Prologue:
“Professor Linh!” gasped Nick. “What is it Nick?” asked Professor Linh. “The students have picked up terrible news, and we need you to come over to confirm what we picked up is true.” Professor Linh took no hesitation to follow Nick to the laboratory. When they reached the laboratory the students parted way for the professor. When he reached the radar signal he guffawed. “Call the news,” he said, “And tell them to broadcast that the sun will blow up in 999,999 years. Although that is a long time, we still need to prepare for it in case something happens. Tell construction workers to build tunnels and homes deep underground for the explosion. All families should prepare for the explosion so that their future generations have provisions.”
Chapter 1
When Liana woke up she was sweating. She had dreamed that during the explosion of the sun her family had disappeared and that she had been abandoned. “It’s just a dream,” she told herself. She knew her dream was just a dream, but at the same time she knew that anything could happen underground as they waited out the explosion of the sun. Today was the day that they would wait out the explosion. She put on her clothes: a red dress with yellow and orange flowers, and she walked out of her room thinking about all that she would be leaving behind. She walked into the kitchen and saw her mom making breakfast. “Good morning,” her mom said. “Morning,” Liana replied halfheartedly as she sat down. Her mom laid a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her.
She said a silent prayer and began to eat when her sister Anna and brother James came in. They both greeted their mom and sat down to eat. “Where’s dad?” asked James his mouth full of food. “He went to the underground city to bring all our things into our underground house,” said mom. “Cool,” James replied. They finished their breakfast in silence.
Afterwards, their mom told them to pack all their personal belongings and get ready to move underground with their belongings. At noon after they ate lunch they drove to the downward subway. Although Liana had never been on one, she had heard that it traveled straight downward. When they started to move, her thoughts were confirmed true. They traveled straight downward. It was head throttling. They finally reached the underground city. Their dad was waiting for them at the gates. “Dad!” cried Anna. “Now how’s my little girl?” he replied. “I can’t say enough how good those houses are,” he exclaimed, “A true construction masterpiece. Follow me and I’ll show you our house. And it just happens to be right next to the Peterson’s house. A very kind family which has three kids just like us. You will be making new friends in no time!”
When they arrived at the house it was even more fabulous than their father described. Liana’s room was gigantic with a king size canopy bed and a humongous closet. There were colorful paintings on the ceiling and a chestnut desk. She began unpacking her luggage when the loudspeaker announced, “Attention please, the explosion of the sun will take place in an hour.” “The sooner the better,” thought Liana. She finished unpacking then met her family in the living room. “I can’t believe the sun is going to explode!” Anna exclaimed. “I’m so excited!” “Have you ever thought about if we are safe or not? What if we are not deep enough underground?” Liana said heatedly. “Liana, the people have been digging for 999,999 years. I’m sure that we are safe,” said her dad, quite calmly. “Anyway, let’s go eat lunch. Let’s at least get a full stomach before the sun explodes.” Liana’s mom walked into the kitchen. “I’ll make some chicken and rice,” she said.
When lunch was ready everyone sat down and ate. To Liana, although it was her favorite food, it didn’t taste as good as it did back at home. When they finished their lunch everyone went to the basement to wait out the explosion. As they entered, the speakers announced, “Attention please, ten minutes until the explosion of the sun. Please make your way to the basement of your house.” They waited for what felt like eternity. Then the speaker flared to life again. “Attention please the sun will explode in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.” Liana shut her eyes as an earsplitting ka-boom blasted.
When she opened her eyes everything was dark.
Chapter 2
A hoarse message escaped her lips, “Dad? Mom? Anna? James?” “We’re all here,” a gruff voice replied, which could only be her father’s. A loud speaker announced, “Thank you for your cooperation, it is now safe to surface to your homes.” The family silently exited the basement and back to their living room.
“What are we going to do now that the sun is gone?” asked James. “We will use artificial light to grow crops, and raise our own poultry,” replied Dad. “And sew our own clothes,” added Mom. “We will be farmers living in a mansion. Now I think you should go wash up before dinner.”
