Finding Luna

village

noun ~ a group of houses and associated buildings, situated in a rural area

I awoke to mumbled voices; the sound of Charlie and Pollux arguing about who was going to wake me up. I groaned, telling them to be quiet as I pulled myself to sit. I rubbed my eyes, glancing out of the window to view our surroundings. The car was driving up a dirt path, the ground grey and dark as the sun began to set in the distance. I looked further, seeing nothing but trees.

I tuned out the sound of their conversation, staring out of the window as my sluggish mind came to being awake. I don't know how long we drove for as I disassociated from the car but when the trees became dense I moved away from the window to look in front of us.

In the near distance, I could see a large pylon with a huge glass carriage. "What's that?"

"That gets us to the top of the mountain." Pollux turned to glance at me.

"How?" I wondered.

"I park the car on it, and it takes us to the village. We could drive up, but there are sharp inclines, and we aren't leaving the car here at the bottom." Charlie shrugged.

"Oh..." I mumbled, staring at the approaching architecture.

The car slowed to a stop at the end of the road, a huge silver gate and fence blocking the little gap in the trees. I watched as Charlie dropped his window to speak into an intercom and a voice on the other end checked our 'credentials' as Charlie put it. The gate opened after a moment, and we drove through to park in front of the strange contraption.

It reminded me of a ski lift, except with glass walls all around and big enough for two cars to fit inside. A large sliding glass door lifted on the near side of the box and after a green light appeared above it, Charlie slowly drove up a ramp and parked the car inside. I swallowed heavily, looking around at the contraption as it locked itself and whirred to life.

My eyes widened as the carriage suddenly jolted and we began to move up the hill. The wheels kept us moving along a thick metal rope and I clutched onto the car seat with sudden nerves. When we cleared the trees, my breath caught in my throat. For miles, all I could see was the ever-expanding mass of treetops. Multi-coloured leaves, caught in their autumn change filled my line of vision.

The mountain was wide and large and as the carriage moved slowly up its height, I noticed the ground becoming damp and full of shrubbery and trees. I watched in awe as we travelled slowly up the mountain until finally, the carriage came to a stop. I turned to look out of the front window and found nothing but tall, towering trees. I assumed there was a village of sorts behind, being so dense and well protected from the elements.

The carriage lowered and I felt the metal base hit the ground. Charlie cleared his throat, snapping me out of my daze. I turned to him and he gave me a small smile before reversing out of the carriage once the door opened. The SUV gripped easily onto the damp earth and Charlie drove towards the dense trees, following a dirt road.

We stopped at another intercom and I looked around curiously. The views from up here were stunning. The sun was setting soon and cast an orange glow through the caverns of the mountains. I could see for miles, dense trees and rock formations, flowers still in bloom as they held onto the last life of the sun. The mountains were wide and full of life, I could see how they could live here. It was beautiful.

The car rolled again and Charlie drove the wide car through a narrow path in the trees. We passed through a large metal gate, one that seemed to hum with energy. I hummed myself, watching the shimmer through the back window as we passed through.

"Just a little further. It's not a huge village, not a lot of people live here." Pollux murmured.

Charlie nodded, keeping silent as he drove down the path. I watched as trees soon turned into clearings which turned into paved gardens. I peaked around Pollux's chair to look out the front window and my eyes widened as I did so.