A Sky Filled With Freckles

Submitted into Contest #95 in response to: Write about someone finally making their own choices.... view prompt

103 comments

Science Fiction Romance Fantasy

Vivienne stands alone in a desert of blood-red sand as she watches the only person that has ever mattered drift even further out of reach.







“Weird, huh?” says the face in the hologram. “It’s almost identical to the sand back home, except it’s red because of trace amounts of iron.”







Red, Vivienne thinks numbly as she cradles the small metal cube projecting the hologram. Red like your hair, Fae.







It’s one of many visual logs she’s uncovered, but how long ago it was recorded, or whether those who’d recorded it have survived, she has no clue. 







“Just a few more samples and we can wrap this up,” continues Fae, and the holographic filters don’t do a thing to dampen that smile, the one that lights up Vivienne’s world even now. “Gonzalez says there’s a good chance what we’re looking for is only a few solar systems over. We’re this close to proving everyone back home wrong.”







The only thing you proved, Fae, thinks Vivienne as her fingers tighten around the cube, is that I’m the most pathetic human being the cosmos has ever known.







Because if she had been better, she wouldn’t be alone on the desert planet Rubrum, rummaging through the remnants of an abandoned research base. Because if she had been better, she wouldn’t have had to do the exact same thing on eleven other planets, and come up empty-handed on each.







Because if she had been better, Fae would never have reached for the stars, only to burn her fingertips.







(“What do you want to do when you grow up, Vivi?”







“No idea.”







They’d both been lying on their backs in make-believe grass, and the stars winking through the viewing panels above had shone like pearls.







“I want to go there,” Fae had yawned as she’d pointed to one.






“Why?”







“Because it’s probably better than here.” And of course Fae had been talking about saving the human race.







What could be better than this? Vivienne should’ve said into the silence. What could be better than… us?






Because Fae had always seen the stars for what they are: hope.







Vivienne had always thought they looked like the freckles on Fae’s cheeks.)







Vivienne crumples to her knees, and the five suns above Rubrum seem to watch in silent sympathy. Or perhaps amusement.







“I'm going to miss these sands,” says Fae from the inside of her palm, where she’d refused to be kept. “Seruleum, here we come."






The hologram clicks out of existence, leaving Vivienne alone once again. It’s not the first time Fae has left a log of her exploits for Vivienne to find, and it’s not the first time Vivienne’s soul is sliced in half upon learning that Fae is under an entirely different sky.







Seruleum.







How many more planets will Vivienne have to scour from top to bottom before Fae lets her weary bones have a rest? Before Vivienne is allowed even the smallest hint that the world is still willing to forgive her?







She scoops up some sand, oddly cool to the touch, and watches it slip through her fingers like little rivulets of blood.







Like Fae has done time and time again.







Before Vivienne gives in to despair, she flicks on her radio. “Elma?”







“At your sevice.”







“Plot a course for Seruleum. Now.”







🪐







“It’s not too late to turn back, Vi.”







It’s the day before her grand journey across the cosmos, though she doesn’t know it yet. She thinks it will be a simple rescue mission to Luteus, a planet blanketed by noxious vapors that would scald anyone without a spacesuit from the inside out.







Luteus, the place where mission control last received word from the Pilgrim







Where mission control last received word from Fae.







Vivienne watches the sprawling megacity below shrink into tiny silver cubes as the lift whisks her further and further away from the ground. At least, what passes for the ground when you live on a star base suspended millions of miles above the world your ancestors destroyed.







Her companion is Takashi, who she's known since they were both diaper-clad and drooling, and of course he came to see her off, if only to convince her not to go.







(Please never change, Takashi.)







The lift eases to a stop. When the door slides open, Vivienne will be greeted by the docking bay; she can take a single irreversible step outside, or she can stay and let the lift whisk her back down.







Takashi sighs. “I don’t want to lose both of you.”







“You won’t,” says Vivienne. “Because I’m bringing her home.”







The door slides open.