Dinner was steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans. “It’s to celebrate that we survived the explosion of the sun,” explained Mom. But Liana didn’t feel like celebrating. She had to start her life all over now, growing her own food, raising her own meat. She didn’t even know where her friends were. As she retired for the night on her new bed she thought about all the bad things that had happened to her. This was by far the worst. “I’ll be lucky if I ever adapt to this,” she thought as she dozed of to sleep.
When she woke up there was a list hanging on her closet door.
Chores:
1. Milk the cow
2. Feed the chickens
3. Gather eggs
4. Feed the pigs
“What,” she thought. She had never had these type of chores. They were always like sweep the floor, do the laundry, stuff like that. These were dirty chores that she never dreamt of doing. She got dressed, brushed her teeth, and strolled into the dining room with the list of chores in her hand. When she entered the dining room Anna was there complaining about her chores while James was eating breakfast. “But Mom! I never get this type of chores! I’m inexperienced!” Before their mom could reply James cut in deadly serious. “This is a new life Anna. We all have to adapt, but you have to be willing to adapt.” “That’s right Anna,” a new voice, joining the argument. No one had noticed that their dad had strode into the kitchen. “Now that the conversation is over, let’s eat breakfast.”
Breakfast was sausage, eggs, and toast. “The sausage was great Mom. Where did you get it?” asked James. “I killed the pig myself,” Mom replied. “Now that you guys have finished breakfast, you should get started on your chores,” she continued. Liana, James, and Anna silently left the room to get started on their chores. “Okay, first on my list is milk the cow,” Liana thought. She walked into the outside farmhouse. A strange, bright, blue light replaced the absence of the sun. She got the milking pail and moved the stool toward the cow. “How are you Bella?” asked Liana. Although she usually didn’t milk the cow, there were the rare occasions that she had.
She got started and began to mindlessly milk Bella. Soon she had a bucket full of milk. She went into the house to deliver the milk and ran straight into Anna. “Is that the milk? Because I’m instructed to take half of the milk that you collected and to churn it to butter,” she said hastily. Liana silently handed the milk to Anna. “We even have to make our own butter now,” she thought. She walked over to the barn and picked up the huge, heavy bag of chicken feed. She then walked over to the chicken pen while carrying the bag of chicken feed. It was backbreaking work. She ripped open the bag of feed and scattered it in the cage. “Got that covered,” she mumbled. She then stuck her head into the chicken pen to collect the eggs. She put them in a basket that she had brought with her. She then walked towards the pig sty. Giving them scraps of toast, potato, apple, and a whole other variety of things all coated in a disgusting, rotting broth. At least that’s what she thought it was. “Gross,” she mumbled. She poured the “food” into the long wooden tray. The pigs immediately shot over to the tray and began to eat furiously. She left the pigs thinking about how gross her chores were. She returned to the house and walked in.
She went into the kitchen to find her mom making lunch. “Hi honey,” she called. “Hi,” Liana replied. “Is lunch almost ready?” she asked. “Almost,” her mom replied. “You should go wash up before we eat. Anna and James just finished their chores and are washing up too.” Liana nodded and went upstairs to her room. She took a small towel and plunged it into a bowl of cold water. She quickly rubbed her face with the towel and washed her hands.
When she arrived in the kitchen the rest of her family was already sitting down at the table. She joined them at the table with a plate of homemade dumplings in front of her. She started to eat; gulping down whole dumplings. Her parents attempted to start conversation with her, but she briefly waved them off. She desperately wanted to go out and explore the new underground city. When she finished her lunch she raced up the stairs. When she reached her room she quickly changed into a set of old clothes. She then stampeded down the stairs while yelling, “I’m going outside!” and ran out the door.
Chapter 3: Amy
As soon as she was outside she squinted at the bright blue light. It was a poor replacement for the sun, but she continued running while enjoying the feeling of being free. Then she unexpectedly ran into someone. “Ouch!” Liana said. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Here let me help you up,” a voice said. As the girl pulled her up Liana was astonished to find a girl about her own age staring at her. She had shining gold hair and electric blue eyes. “Thanks,” Liana said. “I don’t think we’ve met before,” the girl replied quietly. “Well then, let’s start this over. Hi, I’m Liana, and I live in that house,” Liana said pointing to her house. “Cool! That means we’re neighbors! Okay, anyway, I’m Amy and live in the house across from yours,” she said. “Do you want to explore with me?” Amy asked. “Actually, that was what I was going to do before I ran into you,” Liana replied in a friendly tone. “So I don’t mind if we go together,” she continued. “Alright then. Let’s go explore!” Amy said.
