Sci-Fi Saturday: Eesa
Hello, all! Today, for the first edition of Sci-Fi Saturday, I thought I’d share a short story I wrote for school a couple of years ago. It’s about two sisters who are trying to escape from slavery on the planet Malvere.
I was kind of rushed when I originally wrote it, since it was for school, so I made a few changes and improvements before sharing it here. But the majority of it has stayed the same.
Well, I hope you enjoy this little story!
Eesa
“Eesa, Eesa, wake up.”
Eesa whimpered and rolled over. Her eyes opened to see the face of her big sister. “Nina, I don’t wanna,” she whined.
Nina lifted Eesa gently, tattered blanket and all. Eesa was small for a three-year-old and barely weighed anything in Nina’s arms. “I’m sorry, baby, but we’ve got to go. Eesa nestled her head into her sister’s shoulder and snuggled in close. Her eyelids fluttered a few times and then settled shut as she drifted off to sleep.
Nina shifted her little sister in her arms slightly so that she could grasp the door handle of the shed they had been hiding out in. She eased it open, wincing as the unoiled hinges creaked loudly. Without another sound, she slipped out into the moonlight.
The three moons of Malvere were all out tonight, an occurrence that only happened every seven years. The triple moonlight cast an eerie, silver glow over the landscape. Off to the left was a search party combing the area for the sisters. To the right were the woods. The woods on this part of Malvere were so thick that only someone who knew them well could travel through them. Nina fell into that category, but she knew the searchers did not. If they could just get to the woods without being caught, the girls could disappear for a while longer.
Nina stayed pressed into the shadows outside the building. The searchers hadn’t looked her direction yet, but it was only a matter of time until they did. She knew that if she was going to act, she had to do it now. Not only for herself, but for Eesa. Especially Eesa.
Nina crouched down carefully and picked up a rock from the ground. She shifted Eesa into her other arm, then bit her lip and squinted. Just beyond the search party was a pond. It only took a moment for her to judge the distance and decide that it was possible. Hopefully.
Trying as hard as she could to not disturb the little girl in her arms, Nina wrenched back her right arm and threw the rock as hard as she could. A moment later, a splash told her that her aim had been true. Without wasting a second, she dashed toward the woods. Shouts and footsteps faded as the searchers raced in the opposite direction.
The woods were getting closer. Closer, closer…
From behind came a shout that was louder than the others. Nina spared a glance back and her heart fell in dread. Her ruse had worked, but not well enough. Two of the searchers had spotted the fleeing girls and were now in pursuit.
At that moment, Eesa woke up from all of the commotion. She whimpered and rubbed her eyes, beginning to cry. Nina tried to shush her while fighting off her own tears. If they could only make it to the woods, all these years of sacrifice would mean something. Mom and Dad’s sacrifices wouldn’t be for nothing. Eesa could grow up free.
As the pursuing footsteps grew closer, Nina found it harder to hope. Still she pushed on. The woods were so close now. Five more running steps and the girls would disappear again.
Suddenly, Nina’s foot caught on a root. She screamed and clutched Eesa, trying to shield her from the fall. But as Nina crashed to the ground, her hopes did too. From her position on the ground, right at the base of the first tree of the woods, she could see the polished black boots of the searchers, the slave catchers, as they approached.
Nina had failed. It had all been for nothing.
*****
Eesa perched on her hands and knees and scowled as she scrubbed the kitchen floor. She had a habit of talking to herself as she worked, and today she had a lot to say.
“I just scrubbed this floor yesterday,” she muttered. “But apparently I needed punished! All I did was keep myself alive. I almost got struck by lightning, so I came inside. But, I didn’t pick all of the fruit like I was supposed to, so here I am, doing something I just did yesterday. And talking to myself as I do, because no one else ever talks to me. All because I’m a slave.” She sat back on her heels and sucked in a deep breath.
“If Nina were here, she could make it fun.” Nina was the only family Eesa could remember. Their daddy had been killed helping his family escape from slavery when Eesa was just a baby. Their mom had given herself up soon after so the girls could get away. Nina tried to keep the two of them safe for a while, but it hadn’t taken too long for the slave catchers to catch up with them.
Eesa didn’t blame Nina for any of it. Why should she? There were just some people who thought they had the right to control everything and everyone on Malvere. That wasn’t Nina’s fault.
