Cass set the last feed bucket down and leaned against the paddock fence, idly tugging a soft clump of gray-green dream pig fur out of the wire. The sun was breaking free of the distant mountains just in time to be swallowed up by blossoming amber clouds. She frowned, twisting the wool around her fingers. Just another normal day on the farm. Morning chores were almost done, but she couldn\u2019t seem to settle into her usual rhythm. Even her eyes felt gritty and irritated. She rubbed at them with a cleanish patch of her shirt sleeve.<\/p>\n
\u201cSleepy? Her father hung his elbows over the top wire casually, missing her mood entirely.<\/p>\n
\u201cYup.\u201d Cass shrugged. Agreeing was easier than trying to explain the restlessness that had been tugging at her. They stood side by side and watched while a couple of yearling dream pigs mock-battled over the last few bits of slop. Their curved horns clashed, donkey-sized bodies smacking into each other. \u201cHey, Pop? You ever thought about expanding the farm?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cInto what?\u201d His gaze stayed fixed on the posturing dream pigs, but his tone was carefully neutral, putting her on her guard. It was the tone that meant he already knew where he stood on a topic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI dunno. Maybe a few more hands to help around here. More stock. We have the best dream pigs around. Who knows? Maybe we could even have farms on other planets someday.\u201d Cass watched him hopefully, for the first time letting her daydream sneak out into real life. There was no telling what might happen if they tried to make things better.<\/p>\n
\u201cI like it the way it is. We can manage what we have as a family. Tulandra\u2019s where the dream pigs came from and Tulandra\u2019s where they should be raised. Other planets won\u2019t suit as well.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cBut you don\u2019t know that.\u201d Cass wanted to clang him on the head with the feed bucket. He was always so single minded.<\/p>\n
\u201cGetting the off-world itch, Cassie?\u201d He might as well have asked her if the farm and her family weren\u2019t good enough for her anymore. She knew it was what he meant. Her parents had worried about her wanting to leave since she had mentioned looking at off-world farming techniques once when she was fifteen. It was worse now that the new spaceport was finished barely twenty miles from the farm. She hadn\u2019t missed the fact they weren\u2019t all that keen on her running errands out that way alone or lingering there for any length of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt ain\u2019t that. It\u2019s just \u2013 what we do is special. We could use that to make a better life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes, when things get too big, they stop being special. Gotta give something to get something. What\u2019re you willing to give up to make this place bigger? Your home? Your family? Get a bunch of strangers in here and that\u2019s what might happen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was just an idea.\u201d Cass shrugged, trying to brush off his dismissal. She didn\u2019t think it was fair to assume that making the farm a little bigger would ruin their lives. She should have known better. He never wanted to hear her thoughts about farm stuff. \u201cDon\u2019t you ever get tired of it, Pop?\u201d Cass looked out at the building cloud bank. If she looked him in the eye, he\u2019d know she wasn\u2019t ready to let it go. Then he\u2019d get stubborn back and that would be that. \u201cOne bad flood, a new pig-plague, economy crashes\u2026any of that or a thousand other things and we\u2019ve got nothing. Nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYou think I don\u2019t know that, Cassie? We\u2019ve been here three generations now.\u201d He looked at her like he had when she was six years old and tying bows in the piglets\u2019 fur. \u201cJimmy\u2019s family settled here around about the same time. Look at them now \u2013 no land left after the Land Grant Agency decided they hadn\u2019t made good enough use of what they\u2019d been given. Now they\u2019re all stuffed in a little place in town, living off of what I can afford to pay him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the more reason to make things better here.\u201d Cass turned towards him.<\/p>\n
\u201cBetter means a bigger investment. We take enough risks relying so much on the dream pigs for profit. No.\u201d When she opened her mouth to argue, he shook his head. \u201cLeave it alone, girl. We\u2019re doing well enough right now. Be happy with that.\u201d The all-weather comm hooked to his belt beeped and he turned away from her to answer it. <\/p>\n
