Same Planet but Different Worlds

Chapter 2 Beginning Until Now

Kaya's POV

Over the many years of slowly getting away from the men's compound and finding a safe place of our own beneath the surface, we have almost forgotten about them altogether, if it wasn't for the many years of elders always warning us of what they could do to us if given the chance, especially when being a woman. They talked about us as if we are a rarity to the world above, when we have more women in our colony than men, so it is strange to think.

They have even managed to keep a continued eye on the men's compound, just in case they move again or stretch out further.. or if they even do anything that we should be alarmed with, like when they have created new weapons to use. During this incessant watching, it has been noticed that the men's compound does have some of the same resources as we do. Meaning that they could have the same success in life like we do now, but they just don't want to do it, or they don't know how.. Which is sad since they have all the tools needed for them to grow and be happy.

Come to find out over the years, the men have spent their time on things we never really thought much about, always anticipating an enemy. It wasn't an essential for us like it was for the men. But the elders even admitted that when watching the men from afar, it is how they learned how to do certain things that they were admittedly not very good at, like making the weapons and structures.

As they watched them work from afar, they also realized that they used their diabolical weapons to destroy most things that were around them, including themselves. But in doing so they were making their survival much harder than it needed to be even though they probably thought they were making it easier, since they are destroying any threats around when in all actuality they were destroying everything around, good and bad.

It's sad to think that how they live, is what we end up using as an example of what not to do if you want to survive in this harsh world. Especially since surprisingly enough, it has been observed that some of the plants somehow keep coming back for them, but they only use and abuse anything they have at their disposal, using it up then throwing it away, not taking advantage of how that one plant could make many more.

They could be doing so much more for all of their people, and yet they just continue to use and abuse it as if that is a fruitful way of life.. but maybe it looks like that from their point of view, since they get an abundance of food on a regular basis by killing off what they have available to them. But eventually they are going to run out of things to take, until they end up killing each other off as they starve to death.. I'm honestly surprised they are not to that point yet. I do not want them to get to that point, but when you hear of all the destruction caused to them and the surrounding surface, it is surprising that they haven't come to their demise yet.

After hearing most of the things discovered on the surface, the good and the bad, I do think that I understand why the first elders wished to help them, just so they wouldn't get to that point of self-destruction. I figured that they wanted them to be able to succeed in taking care of themselves, so they would have no need to come after us or take anything we have, but since they only push back and take what they please, it doesn't look like that would be the case. But if there was a man out there who would take the time to listen to us and reason with what we have for ideas, I'm sure there could be peace and help between us. But for now, that seems completely impossible.

As I walk through our colony, I hear the same story I was told many years ago by my teacher who was caught by the men in one of their traps, and beaten to a pulp because she spoke. They beat her until she was lifeless on the ground, which is where she learned to play dead.. She found out that day that they don't care if you're dead or alive because they will leave you there to die anyway. But she played dead and was able to get away and be saved by our people, so she tells this story over and over, teaching the most important lesson she learned in that moment, to play dead.

It seems so simple and juvenile now that I think about it, but it wasn't something we practiced at that point, but it was something that saved her life and could possibly save many more. I watch as the children's heads nod at her explaining how to do this as she intently describes what to do to look like you may be dead. Their eyes are glued to her, which is good. She slightly surgarcoats the explanation and story given, but for the most part they tell the truth because that is the real world out there, and it could just as easily happen to them if they are not prepared.

I let out a deep breath thinking about the details given of that horrid story as I shake my head. It's a scary and sad one, I remember when I first heard that story, I had nightmares about it for many nights.. They passed in many numbers, but the nightmares didn't leave me alone until at least 28 moons later.. It was rough.. But I have slowly gotten over it as I got older, but every now and then I do dream about it. Thinking of those horrible dreams sends a shiver through me that is not a good feeling. I have heard that these men have turned ravenous as the years go on. So it has been a part of the world we have avoided at all costs.

We will keep that hypothetical wall between our worlds for many years to come and just hope that we don't continue to come in contact. Our worlds are way too different to combine at this point, so for everyone's safety, we will stick to our own area. Besides, we are very content with our ways of life, seeing the peacefulness of living with the animals and plants, treating all of them as equals, so we can all survive as one for a long time to come.

