1 Chapter 1: Caressa

Caressa’s POV

Caressa took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she took a seat next to the lake. She opened her eyes and looked towards the moons of Evenous, her home planet. She remembered all the times she’d walked underneath those moons and taken them for granted. She tried to capture the image of the moons over the endless expanse of the lake before her. It was an image that would have to keep for a long time.

She stood and felt her way into the water, its coolness sweeping over her toes like a welcoming friend. She stepped gingerly, feeling the smooth, soft, and squishy sand at the bottom of the lake. The quiet of nighttime underneath the moons of Evenous was disturbed only by the gentle lapping of the water around her as she stepped further into its deceptively gentle embrace.

Her artificial lenses, her only means of sight, displayed the beauty of the water in a way that only they could: a sea of sparkling diamonds, pristine white as it stretched into the darkness towards a foreign horizon. The low-riding waves traveled towards the bay, swirling into a mixture of icy blue and frosty purple. As the water settled and flowed, making landfall, it changed from frosty purple to dark gray.

She loved the lake. She knew the colors she saw were unique to her. No one else in the village compound on her colony of Elle Star had the lenses. But also, no one else needed them. They were shipped in from Earth, which was several months’ journey from Evenous.

Her father had volunteered to be the first Sovereign to colonize the planet, which was far outside of the Universal’s System. She remembered the pain after the surgery that placed them over her sightless eyes, and the surprise of colors that followed after.

She could see things coming towards her, but was not always sure what they were. It took time to learn the colors and shapes that she now saw, but sounds were her salvation. They were what made the difference between males and females, animals and humans, windows and doors. When she came to something that she could not interpret through her eyes, she closed them and listened.

Step-by-step, she watched the swirls of colors in the lake and moved further into the tide. Just around her ankles, the blues of the calm water lapped and swirled before her. She watched the display of the colors as she stepped even further and the cool water rose over her calves, thighs, and hips. She listened to the water lapping hungrily around her, as if ready to swallow her up. She closed her eyes, equally ready to be devoured.

Taking in a deep breath, she lowered herself into the water. She allowed the flesh around her face to adjust to the cool temperature and then opened her eyes, which were protected by the artificial lenses. She watched the symphony of colors surround her in a sporadic ritual, as they had from the time she was twelve. It was her selfish escape from the real world — if only to think, if only to dream, if only to hope, if only for a little while.

On the day of her father’s funeral, she’d ran into the woods just beyond the village compound. At the age of twelve, she had never left the compound before, and had always been warned to stay out of the woods. She had been promised safety and security inside of the compound walls. But when her father passed away, every illusion of security died with him.

As she held that first breath, she remembered his casket being lowered into the ground. She’d looked up, trying to find meaning in the overwhelming sense of loss she felt. She’d taken note of Waylon, her father’s security chief on her left. She listened as he occasionally cleared his throat and sniffed back tears. Her servant, Risa, was less discreet, as her sobs broke time and again throughout the short and all too inadequate ceremony meant to lay Caressa’s father to rest.

She looked up as she made out the gloomy gray outline of her father’s casket disappearing into the ground. It didn’t seem possible that the larger than life center of her universe was now and forever incased in that container. It was hard to believe she would never again hear his warm voice or feel his comforting embrace. She shook her head against the wrongness of it all.

As she looked up, she took in the edge of the forest line, finding comfort in its wooden solidarity. Its thick, off limits magnificence was alluring in its certainty to stand even long after she herself was gone and buried.

Never once had she set foot in the forbidden woods, having been assured of the untold dangers that lurked within. She wondered in that moment what could be more dangerous than the heartbreak she now felt. What could possibly feel worse than the feeling of being left all alone? Before she could reason herself out of it, Caressa took off and ran into the dark folds of the forest.