The two girls decided unanimously to go to the woods and hike. They talked as they walked toward the woods. When they finally reached the woods the girls stood in awe; breathing in the fresh forest air. The forest was majestic, with deep green pine trees, humongous oaks, sap bearing maple trees, green grass, and colorful flowers everywhere. “Let’s go in,” Amy said, breaking the silence. Liana silently nodded and followed Amy into the woods.
After a mile of walking, Liana and Amy reached a meadow. It was thoroughly covered with green grass with bunches of bright flowers everywhere. After playing together for an hour, the girls got thirsty and found a brook full of sparkling, fresh water. They gulped down mouthfuls of the water, drinking greedily.
It was then that they noticed the shadow.
Chapter 4: A Bear
The two girls turned around together in unison. When they saw the monstrous beast they both released a high pitched shriek. “Run!” Amy yelled. The two girls broke into a breakneck sprint. They ran and ran. After what seemed like eternity, they stole a look behind. The bear was nowhere in sight. “I don’t think bears are in the wild anymore, now that we live in an underground city,” Liana said, while taking deep breaths. “That’s what I thought too- until now,” Amy replied. “We better tell our parents about this,” Liana said. “No! We can’t!” Amy exclaimed to a shocked Liana. “If we tell our parents, they’ll never let us come to the woods again! Sure, they’ll call the police, but since when did the police ever listen to us above ground?” continued Amy. “You’re right,” Liana said. “But what if we ask our parents what happened to the bears? We can ask them without revealing too much! Just ask them where the government put them, and if there’s supposed to be bears released in the wild!” she continued. “That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Amy. “But whatever you do, don’t let them know that we actually encountered one in the woods.”
“Professor Linh!” gasped Nick. “What is it Nick?” asked Professor Linh. “The students have picked up terrible news, and we need you to come over to confirm what we picked up is true.” Professor Linh took no hesitation to follow Nick to the laboratory. When they reached the laboratory the students parted way for the professor. When he reached the radar signal he guffawed. “Call the news,” he said, “And tell them to broadcast that the sun will blow up in 999,999 years. Although that is a long time, we still need to prepare for it in case something happens. Tell construction workers to build tunnels and homes deep underground for the explosion. All families should prepare for the explosion so that their future generations have provisions.”
Chapter 1
When Liana woke up she was sweating. She had dreamed that during the explosion of the sun her family had disappeared and that she had been abandoned. “It’s just a dream,” she told herself. She knew her dream was just a dream, but at the same time she knew that anything could happen underground as they waited out the explosion of the sun. Today was the day that they would wait out the explosion. She put on her clothes: a red dress with yellow and orange flowers, and she walked out of her room thinking about all that she would be leaving behind. She walked into the kitchen and saw her mom making breakfast. “Good morning,” her mom said. “Morning,” Liana replied halfheartedly as she sat down. Her mom laid a plate of bacon and eggs in front of her.
She said a silent prayer and began to eat when her sister Anna and brother James came in. They both greeted their mom and sat down to eat. “Where’s dad?” asked James his mouth full of food. “He went to the underground city to bring all our things into our underground house,” said mom. “Cool,” James replied. They finished their breakfast in silence.
Afterwards, their mom told them to pack all their personal belongings and get ready to move underground with their belongings. At noon after they ate lunch they drove to the downward subway. Although Liana had never been on one, she had heard that it traveled straight downward. When they started to move, her thoughts were confirmed true. They traveled straight downward. It was head throttling. They finally reached the underground city. Their dad was waiting for them at the gates. “Dad!” cried Anna. “Now how’s my little girl?” he replied. “I can’t say enough how good those houses are,” he exclaimed, “A true construction masterpiece. Follow me and I’ll show you our house. And it just happens to be right next to the Peterson’s house. A very kind family which has three kids just like us. You will be making new friends in no time!”
