The Hum of Life - Part One

Hello readers and writers! Quick heads up about the following post, it comes in two parts. The second half of the story will be posted next week, so stay tuned!

Exercise time: Practice writing believable dialogue. How many times have you been reading a book or watching a movie and you find yourself rolling your eyes, because no one talks like that?! One way to practice this is to consider a scenario where an individual is leaving a message to RSVP for a party. Come up with several characters who may or may not be going to the party and then write messages that fit their personalities and are believable.

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Not a single whimper or whine was heard from the children. There were not enough cots or mats to go around, but it was as though, for the first time in their short lives, a blanket of security had come around them and lulled them to sleep. Mary felt the hush of their small, slumbering outfit and looked on with contentment, an alien sensation to the members of her body.  She pulled her knees into her chest and peered out at the distant blue and white profile of their intended destination. Would their native planet ever feel like home to them? A sudden pang in her stomach forced her to suck in a breath, serving as an ominous reminder.

“Midge?” Joey peered back at her from the cockpit.

“Yeah,” she said. She was holding her breath, waiting for the pain to subside.
“You okay?”

“I’m fine.”

“You sure?” Mary slowly released a long breath.

“Yes.” He threw another skeptical glance over his shoulder before facing forward.

Mary turned her attention to the puny planet again and watched it as she listened to the vague humming coming from insider her. Initially, she had abhorred the sound. But slowly she had noticed a certain musicality to it. There was a dynamism to it that left her torn between wonder and disgust.

“What are you thinking about?” Joey asked.

“Do you think there’s anything left?” she lied. He turned his gaze toward Earth, giving her a distinct view of his strong profile against the dark backdrop of outer space.

            “I couldn’t say,” he answered. She studied the back of his tawny head for a moment and then peered at the sleeping kids.

            “Give me a best and worst case scenario,” she said.

            “I’m not playing that game with you again, Midge.”

“It worked, didn’t it?”

            “What worked?”

            “You got us to the best case scenario.”

            “So far…” Joey turned his face away. She watched his jaw muscle contract beneath the dim lighting of the control panels. She stood and tip toed between sleeping children. Stepping up into the cock-pit, she stood behind his chair and wrapped her arms around his neck. She felt his shoulders rise and fall with a deep breath.

            “Joey…we’ve already made it.” She swallowed a lump in her throat. “We’ve already arrived. Escaping was the victory.”

            “We lost so many.” 

            “They didn’t intend to keep any of us, Joey. You and me and them…” she turned to peer at the kids again. “We are the last generation.” Her eyes looked from one adolescent face to the next. Her heart ached for them as though they were her own children. Would any of them ever fully know freedom? Even for her, freedom was a lofty sentiment, but she could still draw memory of her mother’s soft breath against her cheek as she told her stories of Earth. Mary’s own memories of the planet were vague and disconnected as she was only four when she and her mother were taken.

            “Tell me about the ocean again,” she told Joey as she sat down behind his chair. 

            “I think you could tell my stories back to me by now.”

            “Please.” She had her eyes shut and she could already feel her mind slipping into his world of imagination.

            “Well...it’s big. Not as big as outer space, but when you stand in the shallow part and look out, it seems like it goes on forever…” She allowed her mind to wade out further and further and as she went the humming grew louder.

            “Midge…you okay?” she heard his voice call from somewhere far away. She forced herself to nod. She felt a touch on her forehead and tried to move away, fearful it was all just a dream. She was back in captivity. Trapped beneath their greedy, red receptors. They were poking and prodding and there was nothing she could do, but attempt to escape mentally. And, still, there was that nagging, menacing pain at her center. Everything was black except that place inside her which burned red.