you look for him."

"I....I don't know. One moment he was next to me and then there was this weird flash and then I was here, but he wasn't."

"So maybe he's still in Equestria?"

Another blunder. Now she knows that I know about her world. That was going to create a whole mess later. Her widening eyes revealed something I didn't think about that my question brought. She asked, "I'm....not....in Equestria?"

I guess I sort of assumed that she already knew that. She didn't. So I told her, "No. This is a city in a land called Earth. Equestria is not here. There's a lot of stuff that's different between Equestria and Earth."

Her eyes turned downward. She was nowhere near home; she had no idea where she was, aside from in a strange new place. So there she sat, shocked and probably making many realizations about the situation she was in. I knew it must be hard for her, so I stood up and walked over to her. I thought about giving her a pat on the head, I refrained from doing so and only said, "Don't worry. We'll find your brother and get you home. Until then, I would be more than happy if you would call this your home for now."

Her shock gradually turned to tears as she curled up in the blanket. So much has happened in such a brief window of time. I don't know if I can get her home or even find her brother, I'm sure she thought both were impossible and that she would never see either one ever again. Still, at least I could give her shelter from the elements and whatever, or whoever else stalks these streets. I retired to my room to get away from this, to collect my own thoughts. I didn't feel like going online tonight, so I went to bed early.

Good night world. Please grant Stardust sweet dreams tonight.

Comments

[Good_name_here]

So far, this story seems well-written. I didn't notice any grammatical errors, but it felt like there could be a bit more detail. The dialogue was sparse, but I noticed that both of the characters were speaking in the same paragraph quite often. Personally, I was taught that when a different character begins speaking, a new paragraph should start to avoid confusion. Overall, I would give this story a 7/10 so far, and I look forward to seeing where this goes.

[Sandvich is spy]

Story has sandvich, story with sandvich is good story

[01019928383]

girrrreat!!!! I LUV IT