Richard J. Ronayne

Novella

Phenix Publishing Ltd

Nation-X Project

Dozens of my stories are currently being illustrated for release by Phenix Publishing Ltd for their Nation-X project, a multi-year project for 4-8000 word educational novellas.

This series was designed for young adults and high schoolers across Chinese and American schools, harnessing anthropomorphism to help digest mature, dark or joyful topics, whilst reflecting life, and exploring real social issues in an exciting and educational way.

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Sunny Days
By Richard Joseph Ronayne

CHAPTER 1: Two Stars Colliding
“Excuse me?” A voice asked from behind Ben, as he sat on a park bench holding his exhausted head in his hands after another failed job application.
He raised his head slowly, not sure if he was being spoken to, and saw a slender female sun bear standing next to him, with her arms carrying a pile of leaflets. “Sorry? Am I in your way? I’ll move, it’s ok.”
“No, you’re not, it’s just that you looked like you were sad, and I wondered if there was anything I could do to help?” The sun bear kindly explained.
“Oh, well, thank you, but I’ll be ok,” Ben dismissed.
“My name is Sunny Ursira,” she said holding out her hand after looking him up and down concernedly.
Ben paused at the unexpected friendliness before shaking her hand, “Ben.”
“Nice to meet you, Ben. Do you mind if I sit with you for a minute? I could use a break from handing these leaflets out,” Sunny asked rhetorically as she firmly planted herself on the bench beside him.
Ben smiled at her, he was usually prone to running away from awkwardness, but something told him he needed to stay. He had had such a terrible day, and nothing good was going to happen to him back at home, alone in his room. “Sure, please, sit,” he joked, as they both laughed together.
They sat for hours, talking, and laughing. Sunny had an energy to her, a special love for life, that Ben couldn’t help feeling uplifted by. He was more charming and cheerful overall, to a point that he surprised himself.
“So, I haven’t even asked, what are the leaflets anyway, Sunny? Is that your work?” Ben inquired, as the sun began to set.
“Ah, yes, sort of. Have you heard of Dreamlandism?” Sunny countered.
“No, I don’t think so, what is it?” Ben replied, concerned that his lack of cultural education was starting to show.
“Well, I mean, it’s not that important, but it is kind of my work I suppose. It is kind of my church, that I also work for. They take care of me, and I work with them, it’s more like a family though. But, anyway, the leaflets are my current task, I have to hand them all out. They are about Dreamlandism, just trying to raise people’s awareness so they know they are welcome amongst us,” Sunny explained, seeming shy and reluctant to talk about it or show Ben the leaflets.
“That sounds interesting. I have never had any interactions with any religion to be honest. I can take all of the leaflets if you want, then you’ll be finished, right?” Ben joked in earnest, but Sunny seemed to become a little uncomfortable by the suggestion.
“No, I love my church. It is important to me that I hand out every single leaflet to a different individual. I am ethically obliged to be honest about it. But, Ben, I don’t want to give you a leaflet,” Sunny explained, looking shyly down at her awkwardly swinging feet.
“Oh, ok, I am sorry if I offended you, I was just joking. I think that is very admirable of you. I don’t think I would have the energy to hand out all of them, so I think it is very impressive,” Ben explained, not really understanding if he had offended her or not.
“Thank you, but it’s not that, I just don’t want you to think that I sat here to try and talk about it and give you a leaflet. I thought you looked like you needed cheering up, but it is you who has cheered me up, so, thank you, Ben,” she said, looking up into his big brown eyes as she said his name.
“Well, I am very glad that you did. It is honestly one of the best things that has happened to me in recent memory. I will always remember this day as a wonderful one, purely because of you, Sunny,” Ben admitted as he stared back into her eyes, as both found themselves slowly leaning in for their first embrace.
Ben and Sunny went on many dates after that first day at the bench. He found himself unusually energized and positive with her influence. This was abundantly clear to his friends and family, as he seemed like a whole new version of himself, which they all felt that they had been waiting to meet.
“Ok, it has been a couple of months now, Sunny. If this is the extremes you will go to give out a single leaflet, you will never get rid of them all. So come on, it’s clearly very important to you, so I would like to know more about it. Tell me about Dreamlandism?” Ben asked one evening.
“Ha, you have fallen for my overly complicated scheme! The most elaborate con ever pulled off,” she joked, sticking her tongue out at him before continuing. “Ok. Ok. Dreamlandism is a fairly new religion, but it is one that you work with as part of this huge community, or family. They help you progress towards happiness in all aspects of your life.”
“That sounds nice, but it is a religion, so what is it that makes it unique? What do Dreamlandists believe in?” Ben continued.
“Well, essentially it is all very science based. We all believe in the shared dream of a perfect utopia, which we call Dreamland. We all agree on what it looks like: unlimited happiness, no illness, no wars, no pains, no starvation. Just, perfect satisfaction in life, for everyone. But we work out a path backwards from that utopia and choose to follow it so we can make it a reality,” Sunny said, content with her explanation.
“That sounds pretty logical actually, I like the sounds of it. I certainly haven’t been satisfied with life, until I met you, Sunny,” Ben declared.
“Thank you, Ben. I believe it is because of my hard work for Dreamland that brought us together. They help you be your best self, and better things happen to you when you are happier within yourself. I can take you, if you like, but I won’t be offended if you aren’t interested though, don’t worry,” Sunny offered.
“I think I would like that. Yes. Please. It sounds like a dream, Sunny,” Ben replied.