Cass clenched her jaw. Maybe she was wrong. It just galled her that he was willing to settle for \u2018well enough\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cC\u2019mon, enough sulking.\u201d Pop clapped her gently on the shoulder. \u201cJimmy needs help with Tika. Birthing\u2019s not going smooth.\u201d
\n<\/p>\n
Pop opened the barn door just enough to for them to slip inside. The scent of sweet hay and musky-clean animal made Cass sneeze. Twelve pens made a ring around the barn\u2019s open center. Eight were occupied with dream pigs munching on their morning meal. They ranged in color from deep navy to pale rose. Across the way, Cass saw Jimmy kneeling in the bedding of the open birthing pen.<\/p>\n
She\u2019d seen him birth hundreds of dream pigs. Even as a scrawny kid just starting working as a farmhand, he\u2019d had a gift for getting piglets to take their first breaths. He\u2019d been good enough that Pop had forgiven him for talking too much about his schooling in crop rotation and animal psych. Jimmy wasn\u2019t nearly so scrawny now and he thought longer before he talked, but his hands were still the best at gently starting piglets in the world. <\/p>\n
\u201cHeya, nerd,\u201d she greeted him, shyly bumping his shoulder with her knee before hurrying to wash her hands. He nodded a greeting, eyes on the pen monitor.<\/p>\n
Tika\u2019s heart-rate and temperature were above normal, even for a sow in labor. She lay on her side, ribs rising and falling rapidly. Cass chewed her lower lip, not liking what she saw one bit. They usually gave birth standing.<\/p>\n
Tika\u2019s belly rippled and she groaned. When the contraction had passed, she raised her wedge-shaped head, whistling a breathy greeting. Cass whistled back, settling into the fresh bedding and twining her fingers into the dream pig\u2019s indigo curls. Tika looked up into her eyes for long moment before the sow\u2019s gaze turned inwards and her muscles tensed again.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow\u2019s it look?\u201d Pop\u2019s voice said he already knew the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot good. If she\u2019s got one stuck, we\u2019re gonna need the vet here,\u201d Jimmy answered.<\/p>\n
Pop frowned. \u201cDoc Taylor\u2019s transport threw a tread yesterday. Doubt it\u2019s fixed yet. I might have to go collect him.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMiss Cassie and I can manage. We\u2019ll keep her steady \u2018til you get back.\u201d Cass felt her face flush. Even as worried as she was about Tika, Jimmy\u2019s trust in her ability made her cheeks color. He wasn\u2019t exactly an intergalactic celebrity-quality beauty, but his eyes crinkled in a way that made her turn a bit silly. Cass wouldn\u2019t say she hadn\u2019t been noticing that he listened intently to her opinions, not to mention how his muscles rippled when he hauled hay around.<\/p>\n
Pop thought a minute then gave a nod and headed for the barn door. It shut behind him with an echoing click. Cass sat stroking Tika\u2019s curls and glancing up at Jimmy every so often. Usually they chatted their way through work, but the silence between them stretched. They both knew they were getting past the point where a good outcome was likely. Cass dug her hands more deeply into Tika\u2019s fur. There had to be something they could do.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave you tried walking her?\u201d Cass blurted out. She was sure he had. It would have been one of the first things he tried.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. She won\u2019t get up and your old man didn\u2019t want to shove her around much more.\u201d Jimmy gave her a worried looked that clearly said he didn\u2019t like this any more than she did.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s try again. It can\u2019t hurt any more than leaving her laying until Pop gets back with Doc Taylor.\u201d She tried to keep her expression firm as he glanced over at her, but her insides were twisting. It would be all too easy to hurt Tika or the unborn piglets. He didn\u2019t look at all convinced. \u201cPlease, Jimmy. She might do it for me.\u201d<\/p>\n
Unexpectedly, Jimmy chuckled. \u201cAll right, Missy. I ain\u2019t gonna tell you \u2018no\u2019 with that look on your face. We\u2019ll give it another go.\u201d She smiled back at him. Pop never would\u2019ve given her the chance, but Jimmy slipped Tika\u2019s halter over her nose and tossed Cass the lead line. \u201cYour show, Boss. How do you want to do this?\u201d<\/p>\n
