The gold flecks in Kyah’s eyes catch the mid morning light filtering through the south facing windows of her room. Batting away the mornings rest, Kyah lays on her bed, the soft satin sheet rising and falling with the intentional breaths. Slow, exaggerated inhales are met with brief pauses, and followed by course exhales that crescendo in a note reminiscent of birds far to the north.

After exactly 8 such breathes, Kyah sits herself up and swings to the edge of the bed. Her legs poke out from her night shirt, which is really just a shirt stolen from Dalomhar, her best friend. Taking the one foot drop from her seat on the bed edge to the stone floor, she bounces on her toes toward a dresser, letting her petite feet adjust to the cold beneath them.

Standing at the dessert table, Kyah strips away the shirt and looks sideline in the mirror to her left. Her face coils at the nose, pulling her full lips up and adding to her perky cheekbones. She paws at herself displeased with the softness of her form, despite her having a stack of names begging for attention.

Refocusing from the mirror, she dawns some light cloths. Loosing an airy, and promptly goes out a small door on the southern wall between her windows. Stepping out, her feet find landing of no more than a few feet in width, but it is more than enough for her. Smiling gently as the wind rises up the wall, tossing her slept in curls about her should, Kyah moves deliberately in the forms of strength learn from the monks in town. For weeks she watched them and learned each pose. Weeks more and she learned why each pose was done and its benefit. A few weeks longer and she mastered them all in a sublime dance to catch the wind. Casual holds of her thick limbs and powerful muscles accentuate the suppleness of her form and the strength within her. Prolonged balanced leaning precariously over the edge of the balcony to the floor of the valley below hone her agility and stability. Careful control of her breathe focuses her will and control of herself.

After half an hour the sweat begins to bead on her skin, and her smile has grown wider. Thr morning thoughts are gone, and she strides with poise and purpose back into the room.

The door opposite her balcony swings open, and the portly Grimmock squeezes in with an all too familiar leering eye. “Knock knock child. I have work for you.”

Sitting on a stool behind the kitchen bar, Justin stared at the door, waiting and hoping for his father to return. He knew he wouldn't, but he always waited anyway. After a few minutes, Justin got off the stool and headed upstairs to get dressed.

"Waiting waiting waiting." Justin sighed to himself as he pulled his shirt over his head.

Once he was finished, he headed back downstairs and sat on the couch. He took the remote from the table and clicked the TV on. After a minute of scrolling through channels, he finally found TMNT, the show he always watched with his dad when he came home. It looked much more different then when he first watched it, but it still brought back the same memories.

Justin glanced back at the front door then turned back to the TV.

Just then, a knocking came from the door.

And this is where Justin's story begins...

Shaving Saving Awaiting Wondering

Smiling Filing Styling Trying

Posing Composing Dozing Ignoring Tessa🦋

As I dive into writing the scene that precedes the opening scene of "The Mirror Maiden," I am transported to the realm of imagination, where the boundaries between reality and fiction blur.

For me, the beginning of Aurora's story was not where the book begins, but somewhere entirely different, a moment of great significance that set the stage for the extraordinary events that would follow. It was a moment of transformation, one that changed the course of Aurora's life forever.

In this moment, Aurora was standing at the edge of a yawning chasm, one that seemed to stretch on endlessly into the abyss below. The ground beneath her feet was unstable, the rocks and stones shifting uneasily as if they were alive.

Suddenly, Aurora felt a gust of wind that threatened to push her over the edge. She clung to a nearby rock on for dear life as buffeted her. At that moment, Aurora realized that she was not alone. She sensed a presence behind her, a feeling of warmth and safety that she could not quite explain.

Slowly turned around to face the source of the feeling, and found herself face with a mysterious The figure was cloaked in shadows Aurora aura of power that emanated from him. would appear and disappear throughout her journey, providing cryptic hints and advice along the way.

Crow regarded Aurora with piercing eyes, and she could feel his gaze penetrating deep within her soul. He seemed to be searching for something, probing her for answers to questions that she did not yet comprehend.

As Aurora stared back at Crow, she knew that she was embarking on a journey that would change her life forever. She had no idea of the perils and challenges that lay ahead, but she knew that she would not face them alone. With Crow by her side, she had the power to conquer any obstacle and achieve greatness.

And so it was that Aurora took her first steps on her incredible journey, emboldened by the knowledge that she was not alone. Crow and the many other characters she would encounter along the way supported her, challenged her, and ultimately helped her to become the Mirror Maiden, a force for good in a world of darkness and deception. The scene that preceded the opening of the book was filled with magic, mystery, and promise, a moment that would resonate throughout the pages of the novel that would follow.

Elodie sat away typing at her computer, scratching notes about what ideas come to her as her writing flows. She yawns loudly shaking her head to wake herself back up. She must stay awake and finish this chapter, she’s so close to being half way through her planned length of the novel. The characters come to life in her mind, their interactions flowing seamlessly out of her hands. Her eyes blink close for a short second as sleep tries to overtake her. She forces her eyes open again as she finishes typing up the chapter. Closing her eyes for a moment Elodie’s head begins to lean forward as sleep tries to overcome her. Now that she has finished the chapter her eyes stay closed as sleep overcomes her.

