Owen

The sound of pounding filled the air as Owen pounded the last peg into the bench he was working on. It was the middle of the day, and the orb was blistering hot. He looked out his door at the other huts. He lived in a village or more of a few houses clustered together. This cluster was placed in a tiny portion of land int eh world sealed behind steel walls. The inhabitant's lives were simple. They lived, they ate, and slept. Their daily routine was the same. They awoke and before the day got hot, they tended to their food source which was their gardens. After that they did whatever until the orb changed color, where they would go out to their gardens again then retreat to the fortress of their little houses.

Owen watched curiously and one person slopped out of their hut and headed to the well. It seemed as the heat did not affect them as they staggered out of the shade their hut provided to the well. He watched as they reached for the water, took a sip, and then crumple to the ground. Owen started from his place inside the door. As he came out of the shade the orb hit him like a ton of bricks were dropped on his head. He staggered to the unconscious person and half dragged them to his hut. Wen then dashed out of the hut and stood staring at te other huts. The orb beat down on his head and droplets of perspiration ran from his hairline into his eyes. He ran blindly across the clearing to the shade of another hut. He pounded on the door that stood closed. The door opened and out peered a girl.

"Come, Simon's down." Owen gasped.

She disappeared then appeared with a small, covered bucket in her hand. They dashed across the clearing to Owen's hut. She went immediate to Simon who was writhing on the ground. His face and hands were red. His head turned back and forth as if he was having a bad dream and cold sweat ran down his face. The girl too her bucket and dipped a cloth in it then put it on her patient's forehead. She stayed with her patient till the orb dimmed. When the orb turned silver, she took her now empty bucket and left the hut. She headed toward the gardens and disappeared. She reappeared minutes later with a full bucket of clear liquid. Owen had just built a fire and they moved Simon close to it, then huddled by it to keep warm in the frosty night. The girl continued to dip her rag into her bucket of liquid and place it on Simon's head. Occasionally she would lift his head and dribble some into his mouth which he swallowed involuntarily. By the time the orb turned yellow again, the patients fever broke, and he arose and went to his garden not questioning what happened the night before. Owen looked dazed as Simon walked through the door as if nothing happened. He caught the girl before she left.

"Does that always happen like that?" he asked. She just nodded and continued to her own garden. There were no cases of the mysterious fever that day or the next.

Owen looked out his open door at the clearing. the girl looked as if she were going to get water but passed it and headed back to where she disappeared the other night. Owen, curious followed her. When she disappeared, Owen ran to the last place he saw her. He skidded to a stop when he saw the ground suddenly steeply drop away. Fifty feet away was the river. The river they never ventured to because it was filled with dangerous things, swarming with toothy animals and intense currents though he saw nary a ripple. A bucket suddenly flew through the air and collided with the side of his head. His sight fluctuated between blurry and clear.