Cass grabbed a spare towel from the birthing kit. Heaving up on Tika\u2019s shoulder, she wedged it underneath the dream pig\u2019s bulky body. \u201cGrab it from the other side, will you?\u201d With Jimmy holding the other end, Cass pulled the towel snug around Tika\u2019s barrel-like ribcage, making sure it was clear of the sow\u2019s straining belly. \u201cWe\u2019ll use it like a sling. If we can get her front up, she might be able to do the rest. Ready?\u201d<\/p>\n
Jimmy nodded. \u201cOne. Two. Three.\u201d Cass pulled, straining to lift several hundred pounds of animal off the ground. She gasped as her shoulder muscles began to burn. Tika groaned, writhing briefly before settling back on her side.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt ain\u2019t working.\u201d Jimmy grunted from the other side. \u201cWe have to let her down. We\u2019ll hurt her.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cNo!\u201d Cass pulled harder, rocking her weight into the sow\u2019s shoulder. She felt the dream pig shift. \u201cC\u2019mon Tika. Move!\u201d<\/p>\n
All at once, Tika thrashed, forelegs windmilling and finally catching ground. Jimmy jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the sow\u2019s cloven hooves. The three of them stood staring at each other for a moment, panting and surprised, before Tika began to kneel again. Cass grabbed the lead line and tugged her forward. With a sigh, the sow took a few slow steps. Cass kept her going, walking in a steady circle at the barn\u2019s center.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll be damned.\u201d Jimmy leaned back against the pen gate, grinning at her. \u201cI think you just saved that pig\u2019s life, Cassie.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cass beamed back, taking Tika on another circuit of the barn. Halfway around, the sow stopped, a quizzical expression on her long face. Cass started to pull on the lead again, but paused when she realized Tika wasn\u2019t trying to lie down again. \u201cJimmy! It worked! Jimmy! I see a nose!\u201d <\/p>\n
He was already coming with a fresh towel.<\/p>\n
Five hours and six piglets later, the barn was dim and still. Dr. Taylor had looked over the new arrivals and Pop and Jimmy had gone to see him out. Cass sat with Tika\u2019s head in her lap, watching the new litter nurse. Six was a good number. Not so many that Tika would need help feeding them, but enough to pay the bills when the time came to sell them off-world.<\/p>\n
Cass\u2019 eyelids were getting heavy. She knew she should go back inside. Sleeping in the barn wasn\u2019t a good idea. Jimmy was always on about the pheromone that dream pigs secreted, but for as long as she could remember, she\u2019d known that people sleeping near them experienced deep, intensely realistic dreams. <\/p>\n
Both of her parents had made sure she knew how risky it was to sleep in the barn. The longer a person was exposed to the dream pigs, the stronger the reaction was. Every now and then they got the story back about a person who\u2019d actually gone and believed what they dreamed. Jimmy said that was also why people were willing to cough up so much hard-earned cash for them. Pop was crystal-clear when he said he\u2019d give anyone he found dozing in the barn a talking-to.<\/p>\n
Talking-to or not, it didn\u2019t seem right to disturb Tika after she had worked so hard. Besides, Pop didn\u2019t know everything. She\u2019d close her eyes a bit and then get up and get back to work. A minute or two couldn\u2019t hurt.<\/p>\n
Her hair fell in elaborately arranged curls down her back. The diamond flakes artfully dusted over her designer dress glittered in the candlelight. Music played softly as a few couples moved in time on the dance floor. One of the up-and-coming entertainment celebrities waved to her. She nodded politely back before turning the other way. It had been a long day. She wasn\u2019t up for another inane conversation with someone who was after her sponsorship.<\/p>\n
Cass smiled as Jimmy returned with drinks and a sparkle in his eye. \u201cI made us a new connection.\u201d He handed her the drink and settled into the chair next to her. His back was straight and his suit perfect. He had come a long way from muddy boots and shoveling manure. \u201cThose men over there are from Silta. More than that, they practically own Silta. The whole damned planet, Cassandra. And they want to meet you to talk about starting a dream pig farming complex. We can charge them anything we want and they\u2019ll pay it happily.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cPut it on my calendar.\u201d Cass waved her hand, feigning casualness that she didn\u2019t feel. A contract with Silta would solidify her position in this part of the galaxy. It might even give her a base to start shipping dream pigs out to more distant systems. The old family farm would keep growing, keep making money.