🪐







Vivienne is eleven years old when her mother takes her to meet their new neighbors, who’d just relocated from Sector 95 to avoid the riots. In truth, she’d already seen Fae throwing pebbles at a security drone with Takashi and the other kids, but had been too shy to do anything other than watch from a distance and wonder how anyone could have hair so vibrant.







Vivienne has seen red hair before, obviously. It’s just that Fae’s bursts out of her scalp like a volcano mid-eruption. And the freckles dotting her face can’t be anything other than drops of lava.







“I’m Fae! What’s your name?” the girl chirps as she sticks her hand out, which of course makes Vivienne shrink away into the folds of her mother’s dress.







Vivienne figures this scary new girl will forget she exists soon enough, and then she’ll be able to get on with Takashi as usual. But by some cruel coincidence, Fae ends up in the same class as her, and as the days flit by it becomes clear the walls Vivienne has erected to keep a certain spunky redhead out only serve to pull her closer.







Does Fae think Vivienne is hiding a secret that will only be unearthed if she shares her corned beef rations every recess? Is she amused by how much Vivienne squirms when they have to construct dinosaurs together out of papier-mâché?







(It doesn’t help that instructors like pairing them with each other, as if their mismatched souls are somehow supposed to make peace.







Which they do. Eventually.)







It’s not until Takashi and Fae begin drifting together that Vivienne’s world splinters. Who does this intruder think she is, breaking in and stealing her friend like that? 







It’s the middle of recess and Vivienne is buried in a picture book about dragons when a frisbee gives her a rough smooch on the cheek. Takashi and Fae are in the field nearby, and when Fae waves her arms for Vivienne to throw it back, she instead flings it as hard as she can somewhere the girl can’t possibly reach.







Vivienne doesn’t think she’ll actually climb the pole of the PA system like the monkeys she’s read about, but that’s exactly what Fae does to pluck the disc from where it’s wedged behind a loudspeaker.







When the announcement for class to resume comes on, Fae slips. The pole isn’t that tall, but it’s still tall enough that Vivienne rushes over to see if she’s okay.







Only to find her sprawled on the ground laughing.







It’s not long before Takashi joins in, and suddenly Vivienne is laughing too.







Not at Fae, but with her.







🪐







“We must leave immediately, Vivienne.”







“Give me a minute.”







“You do not, unfortunately, have a minute.”







Elma had flown her across the entire shimmering blue sphere that is Seruleum, only to find a single island nestled in a world of water.







A single island on which Vivienne unearths yet another one of Fae’s visual logs, and finds herself shattering all over again.







“Only one planet to go,” says Fae, and she’s so pretty, god, she’s so pretty. “Niveus better be where we find humanity’s salvation.”







What about my salvation, Fae? wonders Vivienne as she lets tears of anger fall to kiss the seawater below, her mark on this godforsaken planet. When does my world get saved?







Because Luteus, their first stop, had been empty save for Fae’s message pointing the rescue team to another planet. And another. And another.







And their food reserves had waned with morale after each false hope, until everyone admitted defeat and flew the mothership back home.







Everyone except Vivienne, that is, whose world has been reduced to dwindling rations and an aching heart, and E.L.M.A., an AI navigator gifted to her out of pity.







“Vivienne!”







For the millionth time, Vivienne picks herself up despite her soul screaming for a rest, and hurries onto her little space shuttle before a wave the size of a mountain washes her into oblivion.







🪐







They’re both sixteen years old when they ditch highschool for the Spacefarer program.







Vivienne thinks this is a decision they make together, when in reality it is one Fae has made a long time ago, and Vivienne is only filling Fae’s footprints with her own awkward feet because that’s what she’s good at.







After all, Fae has made the wee hours finishing assignments bearable, wiped away the tears with hands as gruff as they were gentle, taught her to use her knees and elbows in ways that would send bullies packing.







Fae has grown wings, and Vivienne has... grown.







Meanwhile, Takashi has become a brotherly figure for them both, always there for them no matter how long the silences in between might stretch.







But Fae is different.







Fae is fire and starlight and what makes waking up to an artificial sun everyday worth it.







(“Don’t you wanna see the sun, Vivi?”







