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Heather
The herd of white sheep looked comical on the purple grass of Kyven. It was clear they didn't belong here but they didn't seem to care, and instead were eating as much as their greedy stomachs allowed.
I weaved my way through the sea of wool on legs and patted a few soft heads on my way through. Cloudling let out a soft bleat and I gave her an extra scratch between her ears. "I know, it's a lot to get used to, isn't it? New home, new planet, new food."
As if she understood, Cloudling bleated again and ate a pluck of long purple grass, chewing on it leisurely.
"You seem to be adjusting well." I ran my hands through her soft fur, picking out some thorny material from the nearby bushes that could leave nasty marks. “You’re doing better than me, then.”
A light chuckle came from behind me. “I see you're still talking to the sheep, Heather."
I turned and raised my arm to greet my cousin. "Hey! And you can't say much, you talk to the Highland cows."
"Yes, but they're so much smarter, they actually know what I’m saying," Rachel said with a grin.
"Agree to disagree." I patted Cloudling's head. "Don't you listen to her. I know you're very clever."
She gave me a vacant stare.
“Never mind.” With another scratch, I turned back to Rachel. “What are you doing here?”
“Just came to check on you. You’ve been spending a lot of time out in the pasture.” She gave me a concerned look. “Is everything okay?”
We wandered down the grassy hill, back to the farm. “Yes, everything is alright.”
“You sure? You’re not regretting moving to Kyven?”
“Well, we didn’t have much choice. The bank was about to take everything away from us.” I gestured around the foreign landscape. “And this was our only option apart from going bankrupt and losing everything we’d worked hard for. Don’t worry about me, I’m fine. Kyven is great.”
“And you don’t miss Earth?”
“I miss certain things about it. The smell of fresh hay, my breakfast cereal, and cheese.”
“We have cheese,” Rachel pointed out as she held the door of the farm house open, grimacing. “Although I’ll admit that Highland cow milk isn’t exactly producing the best kind of cheese.”
“Yes and it’s very tedious to make. I miss supermarkets. Yoghurt, milk in my tea, parmesan cheese, cream donuts. Oh, cheese strings.”
My cousin laughed. “Well, I’m glad you said that because I have a favour to ask.”
“Oh no, I know that tone. What is it?”
“So, I talked to the Ta-Kavalla sisters and they seem in need of more supplies for their animal park. And I checked our inventory and we’re running low on feed for the cows.”
“There’s plenty of grass,” I pointed out.
“Yes, but the Highlands are a little more picky than your sheep. Anyway, they’re arranging a trip down to Earth and they wanted to know if you and I wanted to go as well.”
I put the kettle on the stove. “So what’s the favour?”
“I kind of want to stay with Tamsia. She’s amazing but she has horrid taste in interior design, so I want to keep an eye on her while we’re in the middle of building our house.”
“You want me to go on my own?”
Rachel folded her hands together. “Please? I’ll owe you.”
“You already owe me from that week I scooped waste by myself, do you remember?” That had been back on Earth. It felt like a lifetime ago.
