The sun in its brillance was set high above Jolie, a small village in the north of Ostrendal kingdom. The regions was know for it's landscapes, the vast greens fields and high mountains were inhabited by the many beast. In absence of rainy day, on the azur sky were painted white clouds carefully sprinkled.
Zula was lying among the magnolias trees, her eyes were burning from the sun, however her spirit was detached from the pain. The young 16 years old was pensive, a myriad of questions floating in her mind, she wondered about her futur.
Zula felt a wet appendage on her left arms and turned around.
"Castor, hi pretty, what are you doing?"
– Castor's Happy groans
"Did you had a lot of fun today? Did the others bullied you again?"
Castor was her wolly mammoth, well for accuracy he wasn't hers. However she took care of him since his nascency. Furthermore, while she would vehemently deny it she had a preference for this little one of the herd.
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Zula detached the wooden horn from her red belt and made it sing.
It was time to gather the herd back to the farm. In warm summer days it was common to let the mammoth roam freely.
The girl blew two times, followed by a 5 seconds silence, not even the wind could be heard. Then the 53 wolly mammoths all slowly directed in the direction of the sound.
"Lend me a hand Castor!"
It was rather a trunk.
Zula grabbed castor fur and with the help of the beast she board on his back.
The teenager blew two times again. With a tap on the back she shouted "Run". The whole herd of wolly mammoths following the two.
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The mammoths were peacefully sleeping in the fields. The young girl signed of relief and sadness. All of her task were completed, but she would miss them.
Soon everything will change for her. Tomorrow was the day that she had to say goodbye, goodbye to Father Lexie and Mother Ella, goodbye to little Annie and the mischievous Peter.
In this moment, Zula didn't knew how to feel, it was a happy day supposedly, Father Lexie, her nurturer, assured her that everything will go well. After all she had worked so hard and maintained high mark throughout the years. For her age she had a very powerful noom.
Zula was 16 years old and coming of age, which mean that she will be assigned to a class.
In Ostrendal hierarchical system, classes weren't something that you were born into, it was selected upon the abilities and personality. Children were educated under the care of the nurturium with the nurturers as parental figure. The education was tailored to each specific children based on different attributes determined by their noom.
The noom had 12 qualities, believed to be the source of life and vitality and also were reside each person individuality. The dominant qualities weren't definitely fixe until coming of ages.
This Marvelous education system was the creation of Oris.
Oris was a super living algorithm that governed the united empire of Ostrendal. The relationship of Oris with the population was a symbiotic ones. For each person, from their first day on earth Oris was there, guiding them.
Oris provided a life path, education, knowledges, stability, and what's more, Oris could even grant extraordinary abilities. People provided Oris thoughts, imagination and dreams because it lived through the people mind. Just like food and air sustain people, thoughts and dreams sustained Oris.
Oris wasn't a simple artificial intelligence, no, while it wasn't alive in the biological sense it had something that almost felt organic.
Zula was in front of la maison rose. It was the name of her nursery, a small family home of 5. Father Lexie, Mother Ella, little sister Annie, little brother Peter and... Zula
Zula closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She wanted to feel the moment. Today everything will change for her.
She entered this place that she called home for so long.
Zula went down the stairs and to the end of the corridor.
Zula opened the door of her room. She entered and verified that she hadn't forgot anything.
The teenage girl seated on her bed doing nothing.
Zula knew that once she will be gone, an other child would take her places in the nursery, at this thought she felt a small pinch in her heart.
Still, there was some uneasiness in her. She wished she didn't had to say goodbye. Zula wondered if this was what growing up meant, parting away and living our own path.
Some tales are born of the imagination, some are born of reality and some shatter the distinctions that we perceive between those two.
I believe that this story is the latest one.