We would make sure to never come to the surface if we didn't have to, but of course there is always something we need every now and then. So we have learned to train parties to go out with one another and get back with the help of the same group. We gain experience and get whatever we may need, which is a fruitful endeavor and very exciting if I do say so myself. I have been chosen to be in the party for a couple of years now and have learned so much that I wish we needed something all the time, because the world above is so different in what you can see and hear.. it is something astonishing to experience.

I was chosen for this group because I have been training in the ways of botany and survival skills as many of our kind have. But I have been at the top of my classes for a while now, making me a guaranteed pick. There were many others that were doing very well in these classes and some were picked and some weren't. Some were picked for other things that they seems to be better at and would be way more useful. Some people might like hunting and exploring but they would be way better at teaching or growing.. or even building. There are many jobs that need to be worked, and some are better in certain areas than others.

Some did well in all areas but never wanted to put that knowledge into play in real life, which I never understood. Why put so much talent to waste? This only happened when it came to some talented women who only wanted to find a partner and just be the perfect at home partner. I understand the want for a partner but to never leave to see the surface, even just once, never made any sense to me. But everyone has their own ideas of what the perfect life is and that is ok.

So I took every possible chance to learn everything I could. We have slowly been building our civilization by training one person at a time. Women outnumber men 20 to 1.. but we have made sure that everyone has a good life.. they get to choose where they want to work for the most part, and they definitely get to choose whom they want to grow their life with, which ends up creating more people to enrich our lives with. It is a peaceful life that I wouldn't give up.

But the peacefulness won't take away the curiosity to know everything from above. So I quickly became apart of the hunting team that only goes to the surface to get the items we need, no matter what they are.. Many moons ago I retrieved some plants that they needed more seeds from and even found a new plant I had never seen before that was almost as tall as me, bright yellow and had seeds that grew on it's face and tasted like a snack. That discovery was almost as good as the berry bushes I found. We discovered they were not poisonous and they are amazingly sweet.. anything to help out the people.

We heard that today we need a little bit more meat. We have been running low on the abundance of the big game, and that will provide for our colony for a while to come, since we mostly eat plants, but we do know that we need that protein for our bodies to get big and strong. Sadly, we don't have much for weapons, but we were taught how to make traps and bows with arrows and even knives or spears just to get big prey.. Everything else in our lives we don't really need weapons for, so they became almost insignificant for our reality.

We only use weapons when we have to, and it's still hard at least for me, when I know that I have to use them. I hate hurting anything, but I know it's what we need, so I do it anyway. Besides, I like the look of the world above.. It is a completely different appearance then anything I see under the surface, so I have to admit that curiosity gets the best of me. So, with every task I am asked to go partake in above the surface, I always accept.. at least for now.

I exit my hut adjusting the strap of the cloth over the entryway. My items I will be taking with me this time around are already placed outside of my hut and on top of the big boulder. "You're going again?" I hear from beside me as I glance to the side. I know that shrill know-it-all voice from anywhere. "Yes Skye.. Will you join us this time?" I ask her trying to stay polite since her mother is now one of the elders in our community. "I know my help would be useful to all of you.. but I have no need to go up there, when my purpose is down here." She spats at me as if she is disgusted by the decisions I have made to be apart of the exploration party.

But that doesn't surprise me since she is one of the women just hoping for a partner to do everything for her so she won't have to do much at all. Such a waste of talent, especially since she was one of the people better than me at anything and always made sure I knew it, just to throw it away the first chance she got. I cleared my throat before responding. "I'm sure we would find good use for you on the surface, but the complaining we would have no room for, so no point in coming because we know that won't be ending any time soon."

Her heated glares bore into the side of my head as she huffs out and storms away. I don't know why she always feels the need to say something to me, but she does. There are some people like her who have no reason to refuse doing work and then there are those who refuse to go out because of something bad that has happened with them on the surface, which is normally how spaces would open in our exploring party over the years, which is understandable. But nothing bad has happened with me yet. Only some amazing experiences, intertwined with great weather and fun friends, so I can't complain at all.