“You okay, son?” The policeman driving looked at him in the mirror, and he saw the policewoman in the passenger seat turn to look at him. They didn’t smile. There was nothing here to smile about.

Brady clutched the small bag he held on his lap and nodded. He didn’t know what to say. What could he say? These two people had roused him at the motel and Mrs. Hawkins, kind Mrs. Hawkins was crying and it had been so….so awkward. He wanted to cry, but he didn’t know how. He was only twelve, and he had just been told his parents were dead, and he should feel something, shouldn’t he? He wanted to feel something, but there was just nothing there.

The lady policeman was still looking at him. “Brady, we’re going to take you someplace where you can stay for a while until we sort this out. I know this must be really hard for you, but right now we just need to get you to a safe place.”

“Mrs. Hawkins said I could stay with her.”

The two police looked at each other then the lady said, “That wouldn’t be appropriate, Brady. We have to find out who to contact about your parents’ accident and see if we can find a family member to take you to.”

“I don’t think I have any family. They never said anything about any family, except that their parents had died a while back and that’s it.”

“They never talked about sisters or brothers? Aunts? Uncles?”

“They didn’t talk to me much about none of that.” Brady turned and stared out the window, watching the sun begin to come up. He was thinking back, trying to remember, but his parents never much talked to him at all, and certainly not about any family. He knew, because when he asked one time, his mom had just told him they were all dead and gone and good riddance; except for once time. “ My dad said one time that his Aunt Mattie was still alive. I think he said it was his mom’s sister or something.”

“Did he ever say where she lived?” The lady had her notebook and little pencil out.

“Somewhere like in Kentucky? I remember dad said it had a “more” in its name.”

She jotted something down. “That’s good, Brady. It’s a start. If you think of anything else, even something that seems dumb or not important, let me know, okay?”

Brady just nodded and looked out the window again. He was thinking back to the discussion about Aunt Mattie.

“Ma’am?” The lady turned around again. “My dad said she had a little bitty house, said it had been in his family for a long time. Maybe that will help?”

She smiled at him. “Good job. We’ll drop you at Social Services and I’ll start researching what you said.”

It was several weeks later, and Brady was again in the back seat of a car being driven by a person he barely knew. Miss Johnson was his social worker, and he had only seen her a couple of times, but here he was being driven to a place he’d never been to meet someone he had never met because this Aunt Mattie lady was now his guardian and he would live with her. His mind was all over the place, but he appeared calm to the woman driving.

“You okay back there, Brady?”

Her question took Brady back to the night the police had come to tell him about the accident that had killed his mom and dad; different car, different driver, another adult he didn’t know but who was now in charge of his life and who was driving him somewhere to meet yet another adult he’d never met who would continue to have charge of his life.

“I’m fine,” Brady said. But was he really? He had no idea.

Fresh as a newly washed linen sheet, Saturn’s moon displayed its white unsullied surface to her. Enceladus, Myrtle was entranced. Her heart beat faster and she turned to her son Django to see his reaction. The nine year old was asleep. In his relaxed features you could see the baby in his face. Myrtle was tempted to brush the hair from his forehead but stopped herself. She returned to the shuttle’s window. They were both exhausted from their move from Mars, the goodbyes and the boxes, and the week-long hyper light speed cruise to the shuttle. Barely a civil word had passed between mother and son in weeks.
The glow of the ice skin of Saturn’s second moon greeted her. Myrtle had researched Enceladus before she even interviewed for the position of Chief of Security on Alpha Colony. She knew it was named for a Greek mythological giant but it was rather small. And she didn’t stop researching once she was offered the position. Coming from a family of academics, researching was mother’s milk. She knew there were only two colonies on this moon, Lightbearer Mine and Alpha. The mining colony ships ores off world and collected ice for Alpha’s water supply. Alpha was mainly farming and residential and it was growing. Fast. The mines had been mostly Androids with handfuls of humans. Since the Android Uprising of NewEarth, more people, Androids and humans, were streaming towards Enceladus.
Myrtle TwoAxes was a detective not military or corporate or public relations. Reviewing the police reports on the moon’s Androids and humans tension or the rise of organized crime at the ports, Myrtle knew there was more to the story of crime on Enceladus. Exactly why did the founding government of Enceladus think it needed a cop instead of a politician?
The shuttle traversed the moon’s frozen crystal ring. For a moment Myrtle was adrift in an ocean of crystals. Deep within Myrtle was drawn to explore. She and the boys needed get away from the memories on Mars but she felt as if she needed to be here. Her dad used to call it wanderlust. The colonies’ iridescent domes glimmered on the curve of the moon. Django turned in his sleep and burrowed into her side. She wrapped an arm around him. His sleepy eyes opened wide. 
“It’s kinda beautiful, isn’t it Ma,” Django said.
Absentmindedly Myrtle raked her fingers through his wavy hair. “Yes it is.”