“But we see it everyday.”







“I mean a real sun. In a real sky. One that’s sometimes too hot and other times too shy to come out from behind a moon.”







“That sounds scary, Fae-Fae.”







“It is scary. But it doesn’t have to be.”)







The Spacefarer program is a joke to Fae, who annihilates the entrance exams before doing the same to both practical and theoretical courses.







Not surprising when the last broadcast had been about power outages and another potential habitable zone on the fringes of the galaxy. Or when Fae has lost her father to a riot, the same one that’s left her mother with a face that’s scorched on one side and always blue with sadness.







Or when Fae has been pulverized between this cruel world’s teeth one too many times, before being spat back out with a glint in her eye and a heart that screams for something to change.







So it’s not surprising either that Vivienne trails away like a slashed ribbon left to drift aimlessly in the wind.







Because none of this had been her. Only a stupid girl that couldn’t bear giving up her friend to the cold clutches of this world. She’d stared at Fae so intently (who could blame her?) that she’d lost sight of herself.







And because of that she'll lose Fae, too.








🪐







“You can choose not to go, Fae-Fae.”







It’s the night before the Pilgrim takes off on a voyage of discovery.







The night Fae has dreamt of since forever.







The night Vivienne has dreaded.







They’re both twenty-one and neither are sure what to make of the fact that this might be the last time they get to see each other as the lift whisks them up to the docking bay.






Where Fae will leave for a real sky, with maybe a real sun.







And Vivienne watches.







Fae sighs. “I have to go. You know that.”







The door slides open. Vivienne’s vision goes blurry as they share one last hug.







“Thanks for putting up with me, Vivi. I’m off to save the world.”







And destroy mine, she almost says. But she can’t. Not when there’s a lump in her throat formed by a thousand pent-up screams and a long overdue confession.







Fae is the first to let go. She steps outside, and the door slides closed.







Leaving Vivienne to fill the silence with her echoing sobs all the way back down.







🪐







It’s been a week since news of the Pilgrim’s disappearance.







A week since Vivienne has tasted light and fresh air, because some things just don’t matter now that her world has ended.







Takashi has to beat down a security drone and break into the mildewy apartment she calls home before she does the unthinkable, but she has only needed the solitude to think. To realize.







Vivienne isn’t like Fae.







Fae, who can’t be shackled to this world. Fae, who must bask under the stars of a different sky before she fizzles out.







Vivienne’s world is smaller than that. Simpler.







And it takes the form of a round face with freckles and always-bright eyes and a smile that she wishes she could have tasted.







“I’m sorry,” she tells Takashi on the day she re-enrolls into the Spacefarer program, because she’s been there and knows how it feels to watch.







Vivienne graduates with flying colors, just like Fae, because this time she doesn’t let anyone make her choices for her. Fae may have chosen the human race, but Vivienne has never had it in her to reach for those same stars.







So she chooses Fae instead.







Fae, who is worth burning for, and always has been.







Because of course it's Vivienne's job to keep Fae’s feet planted, to keep her waxen wings from melting like Icarus' when she flies too close to the sun. To remind her that her flames can be stoked down here, too.







(Oh, the things she'd give to have realized this sooner.)







As the twenty-third rescue party leaves the docking bay for a faraway planet, praying that the crew of the Pilgrim is out there, Vivienne finds her own reason to hope.






🪐







“You must rest, Vivienne,” reminds Elma as the shuttle touches down in a bed of snow.







She nods. Maybe the best message right now is a wordless one as she cranks up the heating apparatus on her spacesuit and steps out onto Niveus.







She follows a trail of metal debris through the snow, and her heart rate surges with the realization that they’re fragments of a spacecraft.







(“For a planet to be habitable,” Fae had explained a lifetime ago, “it can’t be too hot or too cold, but just right.”







“How will we know it’s ‘just right’?”







“It has to be like Earth, Vivi. Where our ancestors came from, and would never have had to leave in the first place if they were smarter. If they were better.”)







If this wasteland is the destination, thinks Vivienne as the snow thickens around her legs, what is the point of the journey?







