‧˚₊‧꒦꒷꒦‧˚₊‧꒷꒦‧˚.⁺꒷꒦꒷‧˚₊‧꒦꒷‧˚.⁺꒷꒦‧˚.⁺‧˚₊‧꒦꒷꒦‧˚₊‧꒷꒦‧˚.⁺꒷꒦꒷‧ Hellooooooo Anywho. This is my entry for @Pie_Pie_Crusher's writing contest (800+ followers, but during the competition she hit 900+ XD)! I encourage you to join :D (Also I figured out how to put sound in! Whoo-hoo!) Hope you enjoy and happy reading <3 ᴀ ᴡᴏʀʟᴅ ʙᴇʏᴏɴᴅ ᴇᴀʀᴛʜ ᴘʀᴏᴜᴅʟʏ ᴘʀᴇsᴇɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʏᴏᴜ ʙʏ @-ᴡʀɪᴛᴇʀsᴘᴇɴ- ᴄᴏᴘʏʀɪɢʜᴛ (ᴄ) ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ɪɴ 2022 "And to do so, you will need to harvest moonplants under the full moon. Which is conveniently this evening." Her cold gaze swept across the classroom, lingering on me. "Remember. The most skilled is the most stealthy, and the most stealthy is the most smart." She stalked out of the classroom, her assistant at her heels. I was the first to get out of the classroom, rolling my eyes. I was a pretty good student- the principal had told me herself- but I just needed to focus. If I focus more, Principal Armae said, I would have a great chance in becoming a Guard. Becoming a Guard was every child's dream. They all imagined themselves in handsome gold and white uniforms, wielding handcrafted magical weapons, protecting the monarch. But that wasn't my dream. I didn't want to be stuck next to some fat old king everyday, picking my nose and staring intensely at the door. No, I wanted to be the King's Adventurer, traveling to unexplored places, exotic locations and actually having a good time. But no, of course, I had to train to try become a Guard. Which was boring. I had to sit through hours and hours of boring lectures at the Guard's Academy. But today, though, was different. We'd been sent out to collect moonplants- special plants that blossomed and bloomed under the full moon and had multiple uses. I had no objection to harvesting moonplants. I planned to sneak some in for myself when I was harvesting some, in fact. I awaited the chime of the evening bell eagerly, my moonharvesting gear all ready. When the bell rang, I leapt up from my dormitory bed, rushed out of the dormitory and to the entrance of the school, where Miss Gortine told us to go. A few people were already waiting when I got there. Miss Gortine arrived a tad bit late herself. "Right, class!" she said. "Follow me." She led us out to the back of the school and into the dome, using a key. We all gasped in awe, taking in our surroundings. Moonlight was settled everywhere, on bricks and plants and benches. The moonplants were glowing softly and a beautiful flower stood, tall and strong on top of each of them. Glowing glitterflies- much like the fireflies back home on Earth- fluttered around, making the scene even more enchanting. The stars above glittered like a thousand diamonds. The moonplants grew everywhere, so we had to walk carefully. Miss Gortine rolled her eyes. I spent no more time wandering about and gaping at the moonplants and the glitterflies. My hand brushed the soft, velvety petals of the moonplants' flowers. I carefully dug out the entire moonplant using my special tools, roots and all. I pocketed the first one I dug up and set the others in a basket Miss Gortine had given us. It was those moments that made me glad that I was in a world beyond Earth. A world beyond Earth, indeed.