So, I’m kinda doing NaNoWrMo this year. By that, I mean I’m hanging out on the official forums and aiming to write 50,000 words, but I am not starting a new novel. I’m continuing with my current project, a story about a little girl called Astra who lives on a deserted space colony called Amanidas with a bunch of robots and pets. I originally envisioned this as a short story, but by the start of this month it had already grown to 10,000 words and was still just setting up. I don’t think it’s going to turn into a 50,000 – 60,000 word project, but I want to at the very least finish the first draft this month. That is my goal for NaNoWrMo this year.

And so far, I’m going okay at it. The very first day I wrote 1285 words. Of course, getting 50,000 words in a 31 day month will require about 1613 words per day, so I am really behind on the target. But after how much I’ve been struggling to focus lately, I’m really glad that I pulled that off on the first day. Even if I don’t reach a NaNo goal, I’m getting back into a really good writing habit, and I’ll take that as a win.

On this first week of November, I have written 4,398 words of Amanidas. Below target, but the story is really picking up. I’ve decided to share what I wrote that first day, despite this being an out-of-contect bit of vomit draft because I’m really happy with how that scene went.

For a bit of context, this is a scene where little Astra is on her way home (where the hospitality robot Cupona looks after her) from an afternoon spent at the colony farm with the agriculture robot Bundon and surgeon bot Medens. Along the way she’s been asked to stop by the hanger where the pilot-assist robot Ascensor lives, and ask them to bring the elderly kelpie dog Freckles back to the farm for the night. Again, this is an excerpt from a first draft, but I really want to share something from what I’m working on, so I hope you all enjoy.

Amanidas First Draft Excerpt

The hanger was somewhat out of town, and the walk took so long that it was true night when she arrived. But between the Amanidas Aurora and the dome lights she could see where she was going, and a lot of generic-bugs had died off last year, so there was nothing to bite her. She found the hanger door open, and got worried that maybe Freckles might have wondered off. There were still areas under the dome that were dangerous, despite how Tutella had fenced them off and was always patrolling.

She went inside, and saw that the lights were still on, bouncing off the two shuttles that Ascensor spent so much time keeping spotless. The rest of the room was mostly empty, so it was easy to see the marks on the walls and floors where Ascensor had tried to blast off. As Astra walked in, Freckles started barking. She followed the barks to one of the shuttles, and noticed the door was open and Freckles’s head was hanging out. She wore a big doggy smile once she recognized Astra.

“Captain Freckles!” Ascensor shouted from inside the shuttle. “Please return to the cockpit as we navigate this debris field.”

“We better go get through that debris field Captain Freckles” Astra said as she bordered the shuttle. They were inside the passenger compartment, which was so small that Freckles’s tail kept whacking the seats as she circled and sniffed Astra. The door to the cockpit was open, and Astra could see that Ascensor had mounted a large, curved TV screen in front of the internal displays.

“That you Astra?” Ascensor asked. “Please return to your seat and fasten your seatbelt. Gravity levels are fluctuating.”

“Captain Freckles needs dinner and water first” Astra said, pulling the supplies from the farm out. “We must avoid pilot fatigue at all costs.”

“Very well” Ascensor said. “I’ll hold position.”

Astra patted Freckles, got her face licked, and then saw her tail get unbelievably fast as she fed her. Once sure Freckles was fully absorbed in her food, Astra made her way to the cockpit. She found the lights dimmed as low as possible, and a cozy dog bed covered in a flight suit set up comfortably on the pilot’s chair. Ascensor was embedded in the co-pilot nook and stared intently at the TV screen. Astra noticed the screen was being held in place with duct tape. Ascensor didn’t look at her.

“You flying Ascensor?” Astra said.

“I’m flying through space” Ascensor said.

“This is an interesting erm… simulation set up.”

“I’m flying through space.”

“Freckles needs to go home to the farm” Astra said.

“I need a certified pilot” Ascensor said.

“How’d you… I mean, I’m so proud of Freckles for getting her pilot license. But Bundon says she needs to come home.”

“She is a very good… pilot girl.”

Freckles shuffled back into the cockpit and climbed back into the pilot seat. Ascensor reached out and pulled the corner of the flight suit over Freckles. Freckles looked up at Astra with big eyes and a happy tongue lolling out of her mouth.

“I suppose Captain Freckles looks really comfy” Astra said. “You promise you won’t let her get out? Unless it’s to pee or poop?”

