“I love coming to town to shop.” Tabitha was enjoying herself. Her father gave her a bag of coins to buy supplies for their little community.

Markus was manning their stall, selling the excess fruits, nuts, and items their craftsmen made. She and Tabitha were exploring the different shops and new stalls that have appeared. Most of the new stalls were from merchants that were from different towns that travel around and spend a week or so at a different location selling their ware.

Some of the merchants knew how to push their products and were of high quality. However, there were a few you had to be careful of. Tabitha made sure she knew which merchants would do a switcheroo with their product or sell her a lesser-valued one.

They stop at a shop that sold fresh noodle soup that Abandonné has never had before or even heard of. She couldn’t believe how spicy and tasteful it was. The other thing she noticed as she walked around with Tabitha, was that there were people who looked different than anyone she has ever met before.

As Abandonné walks side by side with Tabitha back to the stall, they set up earlier today “Tabitha, what culture were those people at that noodle shop we just left are?”

“They are from an Asian culture. At first, only a few have appeared in the past. But, lately, though, a large amount has been appearing.” Tabitha had been surprised by how many have been appearing lately.

“Is that common for around here?” Abandonné was curious.

“Sometimes. It all depends on what is going on where they are coming from.” Tabitha knew that depending on where people came from, determined how many people appeared.

Abandonné was still confused, but she just accepts what Tabitha tells her. She was still learning about this strange place and why she was spared from dying like some of the people on the ship she was on did. Not all of the passengers/crew on the ship she was being transported on survived.

By the time Abandonné gets back to her home. She was exhausted. She makes a simple dinner for herself and reads for the rest of the night.

Since there was a full moon out tonight and the sky was cloudless. She sits outside and looks up at the night sky. The stars weren’t like they were from where she came from. Not that she got a chance to look at them. She was either too tired or under feed to care.

Around midnight, Abandonné heads back inside her home and lay down on her bed. She was glad her life has taken a different path than the one she was on before. She doesn’t know what she did to earn a second chance, but she is glad she did.

The next day or so, Abandonné is busy with classes and afterward, helping Tabitha with the task that had been assigned to her. Tabitha also gives her a tour of the ship her father is building. At first, Abandonné didn’t want to go on board because of her former experience of being on a ship. However, Tabitha reassures her that nothing will happen to her.

Abandonné is amazed at the construction and how roomy the ship is. It’s nothing like the sailing vessel she had been transported on. There weren’t any slaves here. This vessel had the latest of everything she had seen.

“Tabitha, you said once that ship is capable of flying in the sky? How is that possible?” Abandonné was curious.

“It’s a combination of the wood that the ship is made of and the special properties of the crystal that powers this ship. When you channel the
power of the crystal through the wood that the ship is made of. It allows the ship to defy gravity and fly.”

Abandonné just looks at Tabitha with a blank look on her face. She didn’t understand a word that Tabitha said to her. Everything about this world and the ship she has seen so far was confusing to her.

Tabitha saw the blank look on Abandonné’s face. She keeps forgetting that Abandonné wasn’t from here and the time frame she came from didn’t have the technology.

“Here, let me show you.” Tabitha escorts Abandonné over to a skiff that could be used like the ship.

Abandonné follows Tabitha over to a wooden skiff. She saw that it was set up weirdly.

“Here, watch this.” Tabitha connects a set of cables to a weird box.

Abandonné watches as the skiff levitates off the floor. She was amazed at what she was seeing.

“That’s magic?” Abandonné looks at Tabitha when she says that.

A smile appears on Tabitha’s face. She looks at Abandonné “Not really. It’s a science that can be explained. Magic is a science that hasn’t been discovered yet.”

Tabitha knew it was the special properties of the crystal and the special properties of the wood. She thought it was magic when her father first showed her, but the chief engineer Diggs explained how things worked to her.

Tabitha continues to show Abandonné around the ship. Afterward, they join some of the crew for lunch. Chef Malone was a really good cook.