“Hey!” Eesa was startled out of her thoughts by a gruff voice. She looked up to find Mr. Arrond, the overseer, scowling down at her.
“What is going on here?” he barked.
“I’m done, sir,” Eesa answered meekly.
Mr. Arrond barely gave the floor a glance. “You missed a spot.”
As much as she knew she shouldn’t, Eesa scowled and asked, “Where?”
The overseer smirked cruelly. “I suppose you’ll just have to do the whole floor again.”
Eesa huffed and started scrubbing the floor all over again, this time under the watchful eye of Mr. Arrond. She felt like a knightstar insect being studied under glass.
When the floor was finally clean, she glanced at Mr. Arrond. He shook his head and gestured for her to keep cleaning. So she scrubbed.
And scrubbed.
And scrubbed.
Eesa scrubbed until she wanted to scream. Finally, the floor was clean enough to please Mr. Arrond. She stood up and stretched, wincing at the sharp pain in her back. But there wasn’t any time to rest. She hauled the bucket of dirty, soapy water out to the back yard.
The backyard was a fenced in patch of grass barely bigger than the kitchen Eesa had just exited. The thunderstorm from earlier had stopped, and the rain had left a glimmering sheen over everything. Over the fence, the far off woods could be seen. Just over the trees, the sun was beginning to set; the sunlight caught the raindrops on the leaves, making the forest look like it was on fire.
The landscape beyond the fence seemed to call to Eesa, beckoning her to explore the far reaches of her home planet. The girl stared wistfully at the sunset and stepped down from the porch on which she stood. The wet grass tickled her feet as she took another step. The bucket slipped from her grasp, its contents spilling on the ground as Eesa ran to the far edge of the yard and the tall, metal fence surrounding it.
She slowed as she neared the gate in the fence. She longed for the freedom to push through the metal door and run to the woods beyond. Almost without her realizing it, her hand drifted up to rest on the gate. The gate was never locked, but Eesa knew that if she left, it wouldn’t be long before someone found her again. She would never be truly free.
She let her hand drop and slowly turned away from the gate. Reluctantly, she headed back toward the house. She tripped up the stairs to the porch, but before she went inside, she couldn’t resist one last glance at the beautiful world outside the fence.
There was a yell from inside. Eesa! Where are you?”
With a sigh, Eesa trudged inside, away from her daydreams and back to reality.
*****
Late the next afternoon, Eesa was in the orchard along with several other slaves, finishing the job the thunderstorm had forced her to abandon the day before. They had been harvesting for several hours, and Eesa had just filled her third basket.
She struggled to lift the basket off of the ground. It was completely too heavy for her thin, small frame, but she would be in trouble if she asked for help. She wrestled with the basket again, finally succeeding in lifting it.
The basket had to go to the barn, which was quite a ways away. With a grunt and a huff, Eesa staggered down the path to the barn. The trip seemed longer than it had the first two times she had made it today. Her arms burned, but she was determined to make it the whole way without stopping once.
When Eesa had made it about halfway to the barn, she noticed a teenage boy heading down the path toward her. She kept her head down, just the way she had been taught. When the boy passed her, even though there was plenty of room, he brushed against Eesa, setting her off balance. She lost her grip on the heavy basket, and the produce spilled everywhere across the path.
The boy did not apologize, in fact, he didn’t say anything. But he did look at Eesa, and their eyes met. He seemed to be trying to tell her something without saying a word. His eyes seemed, kind.
Well, even if he was a nice boy, Eesa still had to clean up this mess now. She scowled and seethed as she righted the basket and dumped the fruit back into it. Soon, she noticed something in between two of the round red fruits. It was a small white piece of paper.
She risked a glance back at Mr. Arrond. He was wrapped in conversation with the boy who had bumped her. He was paying no attention to the slaves in the orchard. Eesa finished piling the rest of the fruit back in the basket and then fished the note from the ground.
She scooted the basket behind a nearby tree and slipped behind it herself. She quickly unfolded the paper. It read, Meet me behind the barn. Don’t worry, Braxton will distract Mr. Arrond. ~Nina.
Eesa’s heart leapt, and she raced to the barn, her basket forgotten. She was going to see her sister again. With the blessed note fluttering from her hand, she skidded around the corner of the barn. Her face broke into a smile. “Nina!”
At the sound of her name, Nina turned. There was Eesa, her baby sister. The sister’s ran to each other and hugged tightly. “How did you get here?” Eesa looked up at her sister, her violet eyes full of questions.
