nr2 chp2

                                                                                         CHAPTER 2

Gradually as I gained consciousness, I was ready to find myself tied with a rope or something. Where were we? It was pretty dark but I could feel Marsella and Arya behind me. I gained complete consciousness to find a seatbelt-like thing around me and an oxygen mask hanging above my face. I saw my grandparents on the seat beside ours, they were still unconscious. Oh my ghosh! I spoke in my mind with my eyes wide open, I am in a space shuttle!

I couldn’t see Yen and Abhi anywhere. Where were they? We were screaming and yelling. I saw Tony smirking through his cabin. We couldn’t break into his cabin. We couldn’t do anything but wait. Now I know why we weren’t tied. Tony didn’t need to take the efforts. We were helpless as it is. Damn! After some time, we were all conscious and wore the same unbelievable expression. Ever since I had heard about Prisma I wanted to see what it was like. I thought it was impossible but I still had the urge to visit it once. But not like this. I suddenly realized that mom and dad would be freaking out again. This was the third time I was in trouble. I tried to use my cell phone, knowing it was stupid, but still worth a try, right? Obviously, no network, why did I even try?

Every day a man gave us food tablets which kept us alive. We couldn’t kill him because he was the payload specialist. Without him, everyone in the shuttle would die. Yen and Abhi must be so worried, I thought to myself. The name of Yen bought back his memories. Tony had spoilt my birthday. I was about to read Yen’s love letter when Tony had rudely barged in. Oh yes! Yen’s letter, I had put it in my pocket. I quickly reached my jeans and pulled out the crumpled note. I hoped it to have some romantic and sentimental lines. I started reading it:

Dear angel,I want to ask you something. Please say yes.

Will you come to the town circus with me right now?

               What the hell? This was not a proposal. It wasn’t even a love letter. Was all of this just a joke to Yen? I felt curious and angry at the same time. Good thing he wasn’t here. There were obviously no windows. I wished I could see outside. Our connection didn’t work either because there was no moon. The thought of my human friends was troubling me. I hoped they were safe. The digital clock in the cabin told us that almost five days had passed. We abruptly felt disturbances. The shuttle was sort of trembling. We felt lighter. Each one of us was told to put on the oxygen masks. That’s when Tony peered from his seat and smiled so victoriously as though he’d found tons of gold. “Welcome home night risers…” he said.

One of the men announced, “We have reached Prisma’s aura. We’ll be landing soon.” After some time, Tony slowly removed his mask and his smile faded. So did I. Hm so Prisma had oxygen. “Where are my friends, you dog?” Marsella asked in an earsplitting noise once we could speak with him. This was the first time he had stepped out of his cabin. Tony put his hands on his ears very dramatically and said, “What’s with the shouting dear? Calm down. Your friends are where they should be, in their own house on earth. They won’t speak a word about anything that happened because we have threatened them to kill you. And as far as your parents are concerned, we sent a letter saying that you two are on a surprise field trip along with a few others. We don’t want to take any risks now, do we? And as for you three” he pointed at Arya and my grandparents, “I don’t think that anybody needs to be informed” he added with a smile. Did he expect us to thank him? Well, I was glad at least my parents wouldn’t be too worried.

Tony’s smile grew bigger with the increasing disturbances in the shuttle. Oh bugger! What was happening? And finally with a final thud, it was all still and quiet. The scary silence told me that we’d finally landed. After a few seconds the door slowly opened. I expected Prisma to be like an ancient place. Grandpa had said that there wasn’t any democracy. The kings ruled. And Marsella and I were real royal princesses. But our prince were on another planet altogether. I missed Yen terribly. But Grandpa’s eyes were sparkling and a little smile started playing at the corner of his lips. Perhaps his memories were refreshed. He identified his planet. So did grandma.

Before we could step out, Tony gave us a sharp look and said, “Whatever you do here will be under my supervision. Remember, your friends and dear ones will stay alive only as long as you do as I say.” Moron. Grandpa was the first one to step out. His smile told me how utterly happy he was. As I approached the door, I could feel the wind blowing musically. It was such a beautiful sensation. We landed in a jungle. The trees looked exactly like they were on earth, but shorter. The leaves were bright golden in color instead of green. The black barks gave the golden color an even more exquisite look. Perhaps the chlorophyll was golden on this planet. I couldn’t identify any of the trees. Prisma had its own variety of species. Grandpa had told us that the sun never rose here. The moon showed itself occasionally and the illumination from the planets was the main source of light. It was exactly like he said.

Marsella and Arya had the same exasperated yet astonishing look on their faces like me. The light was not golden like it was on earth. There were several rays of multicolored lights. It reminded me of grandpa’s meteor room. It was so beautiful. We all walked in a group. I was looking out for animal attacks but I couldn’t sense any. Where were all the animals? I wanted to see the species like roras and lamors that grandpa told us about. Tony spoilt the serene beauty of this place by speaking out loud, “We’re about to enter the village. Fiddle, Fiona it’s time to recall Pris.” Pris was Prisma’s language and I’d often heard my grandparents talking in Pris. But with us around, they mostly used English.

Tony had warned us to introduce him as a human friend. We were going to enter a village, so I assumed hay-huts, caves, camp fire, a small river flowing by and a few people dressed in ancient clothes. But every single thought that I had today turned into something totally unforeseen.