\nJimmy looked taken-aback for a moment before he burst out laughing, eyes crinkling. \u201cYou almost had me there. As if you aren\u2019t dying to run over and work out all the details right this minute!\u201d
\n\u201cOf course I am! Just don\u2019t tell them that. Better they think we\u2019re taking our time with it.\u201d Cass laughed with him. She never would have guessed that she had a head for business. It was a shame her father hadn\u2019t lived to see his little farm become a galactic phenomenon. He might have realized how much a little bit of risk could do \u2013 how much she could do.<\/p>\n
\u201cUp you get, Missy,\u201d Jimmy was leaning over the side of Tika\u2019s pen. He looked so different from his dream-self that she barely recognized him. Cass blinked, trying to get her bearings. The dream had been so vivid. Not a surprise given where she\u2019d fallen asleep, but disconcerting just the same.<\/p>\n
Jimmy held out his hand. Cass eased out from under Tika and took it. She tried to picture him in the three-piece suit from her dream. In the light of day, she couldn\u2019t imagine him all fancied up. Jimmy heaved her to her feet and she stepped out of the pen. He was watching her with a worry-line between his eyebrows.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat?\u201d Cass brushed a tuft of fur off the front of her coveralls and picked some bedding out of her braid.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know better than to fall asleep out here. You\u2019re not a kid anymore, Cass.\u201d She glared at him. She knew that. Hadn\u2019t she just proved it with Tika?<\/p>\n
\u201cYou looking to try to escape school work by going a bit crazy?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t mean to.\u201d Cass frowned. He wasn\u2019t even ten years older than she was. Old enough to be different from the boys at school, which occasionally made her a bit too nervous and giggly, but why was he suddenly treating her like a kid? \u201cRelax, Jimmy. A nap or two won\u2019t drive me loopy. We sell the pigs as pets all the time. None of our clients are any crazier than they started out.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019ve got only one pig each, like the law says, not a whole herd of them. Before you know it, you\u2019ll start thinking they\u2019re telling you the future. Just look at old Benji down the other side of the spaceport. The other day he was down at the bar sayin\u2019 that harmony lilies will fly in space and bloom all over the galaxy. And he\u2019s only got a small herd.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cass snorted in amused disbelief, as Jimmy had no-doubt planned. Harmony lilies were a pretty sort of weed. Mum had talked about growing them in the garden but the insects they attracted drove the pigs to distraction. \u201cAll right, all right. It won\u2019t happen again. Now move. I\u2019ve got to get the yearlings under shelter before this storm breaks.\u201d She could feel Jimmy watching her as she went.<\/p>\n
Cass put the littlest piglet on the scale. Yet again, the diagnostics couldn\u2019t find anything in particular wrong with him besides mild dehydration and somewhat delayed development. He hadn\u2019t put on weight like his siblings and was growing increasingly listless. She knew the feeling. For the last few weeks, she\u2019d been so busy taking care of the litter that she\u2019d had no time to think about her dream. <\/p>\n
The piglet shivered again. Cass couldn\u2019t resist. She picked him up, wrapping the little violet ball of fuzz in a thick towel and cradling him to her chest. She had been on the farm her whole life \u2013 more than long enough to know that not every baby animal made it to adulthood, even with the costly high tech gadgets. Cass hated it every time.<\/p>\n
Pop already had given up on him, but she wasn\u2019t ready to let it go. Pop might be one of the most respected farmers in the area, but she was tired of him having the only say on how things were. Sometimes a little extra was all it took. It couldn\u2019t be that dangerous if she brought the piglet in. A strong dream was nothing compared to a piglet\u2019s life. One handed, she pulled a bottle of nutrient formula out of the warming tray.<\/p>\n
Cass checked her watch. It was late. Her parents had been asleep for hours. She could sneak him into the house. She\u2019d be in trouble if they found out. She could almost hear Jimmy\u2019s voice, telling her that Pop would be mad as a stuck boar and no one in their right mind would want that. But then he might also say that a life was worth it.<\/p>\n
She paused outside the door, re-tucking the towel around her small charge. \u201cOkay, buddy, now\u2019s the part where you have to hush. You give us away and it\u2019ll be right back out to the barn for you and talking-to for me.\u201d He cooed and wiggled. Not exactly reassuring. Cass waited a moment for him to settle and then tiptoed as quick as she could to her room. Her father\u2019s snores echoed down the hallway even after she shut the door carefully behind her.<\/p>\n