“I’ve been planning this since Mrs. Hallond took me on two years ago. It just took me a while to put the plan in motion. Now come on, Braxton won’t be able to keep Mr. Arron distracted forever.” She wrapped a protective arm around her sister and ushered her away toward the woods. “I can explain things more when we’re in a safer place.”
*****
The safer place turned out to be the spaceport in Malvere’s largest city, Moonarrow. The spaceport was always bustling with people, most of which couldn’t care less what anyone else was doing there. It was the perfect place for anyone who wanted to disappear.
“What’s going on, Nina? Why are we here?” Eesa had been bursting with questions for the entire speeder trip to the spaceport, but Nina had refused to answer them until they got where they were going. Now that they were finally there, Eesa was determined to get some answers.
Nina looked all around the spaceport and chewed her bottom lip. Finally, she settled her gaze on Eesa. Immediately, Eesa wished she would look anywhere else. “Eesa, we have to leave Malvere.”
Eesa was shocked. “Leave! Why?”
“Because, it’s too dangerous for us here. We’re both escaped slaves. If we stay around here, eventually someone will find us and put us in slavery again.”
“Can’t we just go somewhere else on the planet?” Eesa pleaded. “It’s our home. I don’t want to leave.”
Despite all of the terrible things that had happened to their family on Malvere, Eesa couldn’t help but feel a special connection to the planet. It had been the home of their family for generations; she didn’t want to have to leave. A tear slipped down her cheek.
Nina sighed, and bent down to her sister’s level. She gently brushed the tear from Eesa’s cheek. “I know this is hard for you to understand, but I need you to try. We’re both native Malverians, and the people who came to this planet think they should control all of us. They force us to work for them and use us as slaves. We can never be free here on Malvere. Do you understand?”
Eesa nodded slowly. “I think so. But I don’t care if I’m a slave here or free somewhere else. I just want to be with you.”
Nina grabbed her little sister’s hands, and squeezed them tight. She couldn’t describe how much she loved Eesa. “When you were just a baby, Mom, Dad, and I made a promise. We promised each other that we would do anything it took to make sure you could be free. Daddy did his part, Mom did hers, and now it’s time for me to do mine.”
Eesa had never known that. All of her family’s actions had been for her? It made her heart ache, but it wasn’t all sad. It was also a happy ache. She was loved.
Nina spotted Braxton heading toward them. She rubbed Eesa’s shoulder. “Stay here; I’ll be right back.”
Eesa did what her sister had asked. She sat down on the hard metal bench directly behind her and drew her knees up to her chest. She leaned her head back and stared out the skylight in the ceiling.
Nighttime had fallen, and she could see so many stars twinkling above. They were all familiar and friendly. What would it be like to see different stars in a different sky? All three of Malvere’s moons were out tonight. They met in a shining triangle in the sky.
Many people said that the meeting of the moons was a sign of luck. Eesa didn’t really believe it, but tonight it did give her hope. She felt a sense of peace settle in her heart. Whatever happened, it would be alright as long as Nina was by her side.
Nina met Braxton halfway. “Is everything ready?”
He nodded and handed two tickets to Nina. “These will get you all the way to Asilo. You and Eesa will be safe there.”
“I don’t know how to thank you; you’ve done so much for us.”
He shook his head. “There’s no need for that. You know how much Mother and I care about you. Speaking of Mother,” he reached into the satchel that hung by his side and pulled out a piece of paper. “You left this at the house.”
Nina took the papers. It was the document that Mrs. Hallond had signed declaring Nina a free woman. No one could ever enslave her again.
“Are you sure you want to leave?” Braxton asked. “You know Mother would take on Eesa in a heartbeat.”
“I know, Braxton, and I appreciate everything your mother has done so much, but I made a promise to my parents and I need to keep it. Please say you understand.”
“Of course I understand.” Braxton smiled, but there was sadness in his eyes. “I’ll miss you.” He extended a hand to her. “Stay safe, Nina.”
Nina grasped his hand and shook it firmly. “You too, Braxton.” She walked over to where Eesa was sitting on the bench. She held out a hand to her little sister. “You ready?”
Eesa took her hand and stood. The adoring expression said much more than her words did. “As long as you are.”
Hand in hand, the girls walked to where their shuttle was boarding. Far above, the moons shone down on them as they stepped from their old life and into their new one.