snippets from a wip i ditched at the start of the year, ft. my girls being both deep and adorable
Olivia sits down next to Narina, tipping her head back to look at the sky. The stars glimmer above them, cold and distant in their perches in the sky.
“I love looking at the stars,” says Olivia softly. “They make me remember how big the galaxy truly is. All those stars, all those worlds, all of them waiting for us to discover them. We think we know so much about our universe, when in reality we have only explored a tiny, tiny fraction. There could be anything out there. There could be things we haven’t even imagined.”
“I know,” says Narina, letting her gaze drift lazily up as well. “My favourite pastime as a child was using my father’s telescope to look up at the stars. They always make me realise how small we are; how insignificant. We are merely a society of tiny creatures on a small lump of rock, spinning around a ball of fire at the edge of one galaxy out of millions. We think we are so special, when in reality we are nothing but a blip on the radar of the universe.”
Olivia lets out a breath. “I think about that a lot, too,” she whispers. “How inconsequential we are. We are nothing in the grand scheme of things.”
“I find it overwhelming to think about.”
“Me too,” says Olivia. “But it also helps me put things into perspective. Whenever things are getting too hard – whenever I feel like the pain and the grief is about to drag me under – I take a moment to look at the sky. It helps me remember that what I’m going through will pass. If I’m losing sight of the bigger picture, looking at the stars helps me remember.”
“No matter what happens in our lives, the stars will always be there,” Narina murmurs. “The sun will rise tomorrow. The universe will go on.”
“Exactly.” Olivia turns to Narina. Even in the dim light of the moon lilies spilling out of the passageway, Narina can see that she is smiling wider than ever. “You think like me,” she says quietly. “You think about life, and the meaning of it, and the grand scheme of things.”
Narina huffs a laugh. “I do indeed,” she says. “It is both a blessing and a curse.”
“I know what you mean.”
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“Look at us,” says Olivia with a sudden bitter laugh. “Look at us talking about how broken we are; about how much we’ve both suffered. We’re a depressing pair of people.”
“On the contrary,” says Narina softly. “I believe the fact that we are speaking about it makes us a little less depressing. A little less broken, at least.”
Oliva bows her head. “You’re right.”
“And even though we are both broken, at least we have the stars.” Narina gazes up at the distant galaxies, twinkling from a million miles away. “We have sight of them, so distant and beautiful. We have the vision of a hundred thousand worlds out there, all of them waiting for us to discover them as we run away into the universe.”
“We have the beauty of nature, and the miracle of life’s existence,” says Olivia quietly.
“We have pretty butterflies and birds.”
“We have moon lilies.”
“We have the evening breeze blowing against our faces.”
“We have books.”
“We have delicious fruit from other worlds.”
“We have each other,” whispers Olivia.
Her cheeks immediately go pink.
Narina feels her own cheeks warm up, although she is not completely sure why. “We do.”
------------------------------------------------------------
They walk another few steps before she says, “When I was a child, I used to think that Highborn eyes were beautiful. I used to wish my eyes could be like that, too.”
“And then you grew older and now you know better,” says Narina, laughing bitterly. “You realised what silver eyes stand for, and you realised there is nothing beautiful about them.”
“I guess.” Olivia looks at her sideways. “I still think they can be beautiful on the right person.”
Narina turns to her, catching Olivia’s eye for a second before the other young woman looks away, her cheeks reddening. Narina feels her own cheeks warming up. That has happened many times lately; it is starting to vex her.
She wonders if Olivia truly just called her eyes beautiful.
Her cheeks feel even warmer.
-----------------------------------------------
“I love looking at the stars,” says Olivia softly. “They make me remember how big the galaxy truly is. All those stars, all those worlds, all of them waiting for us to discover them. We think we know so much about our universe, when in reality we have only explored a tiny, tiny fraction. There could be anything out there. There could be things we haven’t even imagined.”