Cass settled the piglet on her narrow bed, mounding up the blankets so he wouldn\u2019t fall off the edge. \u201cStage One complete, pal. One night in and then I\u2019ll sneak you out early enough to keep us from getting caught.\u201d<\/p>\n
The piglet nosed his way out of the towel, but didn\u2019t explore further. Her heart sank. Usually they were crawling everywhere at this age. Clad in clean pajamas, she climbed onto the bed. She propped herself up on the pillow and tucked him into the crook of her arm. She offered him a bottle, feeling an untoward surge of hope when he latched onto the nipple.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou need a name.\u201d Naming him was a bad idea. It would just make it worse. But he was hers. Maybe if he lived, Pop would be willing to trust her like Jimmy did. \u201cHow about Lios? It\u2019ll give you something to aspire to anyway.\u201d She grinned. Jamie Lios, superstar singer\/songwriter extraordinaire, knew all about taking risks and living the glitzy life. He was tall, gorgeous, and had a voice that turned her heart over\u2026 The idea of naming a sickly, squeaking, dream piglet after him was ridiculous enough to tickle her fancy.<\/p>\n
Lios smacked his lips and burped. He had finished most of the bottle. Cass set her alarm to wake her in an hour and tucked it under her pillow. \u201cNight, Lios. Get better, huh? That\u2019s an order, midget.\u201d She tucked the blanket around them both, threading her fingers gently into his violet curls and enjoying the hope that disobeying the rules gave her. She fell asleep to the feel of his tiny heartbeat trembling against her fingertips.<\/p>\n
Cass stumbled back into her tiny cubicle of an apartment exhausted and smelling strongly of alcohol. She wrinkled her nose in disgust. If one more drunken spacer spilled his drink on her\u2026 she didn\u2019t know what she would do. Quitting wasn\u2019t an option. The bills weren\u2019t exactly going to pay themselves. <\/p>\n
She had given up looking for a better job. It was the same thing over and over again \u2013 she just didn\u2019t have the qualifications for anything other than slinging drinks at the spaceport bar, picking up trash, or heaving baggage for cut-rate cargo liners. She\u2019d tried them all. At least serving drinks there wasn\u2019t as much possibility of being crushed under a pallet or catching some weird trans-galactic disease.<\/p>\n
Her old monitor beeped with an incoming message. Cass sat down on the bed and ran a hand through her short hair to straighten it. She\u2019d stopped wearing it long years ago. It was too much trouble. She pressed to button to accept the call without looking at the ID. This late there was only one person it could be.<\/p>\n
\u201cHeya, Jimmy!\u201d She put on the sunny smile she used to get good tips as the video feed popped up. Her stomach did a little flip-flop that she worked hard to ignore. He looked tan and tired, but under it he seemed content. He had almost totally taken over running the farm as her parents had gotten older. Since she had left. It suited him.<\/p>\n
\u201cEvenin\u2019.\u201d He frowned and Cass smiled harder. She knew he would run straight back to her father as soon as the conversation was over and tell him all about how she had seemed.<\/p>\n
\u201cMum and Pop okay?\u201d She didn\u2019t know why he paid for intergalactic calls, but he phoned every other month or so. The conversation was always pretty much the same. Abruptly, Cass didn\u2019t want to deal with it. She was beat and work started again early.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah. The folks are fine.\u201d His slow drawl annoyed her. It sounded so\u2026 backwater.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat do you want, Jimmy?\u201d Cass cut through whatever he had been about to add.<\/p>\n
He blinked, strong face crumbling a little. \u201cWas just gonna ask if you\u2019re coming home soon. Your parents miss you.\u201d The hurt in his eyes ate at her. All he had ever wanted to do was work on the damn farm, make the pigs happy and the crops grow. He probably even wanted a wife like Mum who puttered around with gardens and sewing and raising kids. It pissed her off that he didn\u2019t want more. Well, he could have the farm and all of its rules. At least here she wasn\u2019t stuck doing the same thing every day, seeing the same faces, never being allowed to have an opinion.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d Cass felt the smile slide off of her face. She didn\u2019t want to have this argument again.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust a visit. You wouldn\u2019t have to stay. Just let us see that you\u2019re okay. In person.\u201d Jimmy\u2019s voice was pleading.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m fine.