To never give up hope, Fae would answer without missing a beat, and Vivienne would agree because Fae is only human and so is she.







A wreck looms ahead, its huge silver bulk stark against the whiteness. The Pilgrim. Or what’s left of it, at least. Vivienne almost crumbles again when she finds the bodies, until she realizes one is unaccounted for.







She follows a trail of supplies: oxygen tanks, empty MRE packets (including a bottle of Tabasco sticking out of the snow), an aerial probe with its rotors twisted out of proportion.







Until she reaches a rocky mound with a gaping mouth on one side. She switches a flashlight on and wonders where the next hologram cube is.







Is this where it ends? she thinks as her breaths mist on her visor. Has the world finally decided to stop pointing her in the right direction?







Has Fae decided to—?







Fae.







There, sprawled against the far wall of the cave, her visor foggy and her body limp but it's Fae.







Vivienne quickly attaches a spare oxygen canister to Fae’s spacesuit, and the fog dissolves like the ice inside Vivienne’s heart.







Fae, eyes shut but still breathing.







Fae, who took on the world and lost beautifully.







Fae, back in Vivienne’s arms where she belongs.







🪐







They’re a few hours from the star base they call home and Fae is on a stretcher in the sick bay, her warming fingers laced around Vivienne’s. Fae had been surprised to see her, but at the same time, not really. They’ve both let their hair grow out during the return journey and there’s a nostalgia in the air that they both cling onto like the remainder of their rations.







“I’m sorry,” says Vivienne, who's still a little angry at herself, but it's okay because they both pardon this bit of humanity.







“Me too,” says Fae, whose cheeks have had the color return to them a few days ago, and it surprises Vivienne to hear it from Fae of all people.







Fae, who leaves a burning comet trail wherever she goes, and never looks back. But then again, Fae is only human, and Vivienne wouldn't be able to love her like this otherwise.







The viewing panels slide open, which Elma may or may not have done on purpose.








The blackness overhead bursts into light.







A billion stars shining bright and raw, just like when they were kids, and had both feet planted firmly on the ground (or at least what passes for the ground.)







Fae nuzzles into Vivienne, and the air becomes filled with each other’s heartbeats that dip and soar to the same melody, and two kinds of stardust: the stuff watching from above that they can't quite reach without burning their fingertips, and the stuff dotting Fae’s cheeks.







“I’m sorry,” Vivienne says again, “that you couldn’t save everyone.”







Fae chuckles. “I was the idiot that needed saving. Thanks for putting up with me, Vivi.”







And because Fae is sick of hearing Vivienne’s apologies, she seals them in with a kiss that can be seen from the other end of the galaxy. Which of course catches Vivienne off guard because that can't possibly be what's on Fae's mind after almost freezing to death.






So that's what it tastes like, Vivienne thinks anyway.







They both decide then, under a sky filled with freckles, that there’s only one world worth saving.





May 25, 2021 17:18

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103 comments

Amany Sayed
13:09 May 26, 2021

Tell me why everyone seems to be getting AMAZING stories out of these prompts and I can't think of anything at all? Seriously, this was great. It jumps around a lot, but I like it, it gives the story so much depth. I could imagine it happening like a movie in my head. Your top-notch descriptions helped with that. And your names! I love them all. The little parenthesis bits were such a good addition to your story too. I could literally compliment this all day. Keep writing! Oh, and the title you have now has a nice ring to it. (A Sky Filled ...

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Rayhan Hidayat
14:16 May 26, 2021

Haha why thank you! To be honest this story has been rattling around in my head a while and I tweaked it a little to fit this week’s prompts. So it’s not like I looked at the prompt and immediately thought “yep, two lesbians in space, that’s what I’m gonna do” lol I’m glad you liked the names, I just picked the 2 prettiest female names I know (besides Amany of course 😉) Awesome, the title stays then! 😜

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Amany Sayed
15:11 May 26, 2021

You're welcome! Ah, I see. Oh well, I'm trying to write one with the door prompt, so we'll see how it goes. (aw, shucks ;) :)

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Rayhan Hidayat
08:09 May 27, 2021

Oh awesome, I’ll be looking out for that then!