“I know,” says Narina, letting her gaze drift lazily up as well. “My favourite pastime as a child was using my father’s telescope to look up at the stars. They always make me realise how small we are; how insignificant. We are merely a society of tiny creatures on a small lump of rock, spinning around a ball of fire at the edge of one galaxy out of millions. We think we are so special, when in reality we are nothing but a blip on the radar of the universe.”
Olivia lets out a breath. “I think about that a lot, too,” she whispers. “How inconsequential we are. We are nothing in the grand scheme of things.”
“I find it overwhelming to think about.”
“Me too,” says Olivia. “But it also helps me put things into perspective. Whenever things are getting too hard – whenever I feel like the pain and the grief is about to drag me under – I take a moment to look at the sky. It helps me remember that what I’m going through will pass. If I’m losing sight of the bigger picture, looking at the stars helps me remember.”
“No matter what happens in our lives, the stars will always be there,” Narina murmurs. “The sun will rise tomorrow. The universe will go on.”
“Exactly.” Olivia turns to Narina. Even in the dim light of the moon lilies spilling out of the passageway, Narina can see that she is smiling wider than ever. “You think like me,” she says quietly. “You think about life, and the meaning of it, and the grand scheme of things.”
Narina huffs a laugh. “I do indeed,” she says. “It is both a blessing and a curse.”
“I know what you mean.”
--------------------------------------------------------
“Look at us,” says Olivia with a sudden bitter laugh. “Look at us talking about how broken we are; about how much we’ve both suffered. We’re a depressing pair of people.”
“On the contrary,” says Narina softly. “I believe the fact that we are speaking about it makes us a little less depressing. A little less broken, at least.”
Oliva bows her head. “You’re right.”
“And even though we are both broken, at least we have the stars.” Narina gazes up at the distant galaxies, twinkling from a million miles away. “We have sight of them, so distant and beautiful. We have the vision of a hundred thousand worlds out there, all of them waiting for us to discover them as we run away into the universe.”
“We have the beauty of nature, and the miracle of life’s existence,” says Olivia quietly.
“We have pretty butterflies and birds.”
“We have moon lilies.”
“We have the evening breeze blowing against our faces.”
“We have books.”
“We have delicious fruit from other worlds.”
“We have each other,” whispers Olivia.
Her cheeks immediately go pink.
Narina feels her own cheeks warm up, although she is not completely sure why. “We do.”
------------------------------------------------------------
They walk another few steps before she says, “When I was a child, I used to think that Highborn eyes were beautiful. I used to wish my eyes could be like that, too.”
“And then you grew older and now you know better,” says Narina, laughing bitterly. “You realised what silver eyes stand for, and you realised there is nothing beautiful about them.”
“I guess.” Olivia looks at her sideways. “I still think they can be beautiful on the right person.”
Narina turns to her, catching Olivia’s eye for a second before the other young woman looks away, her cheeks reddening. Narina feels her own cheeks warming up. That has happened many times lately; it is starting to vex her.
She wonders if Olivia truly just called her eyes beautiful.
Her cheeks feel even warmer.
-----------------------------------------------
Bonus: my main character's grandmother being absolutely savage:
“Hey, don’t close yourself off from the opportunity, is all I’m saying. It wouldn’t be so bad to have some new blood in this draughty old house. As long as she’s nicer than those snooty fancy-pants Highborn girls you were dumb enough to fall into bed with in the past – skies, girl, you have a worse taste in women than my brother, and he was stood up at the altar twice.”
“Luna,” Narina growls, glaring.
“Hey, don’t close yourself off from the opportunity, is all I’m saying. It wouldn’t be so bad to have some new blood in this draughty old house. As long as she’s nicer than those snooty fancy-pants Highborn girls you were dumb enough to fall into bed with in the past – skies, girl, you have a worse taste in women than my brother, and he was stood up at the altar twice.”
“Luna,” Narina growls, glaring.
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It's a shame the plot was an absolute shambles because I'm actually hella proud of so much of the dialogue. I'll probably be recycling these characters and a lot of the scenes into another story in the future.
How've you guys been?
- Andrea
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