\u201d Cass shook her head. She had snuck away from Tulandra seven years ago. She hadn\u2019t been able to take it anymore \u2013 the insecurity, the unending, backbreaking labor, the isolation, the rules about who she could be and what she could do. She had taken her meager savings and hopped the first outgoing ship without telling anyone she was leaving. It had taken Jimmy months to track her down. She hadn\u2019t been back to Tulandra since leaving and had no intention of doing so now. Not that she had any way to scrape together enough money in the first place. That life was a long, long way away. \u201cDrop it, Jimmy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy are you so damned stubborn? You got no life there. Whatever you thought you were gonna do out in the big, wide universe didn\u2019t work. You look like hell and keep getting less and less like you. Give it up, Cassie. Come home to the people who love you. There\u2019s good stuff for you to do here. We need y\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
She hit the disconnect button hard enough to shake the monitor. He didn\u2019t understand. She couldn\u2019t go back. She was nothing there. Cass threw herself back on the bed and buried her face in the single, flat pillow. Tears soaked into the thin fabric as his words sank in. There was too much truth in them for her to stomach. How was it that after trying so hard for so long she was nothing here too?<\/p>\n
Cass startled awake with her alarm buzzing in her ear. Her cheeks were damp and her nose clogged. She didn\u2019t want to go and be nothing. She didn\u2019t want to stay and be nothing. Were those really the only choices for her?<\/p>\n
Something tickled at her toes and she almost kicked out at it before her sleep-fogged brain caught up. Lios blinked up at her from the bottom of the bed. He trilled happily when she moved, smacking his lips and toddling over her knees toward the empty formula bottle.<\/p>\n
Cass set him on the floor as she hurried to get dressed. The dream lingered heavily in the pit of her stomach. She told herself it was no more real than any other dream. There was nothing that said it would end like that if she left home. She wouldn\u2019t go without telling her parents anyway. They would worry. Jimmy would worry. But if she did decide to go, there was a good chance they would try to stop her.<\/p>\n
A noise from the floor distracted her. Lios had spied her bedroom slipper and was giving a threatening series of hoots, his curls bristling. Cass laughed, clapping a hand over her mouth to stifle the noise. She shook her head, grinning as his antics chased away the hopelessness the dream had brought. Her parents would be up soon. Time to get him back to his mother.<\/p>\n
The green and purple mountains were barely visible in the pre-dawn light as Cass crept across the yard with Lios under her jacket. The domed barn was a dim, hulking shape in the gloom. She pulled open the door and ducked inside, breathing a sigh of relief as she shut it behind her.<\/p>\n
\u201cCassandra.\u201d She jumped at the sound of Pop\u2019s voice. Her stomach plummeted from where it had been just starting to recover from the dream. Pop was standing by Tika\u2019s pen, flashlight in hand.<\/p>\n
\u201cI couldn\u2019t sleep. Thought I\u2019d get started on the chores.\u201d She stammered the words too quickly. It sounded way too much like an excuse.<\/p>\n
She heard him sigh in the dark, as if he was too tired to be angry at her. \u201cAll my life on this farm and you think I don\u2019t know pig-dreams when I have them, girl?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s sickly. I thought it would help. And it has. He\u2019s better today. We can\u2019t afford to lose the money.\u201d She already knew this was going to end with her in trouble.<\/p>\n
\u201cPut him back in the pen, Cass.\u201d Pop\u2019s voice rumbled. \u201cLosing one piglet won\u2019t break us, but spend too much time with them and they might just break you. As long as you live here, they\u2019re livestock, not pets. You\u2019ve been warned more than once. You\u2019re nineteen. I shouldn\u2019t be telling you again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Cass hit the light switch with more force than necessary. Her eyes stung in the sudden bright glow. She stalked towards the pen, pulling the fussing piglet out from under her coat. His curls were ruffled, but he did look a lot more active. Her jaw clenched and she shot her father a defiant look. If he was going to be like this, maybe she didn\u2019t want to live here anymore.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re done with this litter. Jimmy will take over caring for them.\u201d His voice was matter-of-fact, but she could hear the steel in it.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut, Pop!\u201d It was unfair. She\u2019d taken great care of them. Not that Jimmy wouldn\u2019t, but they were hers.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo.\u201d He pointed towards the door.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what I\u2019m doing. I\u2019m not a kid anymore!\u201d Cass kept her voice down, but the nearest dream pigs stirred anyway. <\/p>\n
