Total pages in book: 99
Estimated words: 94091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94091 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Now that they were here on the Dark Side of the Monstrum Ship, Lucy had to admit it was gorgeous. She loved the way this side of the ship looked less like a spaceship and more like a jungle complete with enormous trees, vines and broad-leafed ferns—there was even a river running through the center of it! Iyanna had explained that the river ran through the entire ship, though it was “underground” so to speak, on the Light Side of the Monstrum Ship.
“This is so beautiful,” Lucy said, looking around the vast dark jungle filled with glowing blooms. “How in the world did the Monstrum build all this?”
“Oh, the Monstrum Mother Ship is a living organism,” Iyanna explained seriously. “It’s not like the other Kindred Mother Ship—the one that orbits the Moon. That one was built, but this ship wasn’t manufactured so much as grown. The Monstrum consider it—her—to be their mother in a way, and they take excellent care of her. Oh be careful! Don’t slip!”
She reached out to steady Lucy, who had been leaning out a little too far to look at some rock formations on the banks of the dark, swiftly rushing river.
“Oops!” Lucy laughed as she grabbed her friend’s hand to steady herself. “Clumsy me! You know how I am.”
“Oh, I know,” Iyanna grinned at her. “Remember that time we did the ‘Yoga with Goats’ class?”
“Don’t remind me!” Lucy groaned, but she couldn’t help grinning along with her friend. She had never been the most graceful creature—she got preoccupied thinking of something else and walked into walls or stubbed her toes on furniture, but sometimes her clumsiness got her into more trouble than others.
The idea of the “Yoga with Goats” class, which was conducted on an exclusive goat farm on the outskirts of South Tampa, was for the participants to do yoga poses while a bunch of baby goats frolicked around them at the same time. It was supposed to be both relaxing and amusing because sometimes the goats would hop on your back while you were on your hands and knees doing tabletop or butt at you, asking to be petted, while you were doing some other, more complicated pose.
Unfortunately, this premise had gone terribly wrong when Lucy and Iyanna had attended the class. They had spread their yoga mats on the lovely green grass along with about twenty other students—most of them thin, rich, South Tampa women who had nothing to do but take exercise classes and attend charity events all day. Iyanna and Lucy hadn’t really fit in with this group since they were both curvy girls, but they didn’t care. They started following the teacher along with the rest of the class, but halfway through, disaster struck.
“I was just trying to do a side-plank,” Lucy said now, as Iyanna started giggling at the memory. “How did I know one of those goats was right behind me?”
“Well the whole class knew once you fell over on the poor little guy!” Iyanna pointed out. “And he started bleating so loud!”
“I didn’t mean to squish him!” Lucy said, trying not to laugh.
“I know but you did! And when I looked over, there he was with his little hooves waving in the air, trying to get out from under you and bleating like crazy!” Iyanna was laughing so hard she was nearly crying now.
“I know but he was fine! You know once I finally rolled off him he hopped right up and trotted away,” Lucy exclaimed, but she was laughing just as hard as her friend. “And all those snooty South Tampa women were looking at me like I tried to murder him!”
“Well, I mean, he was…was screaming and bleating so loud you’d think you were!” Iyanna snorted and swiped at her eyes. “Oh my God—I haven’t thought of that in ages. See—that’s why I miss you, Lucy. Things are never dull when you’re around.”
Lucy grinned and squeezed her friend’s hand.
“We did have a lot of fun together. I miss you too.”
The Yoga with Goats incident was an embarrassing memory and most people would have been humiliated, but Lucy wasn’t afraid to laugh at herself. She missed having a friend who felt the same way. Iyanna was so much fun to be around and now she was living up here among the stars while Lucy was still stuck back on Earth.
The thought made her sigh with unaccustomed sadness, since she was usually a cheerful, upbeat kind of person.
Iyanna picked up on her mood at once and gave her a concerned look.
“Hey, what’s wrong all of a sudden?”
“Oh…I guess it’s just that I miss you.” Lucy shrugged awkwardly and pushed a sheaf of blondish-brown hair out of her hazel eyes. “Now that Mike and I have broken up—”
“Wait—you broke it off with Mike? But I thought the two of you were talking about getting married!” Iyanna said, frowning.