Looking upwards towards the darkness, the moon goddess smiles down on me and fills me with hope once more. She seems to be the only one looking after me these days, but I don't think I am for this world much longer. A girl of my age should be looking to the future, following dreams and wishes, but no, not me. For the Valitsmallh ceremony is incoming, and then four people of this planet cease to exist. No one knows where they go or what happens to them. All everyone knows is that once that temple door is closed, you will see them no more. I halt my daydream and carry on meandering through the darkened passages of the town. I've seemed to only know this town to be of perpetual darkness. The elders of the town say it is a curse set upon the planet by our Goddess because of our ruler's wickedness. They say they damned her to immortality, but everyone knows that abnormal talents are just a fable.

To be honest, the only things that people were certain about is that someone, the "prophesied", would reverse the curse of darkness and return us to light. But that tale has faded into myth and no one believes it anymore. I continue onwards towards my house that is set upon the borders of a great forest. My father says to never go near it, but something always calls me towards it, like a conscience or a whisper in my ear. He says beyond the forest are the "Savages", brutal warriors that tested chemicals on themselves to try and rebel against the Queen. They were exiled and it is said that if one catches you it will tear you limb from limb with their bare hands and will have no mercy on anyone. I open my front door and I see my brother, Ilik, reading on the table. He sees me and closes his book abruptly. "Hello", I say quietly.

"What's wrong with you?" he asks jokingly. "Savage got your tongue".

"Don't even joke about that", I scorn. "Where's Dad?"

"Out the back", he answers and continues his book. I open our only window, its panes discoloured and cracked in some places, and the moonlight beams onto our greying flooring. Slowly, I wander outside and see my Dad, bruised and covered in mud, digging in the back. He smiles at me, but I will never hear his thoughts through his mouth as he is damned. Damned to never say a word of affection to his children. And all by the hand of our "ruler". The only way to describe this personification of pure evil, this servant of all things malevolent, is that she is a shepherd in a field with her sheep. Sheep that she believes can be tested on, killed and tortured without reason and they won't fight back. But one day I will see blood dripping from the pitchfork in her chest. She believes us weak, defenseless, and in some ways we are, but we have faith in what we have been told by our ancestors and that is something that she will never understand. Something that she will never realise, until the personification of judgement rains down on her and the blood of redemption runs down her ivory face. I live to see that day.

Tiredly, I pick up a dusty shovel and begin to dig beside my father. The umber ground starts to crumble away and I aggressively throw it behind me. A tree branch, long and moulded in some places hits me in the face and I push it away, ignoring its tiny green buds scattered along its surface that it took so long to create. I swiftly climb out of the huge hole and I leave my father to it. I do so long to hear his voice again. It used to comfort me in the darkest hours and make me smile again in the saddest moments. A tear would run down my face and it would be like melted dark chocolate, reassuring, but gruff and deep. And the words he said would be so affectionate and caring, like they had been preplanned, and on the day that was all taken away, I was absolutely heartbroken because I knew that I would never be truly reassured again.

Without saying a word, I turn away from Ilik and walk up the stairs. The carpet is falling off in places and there is dust settled on the oak banisters. I stomp upstairs and when I get upstairs I turn left into my bedroom. The walls have been half-painted red and the floors are made from wooden panels from an old fence. My bed is a mattress on the floor and beside it is a single candle for light. And I am thankful for all this, in a place of midnight, usually a single candlelight is all you need. Before I go to bed I say the prayer of our ancestors and I look to our Deity and wish for a better life. A life away from here, a life where I have to keep both eyes open because one day I might be dragged inside a temple for sacrifice. Well, tomorrow Lluna, Goddess almighty will speak my destiny through Zena Zla, our tyrannical ruler. The Valitsmallh ceremony is tomorrow and, if Lluna does not shine down on me, I will cease to exist.