When they arrived at the house it was even more fabulous than their father described. Liana’s room was gigantic with a king size canopy bed and a humongous closet. There were colorful paintings on the ceiling and a chestnut desk. She began unpacking her luggage when the loudspeaker announced, “Attention please, the explosion of the sun will take place in an hour.” “The sooner the better,” thought Liana. She finished unpacking then met her family in the living room. “I can’t believe the sun is going to explode!” Anna exclaimed. “I’m so excited!” “Have you ever thought about if we are safe or not? What if we are not deep enough underground?” Liana said heatedly. “Liana, the people have been digging for 999,999 years. I’m sure that we are safe,” said her dad, quite calmly. “Anyway, let’s go eat lunch. Let’s at least get a full stomach before the sun explodes.” Liana’s mom walked into the kitchen. “I’ll make some chicken and rice,” she said.
When lunch was ready everyone sat down and ate. To Liana, although it was her favorite food, it didn’t taste as good as it did back at home. When they finished their lunch everyone went to the basement to wait out the explosion. As they entered, the speakers announced, “Attention please, ten minutes until the explosion of the sun. Please make your way to the basement of your house.” They waited for what felt like eternity. Then the speaker flared to life again. “Attention please the sun will explode in ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, zero.” Liana shut her eyes as an earsplitting ka-boom blasted.
When she opened her eyes everything was dark.
Chapter 2
A hoarse message escaped her lips, “Dad? Mom? Anna? James?” “We’re all here,” a gruff voice replied, which could only be her father’s. A loud speaker announced, “Thank you for your cooperation, it is now safe to surface to your homes.” The family silently exited the basement and back to their living room.
“What are we going to do now that the sun is gone?” asked James. “We will use artificial light to grow crops, and raise our own poultry,” replied Dad. “And sew our own clothes,” added Mom. “We will be farmers living in a mansion. Now I think you should go wash up before dinner.”
Dinner was steak, mashed potatoes, and green beans. “It’s to celebrate that we survived the explosion of the sun,” explained Mom. But Liana didn’t feel like celebrating. She had to start her life all over now, growing her own food, raising her own meat. She didn’t even know where her friends were. As she retired for the night on her new bed she thought about all the bad things that had happened to her. This was by far the worst. “I’ll be lucky if I ever adapt to this,” she thought as she dozed of to sleep.
When she woke up there was a list hanging on her closet door.
Chores:
1. Milk the cow
2. Feed the chickens
3. Gather eggs
4. Feed the pigs
“What,” she thought. She had never had these type of chores. They were always like sweep the floor, do the laundry, stuff like that. These were dirty chores that she never dreamt of doing. She got dressed, brushed her teeth, and strolled into the dining room with the list of chores in her hand. When she entered the dining room Anna was there complaining about her chores while James was eating breakfast. “But Mom! I never get this type of chores! I’m inexperienced!” Before their mom could reply James cut in deadly serious. “This is a new life Anna. We all have to adapt, but you have to be willing to adapt.” “That’s right Anna,” a new voice, joining the argument. No one had noticed that their dad had strode into the kitchen. “Now that the conversation is over, let’s eat breakfast.”
Breakfast was sausage, eggs, and toast. “The sausage was great Mom. Where did you get it?” asked James. “I killed the pig myself,” Mom replied. “Now that you guys have finished breakfast, you should get started on your chores,” she continued. Liana, James, and Anna silently left the room to get started on their chores. “Okay, first on my list is milk the cow,” Liana thought. She walked into the outside farmhouse. A strange, bright, blue light replaced the absence of the sun. She got the milking pail and moved the stool toward the cow. “How are you Bella?” asked Liana. Although she usually didn’t milk the cow, there were the rare occasions that she had.
