Ten reasons to stay.
She always went, she never stayed. Maybe it was because of her impatient nature or maybe it was something in her DNA. Maybe it was due to the example laid out before her: Dad hadn’t even bothered to see her good and buried. Or maybe it had more to do with an overwhelming curiosity to always see what lay in the furthest reaches of the universe.
For whatever the cause, Jenny had always possessed many reasons to go in her life, a lot of excuses, too: The atmosphere’s too thick, the temperature to hot. Too many people here, not enough there. Too backwards, too forwards, too strange. Not what I’m looking for, not what I want. Too much to see out there, too much to do. Absolutely no room to run here at all. What; I’m not a dwarf!
In all her life, though, there were only ever a handful of reasons to stay:
The second time she had found any semblance of an excuse to remain planet side for longer than a day, it had been within a small farming community on Arcadia IX that Jenny thought would make for an interesting visit. Instead, she had led a struggle against a rather nasty alien creature, some bug-eyed, two headed being from an unpronounceable planet to put an end to the enslavement the bugs had inflicted for centuries. Victory had been brilliant and surprisingly not all that costly – on Jenny’s side at least.
As she boarded her shuttle, not wanting to deal with the aftermath, Tobi, a small child she had befriended prior to the battle, begged her to stay.
Two days extra days was all he received.
The third and fourth times Jenny thought to stick around had been because of a boy. The first was a young, reckless Boeshanian Time Agent from the 51st century going by the name of Jazz who had a penchant for narrow escapes and a dark, brooding past. It had been infatuation at first site on Jenny’s part and for a few days full of travelling and shagging, she had thought about staying with him forever. It didn’t last and, five full days after Jazz had disappeared from the inside of her ship, she landed on Arcateen V and fell head over heels for the star poet Aristeides and his words.
That affair lasted a full seven days before restlessness overcame them both and she and Aristeides went their separate ways.
Reason number five was the result of a chance encounter. Who’d have guessed Dad would be visiting Biblios at the same time she chose to try to expand her knowledge on her species? Jenny certainly hadn’t. The reunion was everything she had hoped for, the outcome everything had dreaded. She wanted so, so much to travel with her father. The last two of their kind, the only family either actually had. That time, she really would’ve stayed. Really would’ve. But Jenny could only deal with that haunted look that filled her father’s eyes whenever he thought she wasn’t paying attention for so long.
It was, she realized five months later, rather difficult to go anywhere when chained up and locked n a prison cell. Jenny hadn’t actually meant to interfere with the Judoon raid this time. It just… well… sort of happened. Forced imprisonment kept her around longer than intended for time six. Ironically enough, seven years later, history repeated itself for stay ten.
By then, a full two years had passed since leaving Messaline. The idea of returning to the planet of her birth didn’t seem all that thrilling, but for whatever reason – a spontaneous urge of curiosity, Jenny called it – she did. The planet had blossomed since she had left, growing and thriving in so many ways. Humans and Hath truly lived side by side and in the centre of the capital stood a waterfall dedicated to the preservation of peace. Messaline hadn’t been the only thing to change while she had been away; Cline had too.
The seventh reason for staying had been about a boy, too.
On New Alexandria, nine years later, Jenny found the most unlikely reason to stay. She never quite found out how she became elected president; only that it had happened. She blamed her companion at the time, a sentient dog-like alien named Rufus, for rigging it as a joke. Rufus only shrugged in the manner that all dogs can and wandered off for a hunt. She surprised herself in being a good leader, good enough maybe to stick around. In the end, she stole a new shuttle and named Rufus regent in her absence. Politics were so not her thing.
Cause ninth had been another strange circumstance, involving an energy tracer, a group of angry Terileptils, and a banana. It had been one of those things Jenny refused to talk about forever more.
So, in her short but eventful life, Jenny had found plenty of reasons to go and very few reasons to stay. But she couldn’t ever forget that very first reason. The only time she had actually stayed.
Dad hadn’t expected General Cobb to pull out his gun. She had reacted on instinct. The bullet piercing the membrane of her heart hurt more than anything she could imagine. Jenny crumpled into her father’s arms, staring at the new world around her. It looked beautiful. She vaguely heard herself say as much before Dad started to babble.
One heart had given out already and the other was on its way. Her father talked but she could barely focus, barely focus on his words or his face. Did she respond? Jenny couldn’t tell. She was fighting an inner battle. Never ever had she felt this overwhelming desire to stay. To stay alive, to stay in this body, to travel, to meet new friends and maybe some enemies, to help all those planets out there, to be amazing just like her father said.
It was all she really wanted. All, she thought, that she would ever want.
And with her last breath, Jenny prayed that she wouldn’t die. Hoped and wished, wished and prayed, prayed and oh, oh she couldn’t leave the universe. Not yet, not this soon. She closed her eyes and focused all she could on that one thought. She couldn’t go. She had to stay.
Unconsciousness claimed her.
Jenny gasped as she opened her eyes. Today was a new day, with new people to greet her. Cline and a Hath whose name she didn’t know stared down at her in shock. She had done it. She had stayed and she wasn’t ever going to leave this life again until she was good and ready. Oh, it was brilliant! She beamed at them both.
“Hello, boys!”
With one reason to stay lodged firmly into her consciousness, Jenny suddenly knew she had so many reasons to go. She wouldn’t miss a minute of it.