 
CHAPTER 2: Electric Feels
Sunny was nervous as she and Ben approached the large gates to the temple grounds for her Dreamland Church, noticing her tension, Ben asked if she was ok.
“Yeah, I am fine, it is just that I am essentially introducing you to my family. That’s all, and that’s plenty to make a girl nervous. I haven’t done this before, you are the first, Ben,” Sunny admitted, leaning in to kiss him.
They turned towards the open gates, within a large, ordained archway with beautiful carvings of symbology that Ben didn’t understand. Spaceships, gateways, stars, and planets.
Beyond which was a large grassy field, well-kept and filled with people enjoying the hot summer day. They walked through, and around the temple grounds, as Sunny waved at people she knew, whilst showing Ben the pristinely kept Temple gardens and scattered buildings for all the needs of the Temple’s residents.
Eventually she led him to the Temple Church itself. A massive, silver and gold structure which served as an impressive testament to the limits of architectural wonder, with its curved edgings and open plan halls. The outside of the building was entirely covered in etchings and artwork, as it told various stories, some more obvious than others.
“It is beautiful, Sunny. Is it made of real gold? That must have cost a lot, wow, I’ve never seen a church like it. Or any building for that matter,” Ben queried.
“I don’t know, Ben, but it was happily paid for by the members of the Church,” Sunny was quick to defend. “Let’s go inside.”
As they arrived at the front entrance to the Church, they were greeted by an old, but sizeable, grey and white furred, bearded collie. He was wearing a very well-fitting black suit, that still could not contain most of his long shaggy fur.
“Reverend Wallace, it is good to see you, I have someone I would like you to meet,” Sunny called out, gesturing to Ben.
“Ah, this must be the strapping and handsome young Ben that you keep talking about then,” he winked, as he invited Ben to shake hands, “this must be your first time to our temple, please, allow me to show you around the Church.”
Ben didn’t get many words in edgeway around the Reverend, who herded them about the Church efficiently, making sure they did not miss any of the large or small wonders scattered through. Eventually he brought them to what looked like a food hall, with an opened wall alongside the field.
Nobody had any food though, to Ben’s dismay, instead he saw people sitting in rows facing each other with their paired hands between them on some sort of crystal ball that flared with electricity inside every now and again. It was quite beautiful to watch. “What are they doing?” Ben couldn’t help but query.
“They are communing, Ben. They are healing and finding their way to their brighter future, to Dreamland. Come, it’s nothing to be afraid of, it is quite safe. Sunny, why don’t you show young Ben how it works, I will happily supervise for you,” Reverend Wallace said, sitting them at a spare table off to the side and gesturing for someone to bring him the crystal object.
Sitting at the table, Ben and Sunny sat across from each other, each placing their hands on what appeared to just be a crystal ball, but as Ben looked deeper inside it, there was a small mote of electricity at its core, barely visible but buzzing with energy. 
As his hands touched the ball, it flared streaks of electricity towards every point of contact his fingers and hands made, making him chuckle, then he noticed that the contact of Sunny’s hands was not getting a reaction, only his. “I think your plasma ball is broken, Reverend. I have seen these before, it sends electricity through you to the earth, making your hair stand up with static electricity at the same time, very cool. Ah, Sunny, your chair must be made of rubber, stopping it from working.”
Sunny giggled, planted her feet firmly on the floor and placed her hands back on the ball, still with no reaction. “It isn’t a plasma ball, Ben. It is a Negative Enlightening Globe, or a NEG as we call them. It isn’t electricity inside, it is negative energy, but it does work like a plasma ball, in that it can only transfer through contact with negative energy.”
“We use them to help us overcome our negative feelings and replace them with positive ones, it seems young Ben, much like most anyone from outside our Church, you have a great stockpile of negative energy within yourself. I have no intention of pressuring you to join us, your free will belongs to you, but I would like to make sure that you know that you are certainly welcome to join our community here, as I believe it has a great deal to offer you. Dreamland is real, Ben, and it is waiting for you. But you have to work hard to get there. Otherwise, you are certainly welcome to come as you please, or to go,” Rev. Wallace said.
The NEG suddenly flashed with light through Sunny’s touch at the Reverend’s final words, startling her out of her seat, sending the NEG careening out of their hands and through the air across the hall.
As everyone gasped, Ben athletically ran and jumped onto a table in the middle of the room just in time to catch, what he correctly presumed was a very expensive piece of scientific equipment. Standing up on the table, the NEG lit fully up, drowning the room in light, as he held it above his head in his outstretched hands. It was safe, Sunny wouldn’t be in trouble because of him. The NEG dimmed slightly.
He looked around the room, then down at Sunny as everyone clapped their thanks towards him. The NEG dimmed a little more. 
“Thank you, Ben, I’m so sorry though, there’s not much that gives me negative energies nowadays, so it doesn’t go off very often for me and it startled me is all,” Sunny admitted, looking up at him from the floor. The NEG dimmed further.
“So, it was the thought of me leaving that gave you negative energy, well, it’s ok, Sunny. I want to stay, because I love you,” Ben announced, stepping down from the table and kissing Sunny, as the rest of the hall, and some of the field outside, applauded the scene.
Only the keen eyes of the Reverend noticed that the NEG, still in Ben’s hand, had stopped reacting entirely now.


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