I lay down on my bed while Uncle Welp and Grandpa were talking in the living room. I couldn't really hear what they were saying. Their voices sounded far away, like echoes in a big empty room. My mind was somewhere else. I reached for the Blessed Eye Key I had hidden under my pillow and whispered, "Datora…"
A soft glow filled the room, and a figure appeared before me. It was Ardent. He looked serious, but not scary.
"Hello," he said. "What do you want?"
I blinked. My heart was beating fast. "I… I want to learn. I want to read books," I said.
Ardent nodded, and almost immediately, a group of maids appeared with a stack of books. They were tall and quiet, moving carefully as they placed the books on my bed.
"Which language would you like to start with?" one of the maids asked.
"English," I said without thinking. "It's the one most people use. The other languages… they are mostly used only in the Solar."
The maids looked at each other and nodded. Then they started teaching me about tenses. I tried to pay attention, but sometimes I just stared at the letters and wondered what the words would feel like if I could hear them. The night went by slowly. I yawned a lot, but I wanted to learn everything.
When I woke up, Uncle Welp was standing at the door. He had a small smile. "Time for school," he said.
He handed me a uniform. I looked at it closely. The blazer was navy blue with golden trim on the edges. The white shirt underneath was crisp, and the trousers matched perfectly. Even the shoes were shiny and black.
"It's… fancy," I whispered. I tried it on, feeling like a stranger in someone else's clothes.
When I stepped outside, the city looked strange. Almost every street was empty. Tall buildings rose like silent towers, but there were no people walking, no cars moving, no sounds of life at all. I frowned.
"Where is everyone?" I whispered to myself. My shoes clicked on the empty sidewalks. The city felt boring. There were no murals, no little markets, no music playing. Even the lights in the shops were off. Everything seemed grey and quiet.
Finally, I reached the school. It looked small compared to the empty city, but inside, there were kids everywhere. Some ran around, laughing. Others were talking in groups, pointing at toys and books. I followed the hallways to my room, my small heart thumping.
When I opened the door, I felt shy. The other kids stared at me for a second. I could feel it. I was different. I grew up in space, and it showed. My skin was paler, my hair a little lighter, and I was smaller than most of the other kids. I sat on the edge of the bed and whispered to myself, "I'm different… I don't belong here."
The next few days were almost the same. I tried to join the other kids, but I often felt like I didn't fit. The city outside didn't help either. There were no parks, no markets, no bright colors—just grey streets and empty buildings. The only sounds were my footsteps and the wind.
By the end of the week, it was Friday. Uncle Welp drove me to school in the small car. He looked at me and asked, "So… what do you want in your school?"
I thought for a moment. I imagined the grey city outside, and then the small, quiet playground in my mind. "Playgrounds… and toys," I said. "I want kids to have fun. I don't like it when the city is boring."
Uncle Welp smiled. "Got it," he said.
Monday came, and I walked into the school, not knowing what to expect. Then I saw it. A playground. Bright slides, swings, climbing frames, and even a sandbox with little toy shovels and buckets. The other kids' eyes widened.
Then something happened I didn't expect. All the kids lifted me up and cheered.
"You made this?" one of them shouted, her pigtails bouncing.
"Yeah!" I said, blushing. "I… I just wanted toys and playgrounds!"
After that, the kids ran around, sliding, swinging, digging in the sandbox. Their laughter was loud and bright. The teachers brought out trays of food after playing, so everyone could eat together.
I watched them and thought, *Maybe I can belong here after all…*
Even the city outside felt a little better. The kids' laughter echoed through the empty streets, bouncing off the tall grey buildings. Maybe it wasn't the city that was boring, it was just empty. And now, maybe, it had life again.
That day, I realized something. I didn't need to be like everyone else to belong. I just needed to make a little change, a small thing that made people happy. And it worked.
When the sun went down, I sat on my bed, tired but happy. I whispered to myself, "I did it… I really did it."