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H L McQuaid
08:32 May 26, 2021

Wow. Really impressed how you've managed to combine beautiful prose into an engaging sci-fi suspense story. I liked how you pushed the format to help tell the story (the short paragraphs, the parenthetical memories). Some really beautiful and memorable lines, including: "...Vivienne trails away like a slashed ribbon left to drift aimlessly in the wind." Great job. I enjoyed this tremendously. :)

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Rayhan Hidayat
14:13 May 26, 2021

Thanks a million! Ooh I never really considered this a suspense story but now that you mention it, it makes perfect sense because Fae’s fate is left a mystery until the end. Good choice, I like that line too 😉

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Rayhan Hidayat
20:11 May 25, 2021

Title poll: "A Sky Filled With Freckles" or "A Sky Full Of Freckles"? Edit: the former wins! Oh, and here's what I consider Fae and Vivienne's theme song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvTb1VgABw8&ab_channel=J.O.E.VGM

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Claire Lindsey
17:47 May 25, 2021

Rayhan! This is beautiful. I love your main characters, the way you navigate their relationship with ease. The skillful jumps in time, the stunning prose, it’s all so artful. My one critique was with Elma’s character. She felt like an afterthought, so I wondered why she was so committed to risking her life to help Vivienne. Initially, I assumed Elma was an AI navigator or something along those lines, which I think would actually address those questions. Perhaps consider editing to clarify Elma’s character a bit. As a whole, it’s a stu...

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Rayhan Hidayat
19:54 May 25, 2021

Thank you Claire! Fae and Vivi are both very dear to me so I'm thrilled you love them too. Oh and that critique makes too much sense, I'll see what I can do. WHat's funny is that I've written plenty of AI characters before, so I'm not sure how that idea slipped my mind lol :P And i saw your message, just wanted to say congrats (assuming you've graduated by now?) and that I'm also doing fine, thanks for asking ;) Oh and one more thing, which do you prefer? "A Sky Filled With Freckles" or "A Sky Full Of Freckles"?

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Claire Lindsey
22:45 May 25, 2021

Yes thank you, ya girl has a master’s now!! Glad to hear you’re doing okay :) I love them both honestly but I think “A Sky Filled with Freckles” has a really nice assonance to it 😊

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Rayhan Hidayat
21:31 May 26, 2021

Awesome! Music teacher AND a writer? That's some talent right there. I had to search up what "assonance" means (been a while since high school english haha) but thanks, so far it looks like the title stays ;) I took your advice and changed Elma to an AI navigator called E.L.M.A., which I also think makes more sense, and I added a little nod to Icarus towards the end to finalize both their character arcs (I thought that needed tweaking too). Hoping it reads better now!

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Claire Lindsey
22:58 May 26, 2021

I had to look it up too... I kept thinking of consonance and I knew there was a word for vowels 😂 I love the edits, it all comes together very nicely!

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11:57 May 27, 2021

I'm a huge fan of interesting formats and planets, so this story was right up my alley! The bits in parentheses really stood out to me and added more to the story. Your word choices were fantastic, and the relationship that Vivienne and Fae had was top tier. Great job!

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Rayhan Hidayat
16:44 May 27, 2021

Thanks Skybelle! A lot of my stories follow this format (sci-fi, girls, maybe some lesbian stuff) so stay tuned 😉

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21:21 May 27, 2021

Haha, I will!

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K. Antonio
22:04 Aug 14, 2021

Just read this! Full disclosure: I was sweating thinking that our stories were going to be way too similar. A few things are pretty similar (specially our use of stars, and sun) but you play a lot more with the setting than I do. I haven't played a lot with world building and this story slaps with its creative aspects of technology and otherworldly elements. I liked how this was Sapphic and had interwoven aspects of fantasy. This story is way out of my comfort zone as a writer. 🤣🤣 I swear you have such a knack for world-building, and playin...

