Dawn Read Free

it was off world. A whole lot. Dawn permitted herself a small amount of comfort about returning to the home world. No longer would her family be the outlier, the ones that confused everyone. It wasn’t their fur coats and tails, heavens no! They had actually spent most of their time around fellow Taiks at the various planets and colonies. It was their family that had always confused people. Having four mothers seemed to cause no end of confusion and curiosity. That and the fact that it was her First Mother rather than her father who was ambassador. Of course it was her First Mother! First Mothers were the heads of the family; why in the world would someone expect her father to be the ambassador? Males didn’t get involved in politics and things like that; that didn’t even make sense. She let out a simple sigh; that level of confusion was one aspect of her former life she wasn’t going to miss.
    Old life… New life… Beside her sat her uncle. As he was her most immediate family now, it had been decided that she would go to live with him. She had last met him five years ago at his marriage, so any children at the house would be far younger than she was. She only hoped there would be others her age somewhere near by… or maybe not. She sat back in her chair and looked down at her fur. Black and plain, plain and black. No hint of stripes or spots, much less beautiful rosettes like her uncle, she was just a plain, plain solid black. All the others at least had belly fur in a contrasting color… well, that wasn’t true. There were the Aurorans and their beautiful solid white coats. They took their name from the first young girl with a solid white coat named ‘Aurora’ some five hundred years ago. Their coats were bright, like fresh snow from tip to tail, but even they had pink noses. Dawn, well, even her nose and the pads on her paws were black. Looking down at her hands and fur she could almost hear her older sisters teasing her. Would the new kids tease her like her sisters did? And then there was that other issue…
    “ Touchdown in 3… 2… 1… Contact! Landing gear stabilized. 1320 meters above mean sea level. Showing 925 millibars and 1.05 of standard gravity,” the loudspeaker barked sending Dawn back to the present.
    Her uncle yawned himself awake and stretched before shouldering the bag that held Dawn’s meager belongings. A few plain dresses, some books her father gave her for her last birthday, and a few childhood mementos―all of her previous life wrapped up in a canvas sack. He smiled to Dawn and beckoned toward the door. “Let’s go meet your new family.”
    Dawn tried to smile and take the offer graciously, for she knew he meant well, but she knew it wasn’t her home. Time would heal wounds they say, but that doesn’t mean they don’t hurt in the meantime.
    She joined him at the door and watched as the lower ramp opened. Suddenly a blast of fresh cool air washed over her with sweet smells of spring. Seconds later, fresh sunlight bathed over the pair all but washing the mild chill out of the air. Dawn had forgotten how good fresh air could truly be!
    The pair stepped clear of lower ramp and moved a few hundred feet away. They waved as the ship lifted back into the air. The human copilot waved cheerfully back. With the blast from the exhaust quickly fading, Dawn found herself standing in an immense alpine meadow abounding with wildflowers. A purple butterfly teased her nose as she sniffed a flower, the antics of the little insect sparked a small fit of laughter.
    Her uncle smiled softly, happy to see her laugh for a change. There was no denying his own sadness at the passing of his sister and her family, but his current priority was to do the best he could for his niece. “The path leads to a bridge at the edge of the meadow. We’d best be on our way.”
    Dawn squinted and looked across the field. She was unable to discern any path at all! Dutifully she followed her uncle across the gently