Circularity is Future
E-Book, Englisch, 280 Seiten
ISBN: 978-3-7562-4991-6
Verlag: BoD - Books on Demand
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: Adobe DRM (»Systemvoraussetzungen)
Autoren/Hrsg.
Weitere Infos & Material
CHAPTER ONE
“So, I was thinking peonies for the centerpieces,” Archie, the royal architect and interior decorator, explained as they stood in the Emperor’s Hall that morning. It was a Wednesday. Or it might have been Friday. That was the problem—all the days blended together on the planet of Maxilla, and had for the twenty-two years that Circle had been alive. “Although I also like the idea of white roses. But then again white roses are so overused. Peonies are still fresh,” he went on. Circle looked out the window of the castle down towards the garden where the seamstress was laughing at something the gardener had just said. She watched as the young woman’s cheeks flushed as she threw her head back to laugh. She made it look so…effortless. Like a move in some sort of water ballet. If I tried it, I’d probably throw my neck out, Circle thought. Maybe she could find some sort of online tutorial to teach her how to do that. “What do you think, Your Highness?” Archie asked. Circle got closer to the window, fascinated by the way the seamstress cocked her head and wound a tendril of hair around her finger as her smile bloomed even bigger. Had the girl taken a class to learn how to do this? There had to be something out there—an online class…a book. Maybe she could just ask the girl to teach her. There’s no way she would say no. She’d have to. Circle was the princess of Maxilla. Archie looked nervously at Gregor, the head butler, unsure about how to proceed. Gregor cleared his throat. “Your Highness’s favorite flower are white roses. Isn’t that right, Your Highness?” “Oh. Then white roses it is!” Archie replied. “Can’t go wrong with those. They’re elegant, and classic—just like you, Your Highness,” he babbled nervously. Circle tore herself away from the window and turned to the two men. “Is that what it looks like?” she asked. Archie turned to Gregor, confused as to what Circle meant, but Gregor took it all in stride. He’d known Circle for all twenty-two years she’d been alive, and was used to the random questions she posed. That was how it was for people who grew up living in their heads. “Is that what what looks like, Your Highness?” Gregor said gently. “Love,” she responded. At this point, sweat began to pool on Archie’s bald dome. While he had no problem talking about flowers, and decorations for coronations and weddings, matters of the heart were not his specialty. “I just remembered I have to check on the menu for the King’s luncheon with the Minister of Finance this afternoon,” he babbled. “We can get together tomorrow to continue our discussion about your upcoming wedding, Your Highness. Although you being the princess, it won’t really be a discussion. I mean, we can discuss it, but ultimately everything will be your decision.” “Thank you, Archie,” Gregor stopped him. “That will be all.” “Oh, thank you,” Archie sighed, relieved as he hurried out of the ballroom. “So, is it?” Circle asked again. Gregor cleared his throat. “I think that what they’re doing is called flirting, Your Highness.” “Interesting. Will I do that with my husband?” she asked. “Or is it something you do before you get married?” “I believe if you’re lucky you continue to do it after you get married as well,” Gregor replied. “Ah. Okay. I guess I need to learn how to do that then. Is there a class I can take?” Circle missed her mom for many reasons, but especially right now. She’d know how to flirt. “Hm. I’m not sure. But I’d be happy to research that for you, Your Highness.” It was times like this that Gregor missed the Queen as well. Circle stretched out into a down dog posture and stretched out her calves. A year ago she set out to study yoga and had learned all 84 asanas of hatha yoga in three months. If she could do that, there was no reason she couldn’t figure out this flirting thing. “What if I don’t like him?” she asked. Gregor was glad Circle’s face was towards the ground so she couldn’t see him cringe. “I’m sure you will.” He hoped he sounded convincing. “I mean, if I don’t like him, I probably won’t want to flirt with him, right?” “I’m sure he’s a wonderful young man,” Gregor replied. Circle stood up and grabbed her foot as she effortlessly transitioned into dancer’s pose. “I don’t understand why I can’t meet him at least once before the wedding. Obviously, I don’t have a lot—okay, any—experience with dating let alone boyfriends or fiancés, but before my father abolished screens in an effort to get us to connect on a personal level again, I do remember that that’s what people my age do.” “I will research the area of flirting later and get back to you, Your Highness,” Gregor replied, anxious for the conversation to end. Luckily just then he was saved by the bell—literally. He tried to make his sigh of relief as quiet as possible. “Time for your singing lesson, Your Highness.” “Cool!” said Circle excitedly. That meant she’d get to see Gregory, Gregor’s son as well as her best friend. Okay, so he was also her only friend because he was the only person on the planet who was her age, but even if that weren’t the case, he’d still be her best friend. They had known each other since they were born, which was three months apart. Half of Circle’s baby pictures included Gregory, including some of the two of them in the bathtub. As she made her way to the music room (who was she kidding—it was more an entire floor versus a room) she thought about what a great boyfriend Gregory would make. Not for her, obviously, because they were like siblings, but for someone else. He was smart, and funny, and the kind of guy you could talk to about anything for hours on end. He was like a girlfriend in a guy’s body. As Circle entered, she tried not to laugh when she saw the look on Sir Harold’s (or “Maestro” as he liked to be called) face, which was something between gas and having just taken a bite of a tuna fish sandwich that had been left out in the sun. The reason for this was because while Gregory may have had many terrific qualities, playing the piano was not one of them. Unfortunately, he was the only one in the castle who could. “Oh, good. You’re here,” Sir Harold exhaled with relief. The thing was, Gregory didn’t know he didn’t have much talent on the piano. “Let’s get started. La la la la—” “La, la, la, la,” Circle sang back. What Gregory lacked in aptitude on the piano, Circle more than made up for with her voice. He nodded with approval. “Li, li, li, li—” he continued. “Sir Harold? He held up his finger. “Li, li, li, li—” “Sir Harold? “Li, li, li, li—” “SIR HAROLD!!!!” she boomed. At that, Gregory stopped playing, the surprise of the force of her voice causing his fingers to slip, resulting in a sound that sounded like a huge car crash. “Whoops,” Circle said. “Didn’t mean to be so loud.” “What is it, Your Highness? Are you not ready to move on to lililili? It’s just that you were doing so well with the la’s—” “It’s not that. I was just wondering when we were going to move on to something else.” “Like what?” “Like something with words,” she replied. “Words?” Sir Harold said, as though the concept was foreign. “Yes. Words,” Circle said. “See, last night I had this dream that I was singing--” “Cool,” Gregory said. “What did it sound like?” “Well, it sounded something like….” Circle flipped her head over so her long shiny blue hair hung over her face that then flipped it up quickly and let out an ear-piercing scream, the kind that would make any heavy metal rocker envious. Before she was done, armed guards burst into the room with their weapons drawn. “It’s okay, it’s okay,” Sir Harold assured them. “Her Highness was just practicing her…singing.” “That? Was incredible,” Gregory gasped. “Thanks,” Circle replied with a smile. “That was certainly…something,” Sir Harold mumbled as he held his head. “Excuse me while I go look for some aspirin.” As he left the room, Circle plopped down in a chair and sighed. “What is it?” Gregory asked. “I don’t know. I look at people and everyone seems to have a hobby,” she replied. “Like knitting. Or hiking. Or cooking. But I find it all so boring.” “I don’t know. Certain kinds of cooking can be fun,” Gregory replied. “Like if it’s really spicy?” “When I sing like...