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Rayhan Hidayat
20:26 Aug 15, 2021

Your comments are always the best, you know? Thanks so much! It’s strange, for me, it’s the opposite: I’m quite at home writing otherwordly sci-fi and fantasy stories, but I’m less confident in my ability to write contemporary tales about the mundane and day to day. But I am slowly getting more used to it, thanks in part to the feedback of people such as yourself 😙

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K. Antonio
20:35 Aug 15, 2021

I'm the opposite. I can do contemporary and emotionally evocative stories pretty well. I love a good time skip and some flashback, but world building? Yeah, that's not my forte at all :D I'm sure I could do it, just not as easily as some other writers on here.

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Philip Hedges
08:56 Jul 15, 2021

How touching. I don't usually enjoy stories that have too many scene breaks, as things can get confusing fast but this story has an amazing flow and clarity. I couldn't dare get distracted even once. The characters are the kind I would love to read more about. Keep up the fantastic work.

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Rayhan Hidayat
06:57 Jul 16, 2021

Oh thanks so much, that’s a relief to hear! I appreciate you checking out a story that is very dear to me’ 🥰

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Jasey Lovegood
02:08 Jul 15, 2021

[What about my salvation, Fae? wonders Vivienne as she lets tears of anger fall to kiss the seawater below, her mark on this godforsaken planet. When does my world get saved?] I feel as though your writing is like vivid memories depicted as dreams but displayed as poetry- and it's so captivating. Two lesbeans in space, what more could I ask for?

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Rayhan Hidayat
07:00 Jul 16, 2021

Haha thanks for also stopping by here Jasey! That’s a major compliment, I think I’ll keep it in a jar labelled “morale booster” 😜

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Jasey Lovegood
10:43 Jul 16, 2021

Anytime, Rayhan! Your work really impresses me, you're one of my favourite authors on this website 😝

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14:26 Jul 10, 2021

WOW. WOW. WOW. I'm speechless. *pauses* *regains speech enough to type the rest of this comment* I think that the only way I can describe this story is that it is a Work Of Art (and yes, those capital letters are very intentional). It was beautiful. It was possibly among the most beautiful things I've ever read. The exploration of what it means to save someone (or the entire world) was wonderfully constructed, and Vivi and Fae's relationship was amazingly conveyed. I was rooting for them the entire time (and side note: can I ship t...

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Rayhan Hidayat
17:05 Jul 10, 2021

Omgosh thank you so much for actually checking out this story! I was wondering when it would be my turn to get feedback. I'll cherish this comment until I die. Of course, feel free to ship them, though I suppose that ship HAS sailed haha And I think you understood just about all the themes I was trying to convey, so you can have a cookie for that :) Thanks a million for stopping by!

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17:13 Jul 10, 2021

You're very welcome! :) And by the way, congrats on winning Contest #100!!

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Rayhan Hidayat
17:19 Jul 10, 2021

Thank you! :D

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12:28 Jun 11, 2021

:0 :00 :000 *infinite shocked expressions* how the heck long have i been in your bio? this is like newbery-honor-type stuff here. thank you. :D

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Rayhan Hidayat
16:39 Jun 14, 2021

Since I read your stories and decided everyone else needs to as well! Of course, no worries 😉

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16:32 Jun 09, 2021

rayhan! get back on the site, anne won again!

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Rayhan Hidayat
20:16 Jun 09, 2021

Yeah, who would’ve guessed... (jk jk she deserved it and I already congratulated her!) I’m just a lil stressed right now from trying to find a job but dont worry, I’m still writing!

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23:55 Jun 09, 2021

*intimidating face* you better be... >:D

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Rayney Day
15:59 Jun 04, 2021

THIS IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I love how you made this a GAY sci-fi love story. You melted these genres together flawlessly and this is easily my favourite story on Reedsy. The way you went from present to past to present also gives the story so much dimension. This is the song I imagine playing in the background by the way https://open.spotify.com/track/4NefPM8HUjrIhdSekmZrj4?si=4014fff799744f44

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Rayhan Hidayat
08:08 Jun 05, 2021

Oh thank you, I’m very much flattered (though I do hope you like my story because of the writing quality and not just because I made two chicks kiss at the end lol 😂)

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Rayney Day
20:51 Jun 05, 2021

Oh, definitely XD your writing style is so simply eloquent and I love love love it.