“She shall remain contained within the shuttle except for supervised spacewalks” Ascensor said.

“And you’ll get her back to the farm in time for breakfast?” Astra asked.

“Destination set to Farm” Ascensor said. “ETA zero-five-hundred hours.”

“That sounds good to me” Astra said. “Does that sound good to you Captain Freckles?”

Astra gave Freckles some ear scritchies, and the captain’s happy whines indicated the affirmative.

“Okay co-pilot Ascensor” Astra said. “Can you please tell Bundon that you’ll bring Freckles back in the morning, and that I fed her and gave you permission to keep her overnight?”

“Affirmative.”

“Okaies then. Well I better get home. I have a lot of homework to do before dinner. Bon voyage Ascensor. And Captain Freckles.”

“Thank you, Astra” Ascensor said, their eyes going blue. “You are the best.”

After a few more pats, Astra disembarked the shuttle and hurried home. She wanted to squeeze in as much playtime as she could before homework time. She probably ran faster than needed, and was almost out of breath by the time she reached the town square. To her surprise, Cupona was outside pacing. She ran towards Astra once she spotted her.

“Astra!” Cupona shouted. “What have you done?”

“I’m sorry for being late” Astra said. “I promise I’ll still do all my homework.”

“Forget the homework” Cupona said, dropping to her knees and grabbing Astra’s shoulders. Cupona’s grip was tighter than Astra had ever guessed, and for a moment she was afraid of the friendly maid. But then an ancient memory was triggered, of her Mummy acting the same scary way that time tiny Astra had run away from home to look for her bio-Daddy. She hadn’t gotten far, but Mummy had panicked and shaken her as she begged to know who she’d been talking to.

“What’s happened?” Astra asked, tears rolling down her eyes.

“Astra, I’m sure this isn’t your fault” Cupona said, loosening her grip. “But I need to know exactly what you authorized Ascensor to do?”

“Nothing I swear” Astra said. “Nothing bad I mean. I just said they could have Freckles sleep over in the shuttle. I’m sorry, I should have sent them back to the farm. Is Bundon angry with me?”

“The flight authorization Astra!” Cupona said. “When did they take off? Or is there a chance the debris field is a projection and – “

“Ascensors not going anywhere” Astra said. “They’re just playing pretend.”

“You sure? They said they were experiencing interference over the botnet.”

“Honest. They have a big TV in the broken shuttle’s cockpit and they’re pretending Freckles is the pilot.”

“Oh Astra” Cupona said, crumpling down and hugging Astra so tight she could barely breath. “Thank the stars. I believe you. I’ll tell Vigil and Tutella to stand down. They were both on the other side of the dome setting up when Ascensor messaged Bundon.”

“I’m sorry. I won’t do it again.”

“No no, you did good” Cupona said, loosening her grip and looking at Astra with her biggest smile. “I bet a sleepover will be good for both Freckles and Ascensor. We just, well Ascensor had a glitch at a very bad time. It’s our fault, not yours.”

Astra grabbed Cupona and let the hug continue as she cried. Cupona started rocking her and singing a soft, slow version of Space Stegosaur. Astra almost calmed down, but then she remembered that she’d already had a cry at the farm, and she started crying harder.

“I wish I could cry sometimes” Cupona said, while continuing to sing with a different speaker. “The thought of losing that shuttle is scarier than any drones.”

“Why?” Astra asked.

The singing stopped for a second, then started up again as Cupona held her closer.

“Because Ascensor is part of our family, and we can’t lose them” Cupona said.

“Yeah, we can’t lose any more family” Astra said. “Not ever again.”

They stayed locked together for a while longer, with Cupona rocking Astra and continuing to sing. Then Astra realised that just because robots couldn’t cry, it didn’t mean that Cupona hadn’t also been very scared just then, so she tried rocking Cupona back, and singing Space Stegosaur through her sobs. Eventually, the crying stopped and the two of them were just singing together. Once they got to the end of the song Cupona asked Astra if there was anything she wanted to do before they started homework.

“You said to forget the homework” Astra said.

There was another of those worrying pauses, but Cupona’s smile grew as the silence stretched on.

“You are right, I did tell you to forget homework” Cupona said. “I think after the week you’ve had, missing one night of homework won’t hurt. Let’s go inside.”

End… for now

Hopefully you’re as excited about this project as I am. And also, I hope it doesn’t grown too out of control.

~ Lauren