\u201cThen get your head out of the clouds. This ain\u2019t a game, Cassandra.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know it\u2019s not. I saved Tika and the litter, didn\u2019t I?\u201d Her voice shook. \u201cYou\u2019re not the only one who has ideas.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cA few lucky chances don\u2019t make you an expert.\u201d Pop folded his arms across his chest. \u201cNow get back to the house. We\u2019re done talking about this.\u201d<\/p>\n
There was nothing left to say. Feeling defeated, Cass left the barn. He never listened and he never would.<\/p>\n
Cass stowed her bag next to her in the hayloft. Dream or no dream, she was leaving the farm. It wasn\u2019t just the fight with her father. She felt like she\u2019d been trying to get away for years. She couldn\u2019t imagine herself as a farmer\u2019s wife, chasing stock, birthing piglets, and programming the household machinery \u2013 keeping things going and wondering if ends could be made to meet each month. Always wondering when the next disaster was coming to ruin them.<\/p>\n
Her father was up in the top field, mending fences. He\u2019d made it clear he didn\u2019t want her help. Jimmy was down at the spaceport getting a part for the tractor. Pop had made sure she didn\u2019t go along on that errand either. Was he trying to keep her away from Jimmy now too? <\/p>\n
She rolled over onto her stomach, pieces of hay poking here and there. She would leave tonight. She couldn\u2019t ask Jimmy to take her to the spaceport \u2013 he still had to work for Pop. All three moons would be in the sky before midnight. They would provide enough light and, if she took her bike, she could be there before dawn. After that, a cheap ship to anywhere would do. She\u2019d figure it out, even if the dream of what might happen had scared her a bit. Cass set her jaw firmly. That just wasn\u2019t her.<\/p>\n
The late afternoon sunlight filtered in through the windows. Most of the dream pigs were outside, but Tika and her litter were still in their pen. Lios was tussling whole-heartedly with his siblings. The night in the house had made all the difference. She would miss them terribly when she went, Lios in particular. Him being alive let her know that she could do things right, even if she felt sick when she thought about her plans. Cass shut her eyes, the warmth and quiet making her drowsy.<\/p>\n
The shuttle docked with barely a bump. Annie squealed with delight, clapping her chubby hands and bouncing as much as the straps holding her in her seat would allow. Cass smiled at her daughter, packing away snacks and toys as the flight attendant relayed the usual information about disembarking and gate changes.<\/p>\n
Jimmy unhooked Annie, settling her expertly on his hip. \u201cC\u2019mon, little miss. Your grandparents are waiting to meet you.\u201d Cass\u2019s smile became a grin as Annie grabbed two big handfuls of her father\u2019s hair and pulled.<\/p>\n
\u201cEasy there!\u201d Jimmy leaned back, trying to escape her reach.<\/p>\n
\u201cHold still.\u201d Cass stood on tiptoe and laughingly disentangled Annie\u2019s fingers. \u201cShe\u2019s going to be stronger than you in no time.\u201d Annie had spent most of her short life on shuttles. The trip back to Tulandra had been a long one. Cass was glad the lower gravity didn\u2019t seem to have affected her development. The doctor had assured them it was safe, but she had worried a bit anyway.<\/p>\n
They walked down the aisle and out into the spaceport. It had grown almost unbelievably in the time Cass had been gone. It was hard to believe it had been ten years. College had gone by in a blur and she had jumped straight into the job with the Farm Research Bureau afterwards. <\/p>\n
Reconnecting with Jimmy had been a surprise. They had spent years talking across the galaxy, but after so long he had seemed more like an imaginary friend than a real person. At least until he had come for an extended visit to see about getting a patent for their strain of dream pig. She grinned. Turned out a nine year age gap wasn\u2019t such a big deal after all. Her parents had been at the wedding via webcam. To her relief, Jimmy had never once mentioned returning to the farm he loved.<\/p>\n
She had been the one to bring it up once they\u2019d known Annie was on the way. After a few bureaucratic tussles, Cass had gotten the FRB to let her relocate her work to Tulandra. She wanted Annie to grow up without the constant bustle and pressure of the larger worlds. There would be time enough in her daughter\u2019s life for that and Cass wouldn\u2019t keep her from it when the time came.<\/p>\n
The doors opened and Cass breathed deeply. The air was rich with the end-of-summer smells of cut hay and damp earth. Across the road, her parents were waving. Cass wrapped her free arm around Jimmy\u2019s waist and hugged him tightly. They were finally home.<\/p>\n