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Ola Hotchpotch
05:52 Jun 03, 2021

Nice way of looking at stars. Do freckles change colour ? nice names too. Viv and fae. What does fae mean?

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Rayhan Hidayat
14:11 Jun 03, 2021

They don’t change color last time I checked, no 😂 I believe Fae means “fairy” or something along those lines, but I picked it because it sounds pretty and it sounds similar to “flame.” Thanks for stopping by! 😙

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KED KED
02:04 Jun 03, 2021

Oh wow. This had me utterly spellbound! So many memorable pieces of loving prose... “Because if she had been better, Fae would never have reached for the stars, only to burn her fingertips.” Ugh. Also, how perfect the 🪐 between paragraphs?? Like.. I love this...

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Rayhan Hidayat
14:17 Jun 03, 2021

Thanks a million! It was actually Yolanda Wu, who won a few contests back, who encouraged me to use thematically-appropriate emojis as section breaks, and it’s kinda stuck since haha

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KED KED
15:25 Jun 03, 2021

Yeah...I think I love that part about writing on a blog like this. The rules are a bit bendy and it makes for some really cool changes like that! Love it!

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Rayhan Hidayat
15:31 Jun 03, 2021

Oh yeah, definitely. You could even upload images into your story if you wanted to, though I’ve yet to see a shortlisted or winning story do it 🤔

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KED KED
15:48 Jun 03, 2021

I didn’t know that!!!

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Rayhan Hidayat
15:50 Jun 03, 2021

It’s a blog, so go wild!! 😁

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23:24 Jun 02, 2021

this is way too good. get this published! the metaphors- the smaller ones dotting the bigger one ribboning throughout the entire story (like freckles on skin- holla!) were fantastic. their romance was heartbreaking and just so natural. like that one romance movie we can't help binge-watching! :D the pacing- oh, it was superb. i felt like i was floating. and that first line is just... *chef's kiss, x10* if somebody approaches you with a brand deal after seeing this story, dedicate your nobel-prize-winning novel to me, rayhan! 😉

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Rayhan Hidayat
14:26 Jun 03, 2021

Kate you're the best, thank you as always! Oh and great metaphor btw. I definitely will dedicate this to you if by some miracle that becomes a reality, and spell out your name in that same funky font you use haha ;)

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15:09 Jun 03, 2021

already writing your dramatic, heart-stopping speech!

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Rayhan Hidayat
15:52 Jun 03, 2021

You know it 😉

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Itay Frenkel
18:11 Jun 02, 2021

Firstly, I loved how the ending was so dismal yet happy at the same time. I liked how Elma kind of had its moment at the end when it may or may not have opened the viewing panels. There was lots of backstory but it was always tied back to the characters and their struggles really well. Personally I find it a lot harder to write a story in the present-tense than the past-tense, but you definitely pulled it off and I think it added a sense of urgency to the whole thing. The writing reminded me a little bit of Ray Bradbury, the imagery and si...

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Rayhan Hidayat
20:12 Jun 02, 2021

Thanks as always! I think you're the first person to point out the bittersweet ending. And I suppose it's just a product of what our influences are, because it was The Hunger Games that inspired me to always write in present tense. Not that I have anything against the other tenses of course. Man I really gotta read Fahrenheit, thanks for the reminder lol.

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Itay Frenkel
19:00 Jun 03, 2021

I pointed out the ending out cause I really like when there's a contradiction between happiness and sadness. I read Hunger Games in English class, which I don't think most people can say, but having to analyze it for all the metaphors and real-world connections ruined it a bit for me, still a great book. Of course all tenses can work... future tense seems crazy though.

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Rayhan Hidayat
19:59 Jun 03, 2021

I was about to say you're lucky you got to read The Hunger Games during English, but now that you mention it, I think it would ruin the whole experience, wouldn't it? :P I actually read one story by R.K. done in future tense that I thought was done quite well, though admittedly it's the only one I saw xD. Are you challenging me to do a story in future tense? Because you know I'll do it, just need the right stroke of inspiration...

