The Moonlight on my Face

Chapter Two

Sky was in the storage room, although she suspected she would get in trouble if somebody found out. She tried to make as little noise as possible as she rummaged through the boxes.

A plan had concocted in her head: a plan that would surely get her to see the world. At night, she would slip a sort of sleeping potion into the guards' meals. When they would eat them and fall asleep, she would escape through the oxygen hole. The people of the underground city were not fat: they could easily slip through the hole and be free.

Yes, she thought triumphantly as she found a bottle with a shimmering blue liquid inside. She put the bottle into her pocket and left the storage room. "Sky!" said a sharp voice. "What were you doing in the storage room?" A shiver scurried down Sky's spine. It was Rhine's mother, Julia. "I was getting a cookie, ma'am," Sky lied, pulling out a cookie from her other pocket. Julia squinted at her. "Hmm," she said, frowning. "That's...unusual. I never heard of anyone going into the storage room for a cookie...very well. See you later."

Sky's heart slammed into her ribs over and over again. If Rhine's mom had seen the sleeping potion, she would've taken it away, and Sky's plan would've been unsuccessful. 

Sky ran to the kitchens. They were empty, for now. She found the fridge with the guards' food inside. Peering around to make sure nobody had entered the kitchens, she took out the meat pies and poured some of the liquid into them. The bread in the meat pies sucked up the sleeping potion.

"Yes, yes, yes," Sky whispered happily to herself, "Today I will see the world outside of the caves!" 

Night had fallen. Sky was in the kitchens again. She opened the guards' fridge and pulled out the meat pies. She could not believe that nobody had thought of her idea before. She walked on tiptoe to the room that held the oxygen hole. 

The two guards were wide awake. Excitement appeared in their eyes when they saw Sky with the meat pies. "Hello, Sky," said one of the guards. "Are those pies for us?" "You bet!" Sky said with a friendly smile. "I know you guys hardly ate today, so...I brought these for you!"

"Thanks," said the second guard. Sky held out the meat pies and they accepted them, hunger clear in their expressions.

The guards took off their masks, stuffed the meat pies into their mouths, and chewed greedily. A few seconds later, they were a heap on the ground, silently asleep. 

Sky stepped over them, overjoyed because her plan had worked. The oxygen hole room was empty except for a chair that the guards sometimes used to sit on. It was very big and was a large distance away from the hole itself.

Sky began to panic. How would she move the chair? It was GIANT! And if she dragged it along the floor, it would make a lot of noise and wake everyone up!

"I suppose you need a hand," someone said just as Sky was about to give up and return to her bed. Sky whipped her head around and saw JOY standing RIGHT THERE! 

"Did you decide that you want to come with me?" Sky asked excitedly. Joy shook her head. "No," she said apologetically, "But I want to help you get out. I'm going to help you move the chair."

Sky's heart was filled up with bubbly happiness as she and her best friend picked up the huge chair and carried it to the oxygen hole. "Thank you so much, Joy," Sky said with a smile. "You have no clue how much this means to me." "You're welcome," Joy replied. "Have fun.

Sky clambered onto the chair. She could already taste the nighttime air. She couldn't wait until her whole body was immersed in it.

She used her hands to pull herself outside the underground city. The sights of the real world took her breath away.

The night was very bright. The moon wasn't full, but it was still generously pouring its white light onto the world. The stars seemed to be trying to compete with it, glowing at their brightest. Sky inhaled deeper than she had ever inhaled in her life and spread her arms.

She looked around, happy, listening to the symphonies of crickets and the distant hoots of owls. The fat oak trees stood like guardians of the world, big and kind, providing shelter for birds, letting the wind make music with their leaves.

Sky stared at one oak tree until her eyes hurt. She could've sworn that something black had darted behind it...but maybe she was just seeing things.

Sky lay down onto the grass. Its pleasant coolness refreshed her. She looked up at the dark blue sky. After a few minutes of silently admiring the night, she got up again. She bounded around the area where she was, enjoying the feeling of the moonlight on her face.

She turned back to the oxygen hole and looked at it with disgust. She did not want to go back down it: she wanted to stay up here, in the beautiful real world. She wanted to see the sun and see her first sunrise and sunset and hear the songs of the daytime birds. She did not want to go back to the boring, dismal world of the underground city.

And then something like a sack dropped over her head and the world went black.

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A/N

Sorry for the long gap between the chapters! I was doing other things, so I did not have time to add to the story.

Also, sorry for the lack of detail in the first half of this chapter. 

But...at least there is some suspense now! What has happened to Sky? Hmm...stay tuned to find out!

-Blizzard