Final Sunset

The three suns shone brightly upon the planet Varterra. The planet was lush with rolling Hills. Not once has it rained on this planet but yet it still sustained life. Upon this planet lay three kingdoms - the Chimpmunkan tribe and the Deerman tribe were among these three. They were always at war with each other. The constant fighting became normal for these kingdoms. They would fight just for the fun of it. Of course, no lives were lost during this long war.

One day, the king of the Chipmunkan tribe died of a disease and his son, Carl III, took power. the Deerman queen, Melody, was entranced by the peace and comfort held in his gaze. She loved the way Prince Carl wished for peace. The two of them fell in love instantly. The wedding was majestic yet entertaining. As they ended their vows, fluffy Chimpmunkans and elegant Deermans raised up their voices in shouts of joy and triumph. United at last, they joined their societies to form the Chipmunkeerman tribe. Carl III and the Melody loved each other very much, but they knew their legacy would end without an heir. They birthed 8 beautiful children: Tiffany, Lola, Sophie, Fawn, Mi-Mi, Ray, and Doe. They look exactly like their parents, but for some reason, one of their eight children were different.

She was not completely Deerman or completely Chimpmunkan like her other siblings, but she was half of each. She was tan like her mother, had beautiful, long hair which faded from mahogany brown to deep red, a color identical to her fathers. A fluffy chipmunk tail, like her father, that stretched up to her head. She had stubby antlers, resembling her Mother. All these features combined in the shape of a human. They decided to name her Chestnut because of her love for Chestnuts and her color palette.

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A bright stream of sunlight shone in on the nest where Chestnut and her many sisters slept, she rolled out of the feather lined bedding and trotted over to her mother’s secret berry stash behind a thick bramble She munched on some berries filling her belly. She reached for a blueberry but found that they had all disappeared. Chestnut froze. Mother would be mortified. Chestnut heard hoof steps on the thatch floor and her mother waltzed in cheerfully. “Good morning my lovely gem, what a fine day it is to celebrate.” Chestnut looked up at her mother. Her face was brighter than the sun and perfectly well rounded. Her hair was gold and in a perfect bun. Her crown placed strategically on her head. Queen Melody was so beautiful that it almost seemed that there could be no fault in her. She wore an elegant gown that streamed out beside her ever so gracefully. She took a look at Chestnut and peered past her at her nonexistent stash. She gave a smile of amusement and lifted Chestnut in her arms. “now you haven’t been eating my secret stash, have you. What have I taught you?” Melody asked very clearly and calmly as she nuzzled her nose against Chestnut’s. “A lady and queen to be, mustn’t take what she can spare when the need of her people and family is most important.” Chestnut repeated in the guiltiest, high-pitched voice. Her mother nodded and her eyes shone with pride “magnificent! Well done! Now go and pick some more before your sisters wake up” Chestnut nodded frantically feeling the warmth of her mother’s gaze as she padded outside the house. Feeling immensely guilty for devouring the pile of food, young Chestnut left her village to go pick berries for her mother secret stash. She walked a couple miles until she found a perfect spot filled with delicious, round snuffleberries and starfruit. She leaned forward to snatch the first of many snuffle berries. She did everything in her power not to touch the green food items for she knew how hard it was to get the reek of these berries out of her fur. Although, stinky as they were they were the most delicious thing she had ever tasted in the forest. When Chestnut had picked an adequate amount, she began to bound back to her always bright village cheerfully. She slowed her pace then stopped dead in her tracks. Her ears perked up and she slightly opened her mouth to drink in the scent she thought she smelled. She smelled smoke! Alarmed, Chestnut raced back as fast as she could run. She ran to the village square and glanced around in horror. Everywhere she looked she found it crackling and burning, lightning shooting everywhere. She stifled a scream of absolute terror, desperately searching for some sign of her family, before quickly getting snatched up by her father. The movement of inertia hurling her into his arms. As she looked behind wildly trying to make sense of what was happening, Chestnut saw multiple scaly beasts, with blue lightning symbols over their left eyes, chasing after them, their heads held lower than their powerful intimidating shoulders. They ran in a way unfamiliar to her Terrified, Chestnut pushed her little head deep into her father’s fur. Her father halted abruptly, and she was then thrown inside an escape pod. The door closed and the pod shot up further and further from her home planet. Chestnut desperately watched as her dear father fought valiantly against these unknown attackers. However, her mother and siblings were nowhere to be seen. Chestnut stared in horror as her faintly recognizable father was swarmed in a mass of writing, screeching beasts. Her village, her family, her future life were all being destroyed in front of her eyes. She curled up on the cold floor and tucked her head under her tail. Crying, because she knew she could never return home.

She floated endlessly through space in the small shell. There was little for her to do. The minutes turned to hours, the hours turned to days, the days weeks, and the weeks into months. Thankfully, each escape pod was filled with a 15-year supply of food. Chestnut pondered many things in all the spare time she had and began to realize what it meant to be the heir to her father and mothers’ throne, what it meant to be a leader. Night after night she constantly had nightmares about what she saw in her escape. In each shadow she feared that a scaly monster would lunge out and eat her alive. Such a beast would do that. She tried in many ways to express her sorrow, grief, and fear through poetry, acting, authoring books, reading books, and music. She loved singing songs but none of her familiar village songs related to her and her feelings. Chestnut sang to herself, putting her feelings into vocal notes. She relaxed knowing that someone knew what she was thinking, someone who understood her grief, someone who would always be Available to lament to at any time. She realized that the only person who would never leave her was herself, No matter where she was. The few years that she still floated through space, she sang her cares away still holding on loosely to that grief that kept her anchored to the real world. She feared that without that connection she would fly off into dream world and forget everything sad and worldly.

Chestnut landed on an unknown planet after, the couple of years the traumatization she had experienced almost forgotten. She still cried at night thinking of her dead family and her village laid in ruins. The landing was rough and the pod was ravaged. She figured it would be best if she stayed close to the little sphere of safety. Chestnut did stay close for several years until one day her emergency food supply ran out. She strayed quite far in search of food but was not able to find her way back. She walked for hours trying to pass the time by trying to guess the name of all the unfamiliar scents and animals she came across. She longed for the familiarity of her home planet. The sights the smells, the atmosphere was thinner there and she enjoyed it much better than the humid rainforest air. She came across a large ship shaped like another escape pod that was dark red and blue. It appeared similar to the one she was in but much larger. The door was open. She carefully peered into the egg-shaped container, but it was very hard to see. Everything was black except, for a very dim light shining in the roof. Her eyes however, because she was a third deer, had great night vision. Everywhere she looked there were velociraptor silhouettes and subtle wallpaper making it look like a nursery. She winced in pain as the horrendous memory flooded her. She looked up at the ceiling, amazed at the craftmanship of the hand carved story it told. Although as she kept walking, and tripped on a trap meant for intruders. She clumsily rolled into a trap which closed and left her in darkness. Chestnut was terrified. Images and thoughts flashed through her mind.

"Will I die like this, all alone? Will I ever see Varterra again? When I die will my family recognize me? Will I be killed?"

The stress overwhelmed her and she fainted. Darkness overwhelmed her, but in her mind she could see the cheerful every day bustle of her village and for a moment she wished it were true.