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S. Closson
06:14 Jun 01, 2021

Fantastic work! I loved the setting and the way you handled the time jumps was very well done. There were some seriously killer lines in this story, but my favorite has to be, "Fae, back in Vivienne’s arms where she belongs."

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Rayhan Hidayat
14:22 Jun 01, 2021

I actually added in that line last minute, glad it payed off! Thanks for stopping by, and I really need to catch up on your stories!

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S. Closson
18:16 Jun 01, 2021

Nice! It totally did. Of course! I need to catch up on more of yours as well, your stories are always a treat to read.

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Charlie Murphy
18:18 May 31, 2021

AWESOME STORY! I wrote a story with lesbians and an alien shark.

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Rayhan Hidayat
19:34 May 31, 2021

Thanks! Ooh that sounds fun

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Orenda .
18:16 May 31, 2021

hey Ray, how've you been?

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Rayhan Hidayat
19:33 May 31, 2021

Hello! I’ve been a lil busy but overall alright. You?

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Orenda .
19:42 May 31, 2021

I'm goood! I actually got covid but I've no serious symptoms at the moment so it's fine. So, how're you spending your days except those busy ones? And I realise I've never recommended any songs to you, so IF you want, I can make you a playlist or something. <3

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Rayhan Hidayat
21:36 May 31, 2021

Omg, have you been vaccinated?? Dang I hope it’s just regular covid and not serious covid. Get well soon. Oh idk I’m just sorting life out, trying to find work I guess, reading, writing, video games, etc. Oh I wouldn’t mind a punk playlist if you’re into that, but just regular indie rock is cool too 🙂

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Bianka Nova
17:50 May 30, 2021

I'm with Kristin on this one. It totally felt like a novel. Or as if it could easily become one. Great fan of the way you incorporated the back-story bit by bit! Both characters were developed quite well. To me, it was just Takashi who remained a bit two-dimensional. But for a story of this scope, it's a challenge to have everyone so well-rounded. I know I'm usually a fan of happy(er) endings, but for one I actually saw this one going the other way really nicely: Viv prophesying her love to Fae who dies shortly after. Then Viv herself is ...

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Rayhan Hidayat
20:13 May 30, 2021

Oh dang, might have to turn this into something bigger if y'all keep encouraging me like that! I can't deny that I had some more elements to this world that I wanted to explore (a green planet called Viridi, the training procedures in the Spacefarer program, etc.) so who knows, maybe one day ;) Takashi was an afterthought so yeah, that's completely my fault. I did want to give him more dialogue but it just didnt happen. If this was a novel he'd be perfect for a love triangle. Did you say you want a BAD ending?? Who are you and what have yo...

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Bianka Nova
17:09 Jun 01, 2021

Actually, contrary to popular belief, I like unhappy endings and/or seeing a villain win. However, not during a pandemic... we already have enough of those IRL XD Considering I don't have all the free time I wish I did, a chapter at a time might be better. Anytime you like. :)

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Rayhan Hidayat
19:38 Jun 02, 2021

Man, you must've really enjoyed Game of Thrones then. And yeah, that's fair enough, what this world needs is some wholesome, uplifting stuff. I have all my stuff on google docs, is it alright if I ask you for your email so that I can share it with you, and then you can leave comments?

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Bianka Nova
20:20 Jun 02, 2021

Well... not really. I'm one of those who think the general idea they had of the ending wasn't too bad, but it was definitely poorly executed. And, yeah. Google works fine. bianka.villanova@gmail.com is how you find me ;)

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Rayhan Hidayat
22:17 Jun 02, 2021

I thought it was definitely watchable, just a little unsatisfying and formulaic. Breaking Bad, now that’s a show that ended with a bang. Awesome, I believe you can comment now (I’ve never shared my work with anyone before, I’m just preparing myself for the inevitable criticism). And I think you can delete your comment now before anyone uses your email for nefarious purposes.

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