I’m really sorry this took me longer than I expected. I had some stuff going on in real life and I was distracted with other things, some of which I’ll post about later when they’re done. Anyway, here’s the second chapter of Sparkle’s backstory! Once again, no warnings for this chapter.
Chapter 2: Dreams of the Sky
Around three hours had passed since Sparkle arrived at the police station to stay until the rain subsided. The rain was still pouring down hard outside and showed no indication of slowing down let alone stopping any time soon. Sparkle was enjoying reading one of the books that one of the officers gave her to keep her busy, and she was already almost done with the first one.
Sparkle was happily reading the book when the mushroom-like officer from before opened the cell door. The officer was holding a plate with a sandwich in one hand and a glass of water in the other.
“You hungry yet? I got something for you.” The officer asked Sparkle.
“Yeah, I am a little bit. Thanks!” Sparkle replied as the officer handed her the items in his hands. The officer left afterwards, closing the door softly behind him.
After Sparkle finished her meal, she started to feel drowsy. Just after Sparkle finished reading the first book, she drifted off to sleep and napped for nearly two hours.
During Sparkle’s nap, she dreamed of Parasol Waddle Dees floating up to a land in the clouds that was full of castles and many other large buildings. In the dream, Sparkle hitched a ride on one of the Parasol Waddle Dees by sitting on their head, and when they got to the top, Sparkle stared at her surroundings, particularly the buildings, and her mouth was agape with awe at the beauty of what she was seeing. There were many spacious buildings adorned with pillars, fountains, and many gardens. Sparkle couldn’t help but wonder what exactly this place was, though something about the atmosphere of it felt somewhat familiar. Sparkle hopped off of the Parasol Waddle Dee and began exploring her surroundings.
There were many unfamiliar creatures walking around the mysterious city in the clouds. Some creatures looked similar to wheels akin to what one would find on a bicycle, albeit with one large eye on each side of it, others looked like Parasol Waddle Dees with no parasol and only one large eye and two hairs above the eye. One type of creature stood out to Sparkle, one with no feet, detached hands, and a pair of large, pointed ears on top of their head. The creature wore a hooded cloak and a cape, with a scarf presumably covering their mouth. Sparkle looked into the creature’s bright yellow, glowing eyes, and the creature smiled and waved.
“Hi, Sparkle! I see you’ve fallen asleep!”
Sparkle suddenly jolted herself awake, taking a few second to adjust and focus her eyes like earlier that morning. The Puffball officer from before was standing in the doorway, dripping wet from rain. The officer shivered slightly from the cold water on her body, though she seemed hardly fazed.
“Hmmm.... did you take care of the shoplifting thing?” Sparkle asked as she stretched.
“Yeah, he was just trying to steal a bunch of watermelons. I don’t know what was up with him, it didn’t look like there was anyone else with him and he didn’t explain why he was trying to steal them. The whole thing was just really weird,” the officer replied. “Aaaaanyway, how are you doing?”
“Well, I finished reading one of the books. It was really good! The other officer came in and gave me some food and water, then I realized how tired I was and I fell asleep.” Sparkle replied.
“Nice! Did you have any dreams while you were asleep?”
“Yeah, I had this weird dream that there was a big city up in the clouds. There were a bunch of castles, gardens, and fountains everywhere. It was really neat.”
The officer’s eyes widened somewhat. “That sounds like a real place on Pop Star called Grape Gardens. Does that sound like somewhere you’ve been before? Or does it sound like something you read about in the book?”
Sparkle paused for a moment, then replied. “I don’t know. I didn’t read about it in the book, but something about living in the clouds seemed... familiar. It was a bit weird, it seemed familiar yet pretty foreign to me at the same time.”
The officer remembered the identification report from earlier. “Hmmmm... maybe you’re not even from Pop Star after all. I’ve heard of some planets nearby that also have cities in the clouds. There’s Skyhigh, which I’d say fits the bill pretty well, and there’s Shiver Star, which is a bit further and a bit dangerous from what I’ve heard. There might be some others, but those are the only ones I can think of right now,” the officer replied as her phone buzzed.
“Oh, dang it... yeah... sure, I’ll be right there,” the officer hung up the phone and looked back at Sparkle. “Sorry to leave ya, someone thought it was a good idea to try and break into some arcade machines and steal money while people were playing on them. See ya.”