The barn door opened, bringing Cass out of her dream. She peeked over the edge. Relief flooded through her as she watched her father cross the room. She wasn\u2019t ready to face Jimmy after all of that. It was just plain awkward that it was so easy to think of him as ideal husband material. She got up and climbed down from the loft. Pop had his back to her, washing his hands in the deep sink.<\/p>\n
\u201cPop.\u201d She was surprised at how calm her voice sounded. Her hands were trembling. \u201cI want to leave the farm.\u201d Her dream gave her last minute inspiration. She knew what she wanted. \u201cI want to go study at a university. One of the ones on Pollin.\u201d <\/p>\n
He finished washing his hands in silence. Cass waited, knowing he must have heard her. At long last, he turned around. She met his eyes, squaring her shoulders and fighting the tears that were welling up. As they stared at each other, his shoulders slumped. The tears got away from her, running down her cheeks of their own accord. She crossed the distance between them and threw her arms around him. \u201cNot forever. I promise. I just have to go for a bit and see other things.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay, Cassie. Okay.\u201d His strong arms came up around her. \u201cBut you get to tell your Mum.\u201d<\/p>\n
At that, the tears came on even stronger. He was going to let her go and the he\u2019d let her come back.<\/p>\n
The transport was packed and her ticket bought. \u201cPop, c\u2019mon! I\u2019m gonna miss the shuttle!\u201d Cass\u2019s stomach was fluttering with nervous excitement. Her mother was already in the driver\u2019s seat, having wasted no time telling all of the neighbors that her girl had gotten accepted at a fancy university. Cass leaned out the window, searching the yard for her father.<\/p>\n
\u201cCalm down, Cassie. There\u2019s plenty of time. He\u2019s just got to go get something.\u201d She caught Mum\u2019s smile in the rearview mirror. \u201cNow don\u2019t forget, Jimmy\u2019s cousin, Anna, will be meeting you when you get to Pollin Station. She says you can stay with her as long as you need.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, yeah. I know. I have her picture and her number.\u201d She and Jimmy had already said goodbye. It hadn\u2019t exactly been the stuff of romance vids. He\u2019d pulled her ponytail and told her to punch any guy who looked cross-eyed at her. She\u2019d hit him for practice\u2019s sake, though not too hard.<\/p>\n
Pop finally came out of the barn with a travel crate. Cass rolled her eyes in exasperation. She should have known he would take the opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. Tika\u2019s litter was ready to go to their new homes. Obviously he had scheduled one to leave today too.<\/p>\n
He put the crate in the back and settled into the passenger seat. They started off down the road. Cass twisted in her seat and peeked into the crate. Lios whistled at her. Her heart sank. Even though she was leaving, she had hoped he would stay at the farm. \u201cWhere\u2019s he going?\u201d she asked quietly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith you.\u201d Pop answered in a gruff voice. \u201cYou\u2019ll need company out there. Already called the university. They let you have one pet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOh.\u201d Cass settled back into the seat, her grin threatening to split her cheeks. She reached back and stuck her fingers through the slats. Warm breath huffed against her skin and Lios trilled softly. Her special midget was going with her. In the distance the spaceport was visible, growing clearer by the mile. She shivered in excitement. All of her dreams began there.<\/p>\n
Kate O’Connor’s short fiction has also appeared in Daily Science Fiction, Penumbra eMag, and Pressure Suite: Digital Science Fiction Anthology 3.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Cass set the last feed bucket down and leaned against the paddock fence, idly tugging a soft clump of gray-green dream pig fur out of the wire. The sun was breaking free of the distant mountains just in time to be swallowed up by blossoming amber clouds. She frowned, twisting the wool around her fingers. …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":786,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,125,458],"tags":[459],"class_list":["post-3695","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-fiction","category-futuristic","category-tcl-7-spring-2013","tag-the-colored-lens-7-spring-2013","entry entry-center"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/786"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3695"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":139665,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3695\/revisions\/139665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3695"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3695"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thecoloredlens.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3695"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}