She got started and began to mindlessly milk Bella. Soon she had a bucket full of milk. She went into the house to deliver the milk and ran straight into Anna. “Is that the milk? Because I’m instructed to take half of the milk that you collected and to churn it to butter,” she said hastily. Liana silently handed the milk to Anna. “We even have to make our own butter now,” she thought. She walked over to the barn and picked up the huge, heavy bag of chicken feed. She then walked over to the chicken pen while carrying the bag of chicken feed. It was backbreaking work. She ripped open the bag of feed and scattered it in the cage. “Got that covered,” she mumbled. She then stuck her head into the chicken pen to collect the eggs. She put them in a basket that she had brought with her. She then walked towards the pig sty. Giving them scraps of toast, potato, apple, and a whole other variety of things all coated in a disgusting, rotting broth. At least that’s what she thought it was. “Gross,” she mumbled. She poured the “food” into the long wooden tray. The pigs immediately shot over to the tray and began to eat furiously. She left the pigs thinking about how gross her chores were. She returned to the house and walked in.
She went into the kitchen to find her mom making lunch. “Hi honey,” she called. “Hi,” Liana replied. “Is lunch almost ready?” she asked. “Almost,” her mom replied. “You should go wash up before we eat. Anna and James just finished their chores and are washing up too.” Liana nodded and went upstairs to her room. She took a small towel and plunged it into a bowl of cold water. She quickly rubbed her face with the towel and washed her hands.
When she arrived in the kitchen the rest of her family was already sitting down at the table. She joined them at the table with a plate of homemade dumplings in front of her. She started to eat; gulping down whole dumplings. Her parents attempted to start conversation with her, but she briefly waved them off. She desperately wanted to go out and explore the new underground city. When she finished her lunch she raced up the stairs. When she reached her room she quickly changed into a set of old clothes. She then stampeded down the stairs while yelling, “I’m going outside!” and ran out the door.
Chapter 3: Amy
As soon as she was outside she squinted at the bright blue light. It was a poor replacement for the sun, but she continued running while enjoying the feeling of being free. Then she unexpectedly ran into someone. “Ouch!” Liana said. “Oh my gosh! Are you okay? Here let me help you up,” a voice said. As the girl pulled her up Liana was astonished to find a girl about her own age staring at her. She had shining gold hair and electric blue eyes. “Thanks,” Liana said. “I don’t think we’ve met before,” the girl replied quietly. “Well then, let’s start this over. Hi, I’m Liana, and I live in that house,” Liana said pointing to her house. “Cool! That means we’re neighbors! Okay, anyway, I’m Amy and live in the house across from yours,” she said. “Do you want to explore with me?” Amy asked. “Actually, that was what I was going to do before I ran into you,” Liana replied in a friendly tone. “So I don’t mind if we go together,” she continued. “Alright then. Let’s go explore!” Amy said.
The two girls decided unanimously to go to the woods and hike. They talked as they walked toward the woods. When they finally reached the woods the girls stood in awe; breathing in the fresh forest air. The forest was majestic, with deep green pine trees, humongous oaks, sap bearing maple trees, green grass, and colorful flowers everywhere. “Let’s go in,” Amy said, breaking the silence. Liana silently nodded and followed Amy into the woods.
After a mile of walking, Liana and Amy reached a meadow. It was thoroughly covered with green grass with bunches of bright flowers everywhere. After playing together for an hour, the girls got thirsty and found a brook full of sparkling, fresh water. They gulped down mouthfuls of the water, drinking greedily.
It was then that they noticed the shadow.
Chapter 4: A Bear
The two girls turned around together in unison. When they saw the monstrous beast they both released a high pitched shriek. “Run!” Amy yelled. The two girls broke into a breakneck sprint. They ran and ran. After what seemed like eternity, they stole a look behind. The bear was nowhere in sight. “I don’t think bears are in the wild anymore, now that we live in an underground city,” Liana said, while taking deep breaths. “That’s what I thought too- until now,” Amy replied. “We better tell our parents about this,” Liana said. “No! We can’t!” Amy exclaimed to a shocked Liana. “If we tell our parents, they’ll never let us come to the woods again! Sure, they’ll call the police, but since when did the police ever listen to us above ground?” continued Amy. “You’re right,” Liana said. “But what if we ask our parents what happened to the bears? We can ask them without revealing too much! Just ask them where the government put them, and if there’s supposed to be bears released in the wild!” she continued. “That’s a great idea!” exclaimed Amy. “But whatever you do, don’t let them know that we actually encountered one in the woods.”