Free NAAN (The Rabanians Book 1) by Dan Haronian, Thaddaeus Moody

their language,” said Dug.
    I gazed at him. “I'll sign with my hands that I am mute. I am sure there are mute people here.”
    Daio nodded but I had already started walking into the clearing. My steps on the dried leave made an annoying crunching noise, so I looked for cleared spaces in between to step on them. When I reached the porch a strange feeling came over me. I thought it was the lack of oxygen, and that I was a bit dizzy, but the feeling didn't go away when I stopped in front of the stairs. I looked back. Daio and Dug's heads were peeping from behind a tree. I looked back at the house and then realized that it was simply smaller than I expected. The stairs, the door at the edge of the porch, the fence around the porch, they all were scaled down as if it was a house of little people. I wondered if it was some trick of the shadows cast by the large planet’s strange light. This thought faded when I started to climb the stairs. I felt like I was in some sort of a children’s story, and I was the giant that walked into town.
    “Hello,” I called and immediately put my hand to my mouth, remembering too late that I was supposed to be mute. I waited a few seconds and then walked up to the front door and knocked. My knock was hesitant and weak, as if I was unsure of myself, which was completely true. I knocked again, this time more firmly. I waited a few seconds but there was still no response. I walked to the window beside the door and shaded my eyes to look inside. The house was quiet. I went back to the door and tried the handle. It opened with a squeak.
    “Hello. Is there anybody here?” I called wondering what I would say if someone answered my call. No one did and the house was silent.
    “Hello,” I called again.
    I smiled. I could be spouting juicy curses as long as they sounded soft and pleasant. I bent a little, so as not to hit the doorframe, and went inside. A table and a few chairs were in the space next to the entrance. It looked like a small lobby. A cloth roll was on the table and the cloth was unspooled across its surface and onto the floor. On my right was the entrance to a small kitchen. From where I stood I could see the sink and beside it a counter. I walked into the kitchen and tripped over the cloth on the floor. The rest of the roll fell to the floor on the other side of the table. 
    The thought of food cubes filled my head and I started to look for food. I noticed a small basket on the counter next to the sink. I walked over to it.  There were dark cookies inside the basket. I knew they were cookies right away. I had tasted one once when Daio came back from a meeting with a rich client in Seragon City. He’d saved me a small piece to show me what rich families ate. Two days later, with the taste of the cookie still in my head, I found a video on the network that showed how they were made. The video showed large fields on exotic planets. It showed how they grew all sorts of grains. The most memorable thing was the rich, gold color of baked goods fresh from the oven. I stared at the basket wondering if the shuttle had brought us to one of those worlds. I reached out my hand and took one of the cookies. It felt a bit spongy. I brought it to my nose and breathed in its rich smell.   
    I took a hesitant bite and a wonderful sensation filled me. I took another bite, this time with less hesitation. I chewed with great joy.
    I took a third bite, and suddenly remembered Daio and Dug. I picked up the basket and rushed to the porch, waving them in. They didn't understand my waving at first. Only when I raised the cookie in my hand and took another bite, did Dug hurry from behind the tree and limp quickly across the clearing. Daio soon followed him.
    “There is no one here,” I said chewing.
    Dug and Daio each took a cookie and started to eat with great joy.
    “Did you make sure there was no one in the house?” asked Daio, while chewing.
    I looked at him as if I had something stuck in my