Curse of the Termanian Star

Joy looked up, startled by the sudden cry of the bird. She hadn't thought that the world still went on , still moving in the slow shuffle of life. She felt like her world was emptied of meaning, collapsed in the pain and death of her mother. She sighed and turned, heading for the town after the funeral procession. Her mother had been well loved by the town's folk, and she hoped that she would be too after came of age. Her heart ached at the thought that her mother wouldn't be there to see her come of age and turn into the young woman she had been raised to be. She stumbled but was quickly caught by the man behind her.

“It'll be alright,” he whispered in her ear. She smiled gratefully, thankful for all the support they had given her.

“I know,” she sighed. “I know.” Joy thought of what life would be like now. She had always had her mother after her father was killed by the plague, and now her mother too had been taken by it. The terran plague was a disease that slowly turned it's victim into nothing, twisting the mint to that it was nothing, and after that happened, the body died; unable to survive without the mind. She knew there wasn't a cure, and she had watched in more pain than her mother as she was devoured by it.