The Big Grey by Cecily

Chapter 1 

The heat of the dusty and dry desert was becoming intolerable. The rabble of tourists vocalised their excitement to seeing an Arabian Oryx that raced off at the sound of the infuriating noise of cameras clicking. The tourists clicked away and the tour guide's voice went unheard at the no longer peaceful desert. Mum had told me that it would be good for me to get to know the local area which was typical as she dragged me and dad out here because of the scientific research and the future of our planet. In my opinion, she needed to wake up! 

There were NO animals here except for the occasional Arabian Oryx or Addax which looked the same - except one had curly horns. She is here to monitor the wildlife currency and we have to stay for 5 years; apparently, otherwise it would be erroneous. Of course why don't you just ruin my life and move me halfway across the world totally against my will! 

A girl popped up next to me and bombarded me with numerous questions then stood there waiting for me to answer. I blinked and said the first thing that came to mind which was unfortunately 

“This tour is trash!?”. I don't know why I said it in an American accent, since I am not even American, but I am part Canadian as my G-g (grandpa) was from Canada. I've never been great at making friends! The girl shrugged her shoulders and her face went crimson:she quickly recovered though as she glared at me, her friendly expression quickly evaporating as she let out a scowl. “That's my Mum and I think she is great!” shot the girl.“What? Oh yes, I didn't mean to offend you, I just…” 

It was my turn to go red as I just about managed to splutter my words out, “I am so so so so sorry!”

The girl’s expression seemed to subside a little and finally she gave an embarrassed look as she cleared her throat and said, “Sorry, I get a bit protective of my mum ever since dad left, but this tour is not great,”she sighed but carried on, “Mum used to have the BEST tours but ever since dad’s departure she's been all jittery and now instead of winging it she has to prepare a speech and the she starts acting like a strict old teacher but really she is still the same inside which is lucky for me - I mean imagine living with a boring tour guide,” 

I blinked in surprise at the way the girl had just opened up to me; I didn't even know her name yet and she was already acting like my best friend. I'm not gonna lie, it felt kinda nice to feel not completely alone and I couldn't help the smile that was plastered across my face. 

As if she could read my mind, she stuck out her hand, and grinning like a Cheshire cat said, “My name is Pyla. My parents named me after the largest sand dune, we used to live there!” she said proudly.I smiled back and took her hand. 

“I am Aurora - it means “gold” in Latin and “goddess of the dawn” in Greek!” I beamed. At this moment, I am stuck for words, but luckily for me, Pyla was bursting with them so she chattered away as we raced to catch up with her mum, who I think I heard was called Aster, which is apparently a Greek origin and means "star".