She always went, she never stayed. Maybe it was because of her impatient nature or maybe it was something in her DNA. Maybe it was due to the example laid out before her: Dad hadn’t even bothered to see her good and buried. Or maybe it had more to do with an overwhelming curiosity to always see what lay in the furthest reaches of the universe.
For whatever the cause, Jenny had always possessed many reasons to go in her life, a lot of excuses, too: The atmosphere’s too thick, the temperature to hot. Too many people here, not enough there. Too backwards, too forwards, too strange. Not what I’m looking for, not what I want. Too much to see out there, too much to do. Absolutely no room to run here at all. What; I’m not a dwarf!
In all her life, though, there were only ever a handful of reasons to stay:
The second time she had found any semblance of an excuse to remain planet side for longer than a day, it had been within a small farming community on Arcadia IX that Jenny thought would make for an interesting visit. Instead, she had led a struggle against a rather nasty alien creature, some bug-eyed, two headed being from an unpronounceable planet to put an end to the enslavement the bugs had inflicted for centuries. Victory had been brilliant and surprisingly not all that costly – on Jenny’s side at least.
As she boarded her shuttle, not wanting to deal with the aftermath, Tobi, a small child she had befriended prior to the battle, begged her to stay.
Two days extra days was all he received.
The third and fourth times Jenny thought to stick around had been because of a boy. The first was a young, reckless Boeshanian Time Agent from the 51st century going by the name of Jazz who had a penchant for narrow escapes and a dark, brooding past. It had been infatuation at first site on Jenny’s part and for a few days full of travelling and shagging, she had thought about staying with him forever. It didn’t last and, five full days after Jazz had disappeared from the inside of her ship, she landed on Arcateen V and fell head over heels for the star poet Aristeides and his words.
That affair lasted a full seven days before restlessness overcame them both and she and Aristeides went their separate ways.
Reason number five was the result of a chance encounter. Who’d have guessed Dad would be visiting Biblios at the same time she chose to try to expand her knowledge on her species? Jenny certainly hadn’t. The reunion was everything she had hoped for, the outcome everything had dreaded. She wanted so, so much to travel with her father. The last two of their kind, the only family either actually had. That time, she really would’ve stayed. Really would’ve. But Jenny could only deal with that haunted look that filled her father’s eyes whenever he thought she wasn’t paying attention for so long.
It was, she realized five months later, rather difficult to go anywhere when chained up and locked n a prison cell. Jenny hadn’t actually meant to interfere with the Judoon raid this time. It just… well… sort of happened. Forced imprisonment kept her around longer than intended for time six. Ironically enough, seven years later, history repeated itself for stay ten.
By then, a full two years had passed since leaving Messaline. The idea of returning to the planet of her birth didn’t seem all that thrilling, but for whatever reason – a spontaneous urge of curiosity, Jenny called it – she did. The planet had blossomed since she had left, growing and thriving in so many ways. Humans and Hath truly lived side by side and in the centre of the capital stood a waterfall dedicated to the preservation of peace. Messaline hadn’t been the only thing to change while she had been away; Cline had too.
The seventh reason for staying had been about a boy, too.
On New Alexandria, nine years later, Jenny found the most unlikely reason to stay. She never quite found out how she became elected president; only that it had happened. She blamed her companion at the time, a sentient dog-like alien named Rufus, for rigging it as a joke. Rufus only shrugged in the manner that all dogs can and wandered off for a hunt. She surprised herself in being a good leader, good enough maybe to stick around. In the end, she stole a new shuttle and named Rufus regent in her absence. Politics were so not her thing.
Cause ninth had been another strange circumstance, involving an energy tracer, a group of angry Terileptils, and a banana. It had been one of those things Jenny refused to talk about forever more.
So, in her short but eventful life, Jenny had found plenty of reasons to go and very few reasons to stay. But she couldn’t ever forget that very first reason. The only time she had actually stayed.
Dad hadn’t expected General Cobb to pull out his gun. She had reacted on instinct. The bullet piercing the membrane of her heart hurt more than anything she could imagine. Jenny crumpled into her father’s arms, staring at the new world around her. It looked beautiful. She vaguely heard herself say as much before Dad started to babble.
One heart had given out already and the other was on its way. Her father talked but she could barely focus, barely focus on his words or his face. Did she respond? Jenny couldn’t tell. She was fighting an inner battle. Never ever had she felt this overwhelming desire to stay. To stay alive, to stay in this body, to travel, to meet new friends and maybe some enemies, to help all those planets out there, to be amazing just like her father said.
It was all she really wanted. All, she thought, that she would ever want.
And with her last breath, Jenny prayed that she wouldn’t die. Hoped and wished, wished and prayed, prayed and oh, oh she couldn’t leave the universe. Not yet, not this soon. She closed her eyes and focused all she could on that one thought. She couldn’t go. She had to stay.
Unconsciousness claimed her.
Jenny gasped as she opened her eyes. Today was a new day, with new people to greet her. Cline and a Hath whose name she didn’t know stared down at her in shock. She had done it. She had stayed and she wasn’t ever going to leave this life again until she was good and ready. Oh, it was brilliant! She beamed at them both.
“Hello, boys!”
With one reason to stay lodged firmly into her consciousness, Jenny suddenly knew she had so many reasons to go. She wouldn’t miss a minute of it.
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