Fallen snoweagles

*Storm*

“There were 4000 people on board the spaceship Delphys as she left earth 250 years ago. They were all put in a deep cryo sleep for the 50 year long journey..”. I look around at my students. “What happened then ?”

“They woke up…”. A little girl calls out.

I look at her, she is about 7 with a purr of blonde curls. “Neela what do we do when we want to speak ?”

“Put up our hand… sorry Storm”. She smiles shyly and puts up her hand.

“Yes Neela, can you tell what happened then ?” I give her an approving nod.

I am a teacher in Amaranthine, the City of the free people on the planet Nypso 3PO also sometimes just called New Earth or Earth 2.0. I teach the smaller kids. And right now we are talking about our forefathers' arrival here.

“Something went wrong and five of the pod clusters malfunctioned. Luckily the six founders woke... but the other twenty four people died. Those were the ones supposed to be in charge. Our six founders managed to repair the flaw and save the rest of the humans”. She explains proudly.

I nod. “Thanks Neela… yes that is how the story goes. They tried contacting Earth, but all they got was a ten year old message that Earth was dying. No contact was possible…so we assume that Earth ... died”.

To be honest I have my doubts about this being the full truth, but as I have no way of knowing for sure, this is what I have to teach the kids. I always make sure to tell them that this is what we were told though, and that only the founders know for sure what happened.

“That's sad”. Another girl says softly. “Poor Earth”.

I give her a small smile. “Finger up Inova… but yes I guess it’s sad. Then it turned out that some pods had been damaged and the people in them had been subjected to radiation... they got very sick… aggressive.. dangerous and they were locked up. Upon arrival here, the spaceship had a slight crash and the prison was detached. Those sick people escaped... and their kin is still out there today. What do we call them ? Zandro ?”

“Ferus or ferus humans.. because they are like… really wild”. The boy says.

“They are wild and aggressive, yes... the rest of the humans settled in what is now known as The City or Nuova Roma. Some people did not like the way of the founders… All their rules and regulations, so they decided to leave it all behind and moved into the jungle to … become what ? Nella ?”

She almost jumps in her seat with excitement. “Us... the free people of Amaranthine or the jungle city”.

“Right you are Nella… So we have, how many kinds of people here ? Yes, you can answer Nella”. I smile at her.

“Free people, City dwellers, ferus humans and the Nypsopians... the native that were here before us… like Sorin”. She nods towards the little boy with the sun yellow skin, the only native in the class. Most of them live in the City or on their own.

There are not many Nypsopians left. In the beginning the settlers feared them and their strange appearances, so a lot were killed or taken as slaves and worked to death.

I nod, looking around at them all. I feel proud of them all, and honoured to teach them. “That is right…and I think that ends our lesson for today. Tomorrow we will talk about differences in how we live compared to the City dwellers”.

“We are free, they are not and they are bad to girls”. Neela calls out, as she collects her things.

“You are not wrong Neela... but let's save it for tomorrow or I have nothing to teach”. I grin and ruffle her hair as she walks past me.

All the kids say goodbye and wave as they leave. It might not be a big thing, being a teacher, but I love it. I adore the kids and there is nothing better than to see them grow confident and explore their own talents, as they find their way in life.

I close up the little tree hut I use for school and walk out on one of the wooden walkways. I love life here. The forest and wilderness might hold dangers, but the freedom and the People make up for it.

The twin suns are high on the horizon shining with a mild heat and there is early summer in the air. I think I might go for a little bow hunting later.