Estelle
A full core day ago, you could've asked me. "Where do you see yourself tomorrow?" Honestly, I would've said anything but tied up waiting for the Norisk ancestors to steal me away.
The familiar sound of grinding fills my ears.
I close my eyes, just waiting for the grinding to end, and for me to die.
I could hear Norisk voices, strangely enough speaking Pangaean. As the broke through the ground with a big machine, that have spikes that seem to rotate in some way.
"Sir, what's that?" A voice asks.
Another voice starts to speak. "It seems to be a girl."
That's all I heard before I fainted out of fear.
***
I can't feel anything. My head was cleared and I was laid on a really comfortable bed.
"Is she awake?" A voice asks.
I force my eyes open, then squeeze them shut immediately after, the light from the glowing slabs on the ceilings burning.
"Yes." A second voice says. "Dim the lights."
A few seconds later, the light I could see through my eyelids dimmed.
"You can open your eyes now."
I do, and look around, all of the items in this room seemed to be made out of a more advanced material, not just stones, and stood in front of me, are a mid-aged man, and a younger man, both wearing lab coats. My brain tells me to get up and go, but it seems I'm secured to the bed.
"What's your name?" The mid-aged man asks.
"Estelle." I whisper, not trusting my voice completely. "Estelle Zaveri."
"Well Estelle, I'm Professor Nigel Hormin. Can you say that?"
"Nigeel Homeen." I whisper, looking up at him.
"Not quite, but you'll get it." He says, running his fingertips up my arm, trying to soothe me.
"I'm Jackson Needly." The second man says.
"Are you Norisks?" I ask weakly.
"What's a Norisk?" Jackson presses.
"Jackson." Nigel says in a warning tone. "We're human, and we're not going to hurt you."
"What are you going to do?" I ask.
Jackson looks pleased with that question. "We were going to cut you open and examine your lungs because anyone else who stayed underground for so long would've died."
My eyes widen in fear.
"But, we've decided we're going to let you go, and you can stay with me, my wife, and my daughter." Nigel coaxes. "We're going to keep you and your secret safe, no one will ever find out about the girl underground if I have a say in it."
"What happens if they do find out?" I ask.
"They'll hunt you down, and kill anyone in their way to do so, you, Estelle, are a fossil, artifact, and miracle all rolled into one." Jackson says in a low voice.
"Do you know how to walk?" Nigel says, unbuckling the weird straps around my biceps.
I nod, pushing myself up from the bed, taking a few lopsided steps.
"She can't walk, Nigel, help her." Jackson says.
"I'm fine." I snap, grabbing hold of the wall.
Nigel, unaffected by my snap, rushes over and grabs my arm, helping me to the door.
"Take her to your car and get her home, introduce her to Logan and Jane, get her a change of clothes and a shower, then maybe let her sleep, if she's tired." Jackson orders.
I look down at my ratty clothes. My shirt stained from falling on the stone ground of Pangaea, my pants ripped beyond belief.
"Will do." Nigel says, guiding me out the door and down a long narrow hallway. "You'll love Logan, she's a freshman in college studying geography, she'll love to talk to you."
I just nod.
He takes us into a metal box with glowing buttons on the wall. He presses the 'L' button and the box starts moving.
I gasp, tearing myself away from Nigel and huddling against the wall.
"Hey! Relax, it's just an elevator, it's not gonna hurt you!" Nigel yells.
I look around.
The box seemed safe enough, no openings for anyone to get in and harm us.
I nod, pushing myself up off the ground.
"Now, we'll walk to my car and go home, okay?" Nigel asks.
And even though I don't know what a car is, I nod.

So after about an hour of talking to Logan and Jane, they decided I looked a year older than Logan and was in their opinion, twenty years old. So that's cool.
Logan, who was nineteen was about my size, so she gave me some clothes. Most of the clothes she gave me were casual, but she gave me 2 dresses.
Jane, Nigel's wife, sent me to the shower. Which is a contraption, made by these humans, that can conjure what they call water and sprinkle it down on you. It's very intricate.
Jane locked the door so I have no way to get out, so, fearfully, I peel off my grimy clothes, and turn on the water, I put my hand out and feel it.
It was freezing, like capstcha. I climb it, standing there with my hand pressed to the wall for balance.
There were shelves on the wall, and on these shelves were bottles and rocks. I reach up and grab a bottle. On the front of the bottle, there was a picture of a pinkish circle. The bottle read: Peach Shampoo.
I open the top and squirt some of the stuff inside onto my palm.
Jane told me shampoo is for the hair, so I lather it in my hair, then wash it out with the water.
Jane had also said something about soap, and what it is. She described it as a bar, so I reach up and grab one of the smooth rocks, and lather it onto my body, then wash it off with the water.
Then I turn the water off and step out of the shower. Grabbing what Logan calls a towel and drying myself with it. I then pull on the pajamas that Logan had supplied me with.
I move to the door and twist the handle, the door clicking, then opening.
The lights of the upstairs-hallway flow into the bathroom.
I reach over and flick the bathroom light off, before stepping onto the carpet, the soft sensation making my freshly-cleaned toes wiggle.
I walk over to the stairs and descend them, making sure to hold onto the side railing as I do so.
At the bottom of the stairs Jane and Nigel sit at the table, quietly chatting, Nigel was gesticulating slightly, while Jane nodded. They looked so lost in each other to see me.
"Don't mind them." Logan says from behind me.
I turn around and face her.
She was at the top of the stairs. "They do this every night, like literally. They're so in love I wanna vomit."
"Love?" I ask like a disorientated, sad child.
"Hard to explain it, you have to feel it to understand." Logan says, motioning for me to follow her.
So, I ascend the stairs, and follow her into her room.
Her room is bright blue and filled with posters and such, like your average teenager's room.
Logan grabs a blanket from the corner and lays it out over the floor, she grabs a pillow from her bed and throws it on the top. "Lay down."
I do so, awkwardly positioning myself so I mirrored a board.
She covers me with another blanket and switches off the light. "Goodnight Esty."
I hum a farewell and close my eyes, drifting off eventually.