“See ya.” Sparkle responded as she opened up the next book and started reading. This was a mystery book about trying to find someone who stole a large diamond from a museum exhibit. Sparkle thoroughly enjoyed this book and got about halfway through when she realized she could no longer hear rain coming from outside. Sparkle peered out the window and noticed the sky was growing dark as evening approached. The mushroom-like officer, whose species Sparkle now knew was called a Cappy thanks to the book she was reading, once again came over, this time with a bowl of tomato soup and another glass of water.
“I brought some more food for ya. Sorry I didn’t come sooner, I had to help Officer Rachel with that arcade thief she told you about earlier. It also looks like the rain finally stopped a little while ago, so I hate to tell you this, but you’ll need to leave tomorrow morning in case we need more room here,” the Cappy officer told Sparkle. “Officer Rachel also told me that you had a dream about Grape Garden. If you want to go there, I can make some arrangements.”
Sparkle looked down in disappointment for a moment, then she looked back up at the officer. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually been to this Grape Garden place, but I wouldn’t mind going there! It seems really neat!”
The officer smiled. “Okay, I’ll get an arrangement for you to go there tomorrow morning. Sadly, I can only do that much, and if you want to stay some place there, you’ll need to ask someone about it.” The officer left as he closed the door and pulled out his phone.
Sparkle ate her tomato soup and continued reading. The lights were turned off, and Sparkle pulled the blanket over herself and drifted off to sleep, once again dreaming of Grape Garden.
Sparkle was awakened in the morning by the lights coming back on. Officer Rachel tapped on the door, getting Sparkle’s attention.
“You awake yet? I’ve got a train ride arranged for you over at the station down the road.”
Sparkle yawned as she replied. “Oh yeah, that thing. When do we need to leave?”
“We’ll need to leave in about half an hour. I got some breakfast for you out in the main room as well.” Officer Rachel motioned to the hallway, leaving the door open. Sparkle grabbed her blanket and the books she borrowed and hopped into the hallway towards the main room.
Officer Rachel and Sparkle got to the main room a couple of minutes later, and there was a brown paper bag with a restaurant logo on it on the large table. Sparkle handed the books she borrowed back to the Cappy officer, and Officer Rachel handed the bag to Sparkle as the two said goodbye to the Cappy officer and headed out to Officer Rachel’s car. The two got into the car, and Sparkle pulled a warm sandwich out of the bag.
“I would tell you to be careful to not get crumbs all over the back of my car, but this is a police car and it’s bound to get dirty,” Officer Rachel told Sparkle as she backed out of the parking lot. “It’s no big deal, I have to get this thing cleaned twice a week.”
A few minutes later and after Sparkle finished her sandwich, the car stopped in front of the train station. The building had a large clock on the front of it, along with an LED sign that scrolled through various stops, including one to Grape Garden. The building was also made of red bricks, and there were several gates that were guarded by machines with a slot for tickets on each one and two lights, one red and one green. The red light was lit up on each one, until a Waddle Dee approached one and inserted a ticket into the slot, causing the green light to turn on and the long arm attached to the machine to go down, allowing the Waddle Dee to pass.
“You’ll need this to get through the gate... and you’ll need these to get youself some food later,” Officer Rachel told Sparkle as she handed her a ticket and a few stirps of light green paper with numbers on them in a bag that Sparkle could also fit her blanket in. “After that, you’ll be on your own. This is all I can give you. Goodbye and good luck!” Officer Rachel waved to Sparkle as she hopped out of the car.
Sparkle hopped to the gate and inserted the ticket in the slot, causing the arm on the machine to go down and allowing her to pass. Sparkle waited on the concrete platform, which had a metal roof over it. Sparkle waited for a little while as several creatures started to gradually come into this waiting area, and the train noisily pulled up a short while later. The train was made of a silvery metal and had many windows on its sides and front, the front of which also had an LED sign on it that read “TO GRAPE GARDEN”. The door on the side slid open, allowing some passengers on board out and some of those waiting at this stop, including Sparkle, to board. Sparkle nervously hopped on as the bell dinged, signalling the train’s soon departure.