𝕭𝖗𝖎𝖌𝖍𝖙

The drive was tediously long.

Not that the girl was complaining, mind you. She was considered a lucky one. Being cramped in a tiny graphite-grey seat within a fairly old automobile wasn't something most desired. It was too uncomfortable for most and especially for the girl who was in the top fifth percentile for height in adolescent females. Despite barely double-digits in age, she outgrew most children years ahead of her. But such is life, no?

She had been taught from a young age not to complain. Not to complain about her house, her clothes, her toys. Her parents always told her that she was lucky. While she was smart enough to ask questions or voice her opinion, she never did. The young girl never asked why her skin was dappled like a spotted leaf or why her parent's eyes were both a deep bronze while hers was sparkling emerald with the slightest golden flecks.

The remaining quarter of the hour left in the drive was spent navigating countless rows of cars painted in greys, blacks and whites. There seemed to be a vacancy of positions to rest the car in the lot yet the girl's mother managed to find one tucked away in the far corner. The older woman effortlessly parked her car almost dead straight, then left her seat with equal grace. Following her, the girl unlocked the door and exited.

To outsiders and foreigners, the pair seemed almost identical. Ignoring the age, both had a lanky and elegant physique with a regal walk, the same ashen blonde hair and similar facial structures with an incredibly defined jawline.

"Asha," the mother called, her feminine voice faltering slightly in the soft zephyr, "stay close to me." The young girl didn't require an explanation to her mother's request. She knew the potential risks of this area. The two linked arms and began to walk towards a cliff dotted with railing.

Below where the walked lay a beach in pristine conditions. A mute, yellow sand lay in front of a crystal clear ocean. Situated on the warm sand were dozens of white-clad villas. There seemed to be extraordinarily attractive men and women, each with tanned skin and shining eyes on the beach. The girl had the sudden desire to down there. Her mother, however, instantly read her body language and grabbed her daughter's hand more forcefully than usual.

"You should know better, darling. We cannot go there."

She opened her mouth to protest her mother's words but then promptly closed it. Why bother arguing with an irreversible statement?

The pair continued to walk for what the young girl perceived to be hours. They continued to saunter only an arm-length from the cliffside, heading north along a dusty, gravel road winding in and out of a rapidly receding treeline. Asha, as observant as she was, noticed a slight depression in the cliff as the two strolled further and further from the ageing pewter-coloured car.

After a long enough walk that the child's stippled legs shook in exhaustion, they reached the point where the cliff fused to the ground and the sand slowly swallowed the railing. Here, the beach took up a coarser, more granulated fusion of silicon and oxygen with a more greyscale tint painted on it. Masses swarmed the beach with the widest array of men and woman sharing little in common with their height, age, hair colour and a number of limbs they had. Even the ocean looked divergent from the other side of the cove. The waves that lapped at the shore were not shining and translucent but rather teal. There was a clear distinction between the two sides of the beach.

"This place bombs! Why can't we go somewhere else?" Asha turned around to see a slightly older boy with messily cropped hair complain to a figure who she presumed was his father. As the girl and her mother passed the two males, she could hear his father explain the system of how humans are sorted. On how at the age of five, everyone is ranked based on their intellect, physical and mental health among other things. While it was never officially stated, skin colour was also a small contributor. Out of the hundred that everyone was scored at, Asha would have easily achieved a top three percentile yet her skin was marred by two ethnic groups – one powerful and one weak. Despite this, she managed to score over an eighty, making her employable by the top five percent and giving her opportunities most would only dream of.

Again, the pair trekked in the sand, dodging sun-bakers and sandcastle designers. The young girl had never been so close to water and zest bounced at her every step. Her mother was smart as she swerved her child in and out of the crowd to a less dense area. They came to a point segregated from the main commotion and lay down in the pleasantly thermal sand.

Time passed as the two swam together and generally fumbled around in the dunes. The scorching sun had reached its peak and her mother lay on the sand in the shade of a tree. Without the gift of youth, the mother lacked any more energy until she woke from her nap. Before falling into a shallow slumber, the mother directed her daughter to stay clear of a fence around two kilometres up the beach.

Asha, being the curious child she was, slowly walked away from her mother towards the hilly sand dunes. She made sure to leave her bracelet next to her mother's sleeping form, a secret signal between the two that she was out walking.

It was too easy to lose track of time.

The young girl played within her mind amongst the shrubbery and sand; she had created a fantasy world in her vivid daydreams. Thoughts of her mother and the fence were swept out of her mind, similar to the tide of the ocean. Asha found a suitable place wedged between two large dunes to build a small castle. She was too lost in her mind to take notice of her location.

"What are you doing here?"

A sharp, dispassionate voice jolted Asha out of her haze. Standing behind her was a fair-skinned female with strawberry blonde hair and an unknown expression on her face. Her shadow was cast onto the girl's competitively small figure. The woman's body was not dissimilar to an hourglass and in her hand was a large glass of canary-yellow liquid with cuts of various citrines.

"What's your name?"

The woman asked in a similar tone. Asha's body was frozen, her limbs unable to respond to her mind's fight or flight. Opening her mouth, the young girl's words were caught on her tongue. In her peripheral vision, she spotted the fence her mother told her nor to pass and the white villas behind the woman.

"Asha." She responded slowly, glancing warily at the woman. What was going to happen to her? She had broken a strict rule. She was on a beach for above ninety-fives. A sound of rushing blood roared in her ears.

"Well, Asha, are you lost?" The question surprised Asha. The figure's tone moulded into one almost maternal. The woman has slightly sagging breasts and almost invisible marks on her stomach. Perhaps she was a mother? The young girl nodded carefully, her emerald eyes shining like a deer in headlights. "I didn't notice the fence. I'm sorry." She apologized. Asha noticed the woman inspecting her, most possibly determining whether she was harmless. "Here," the young girl felt surprised as the glass of liquid was offered to her "drink up. You look parched and I would rather someone as pretty as you do not fall ill. Most children aren't fortunate enough to have a drink such as this."

Asha looked hesitantly at the woman. As an encouragement, the adult smiled softly. How unusual. Nothing seemed off at the offer which was even more curious as for the over ninety-fives tented to look down at the people below them. Was it because of her skin? She was about to rise and take the drink but she saw her mother sprint frantically towards her.

"Asha!"

Her mother shouted but quickly stopped as she spotted the woman. "Come here." An urgent hiss escaped from her mother's thin lips. Her face was contorted in worry. "Go, sweetie, your mother must have missed you." The blonde said before turning towards the other adult "Your daughter is a very beautiful individual. I'd love to see her again soon." Her voice turned almost saccharine. Asha could see her mother's bronze eyes visibly narrow. "Let's go. Now." She called through clenched teeth to her daughter. The young girl scurried around the fence and to her mother's side. "Goodbye!" She smiled politely and waved to the woman who mirrored the girl's actions.

When the pair were out of earshot, her mother looked down sternly at her daughter. "Never run off again. You hear me?"

Asha nodded mutely, and the two walked back to their part of the beach in heavy silence. The lack of noise was more than enough indication of her mother's anger and perhaps fear. But Asha was more than a bit intrigued by the woman's interest in her. Was it because she was half dark-skinned, or half light?

Word count: 1569 words / Intended length: 600-800 words

Mark achieved: A+