Sorry I haven't posted in a while! I've been really buisy! But hey! I have a treat for all you my devoted readers... *crickets* ...okay for all my soon-to-be-devoted soon-to-be-readers! The prologue for my newest writing project! WOOT WOOT! I understand your excitement!
Sooooooooooooo...
TAH-DAH!
I’ve been here for three years and I’m sick of it. Why did our cruel ancestors do this to us? Were they really that desperate? Could they have not found another way? Was this truly the only path? It cannot be. War is never the answer. It’s too bad they never knew that! If they had then maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.
I apologize for my angry demeanor. Please realize that my anger is not aimed at you, dear reader, but at them: my cruel relations. They have cursed me, and so for this I am angry. However, it is unjust for me to be taking this anger out on the very people that are taking the time to read this.
You see, I live in the year 2786, and a horrible year it has been. This age began in the year 2747 when a company called “ASTREM” started its world-wide government plot. There would be one, over-all leader, governors for each country, and two council members per governor. Their idea was that if we could all agree on one central government it would end the age of war. Their ideas were noble, as was their leader, Samuel Astrem, but at the death of the world’s leader, his governors began the argument of who would carry on his roll of supremacy. The council normally took a position below the governors, but with this crisis they rose to the occasion, proclaiming that the people of Earth would vote on who they wanted as their leader. The leading governor, Leon Anderson, was the expected winner, but on the eve of the announcing he was murdered by a hired assassin. Police caught the perpetrator and were able to persuade him to enlighten them on who he was working for. It turned out that he was hired by a running governor. This discovery put Earth in an uprising. Around the globe, supporters of Leon Anderson and of the opposing parties were set against each other. Fatal riots broke out in Hong Kong, New York, London, and Moscow. These cities had been major political capitals but were then turned apart by separate views. This resulted in shootings, lynching’s, and total world-wide chaos. The madness only increased in the years to come. Finally, in 2785, my father, Mayson Carter, started the underground in the West side of Ireland. My family and six others went into hiding as a way of escaping the evils now dominating the government of the day. My father got word of a peace settlement in Sydney, Australia, completely cut off from the rest of the world, and so we set off in hopes of catching a boat in India. We have been on the run ever since, trying to slowly make our way to the tip of India before the riots destroy what boats are left there.
Living in the underground is not in any way easy. You are constantly moving from place to place, trying to elude those who attempt to find us. While on the run with the underground, you live out of a suitcase and barely ever get sleep. You would think that we would adapt to this style of life, but this isn’t life; therefore, we cannot adapt to it. We are living in a way that should not even exist. We recently discovered that one of our own has cancer. This did not go over well for the group. There were some that wanted the victim and their family banished; sent out into the war territory. Logic soon shed light on our group, and the notion of this banishment was dismissed.
Living like this is not what any of us want, but it’s the best we have for now. For us, there’s no way out.
My name is Bridget. I am 17 and currently residing in what remains of Paris, France. We plan on making a run for the fortress at Black Forest, Germany, the first chance we get. Like I said, my father was the one who started the revolt, but he was only a piece of its power. There are now at least 70 fortresses spread out across Europe. I’m not sure about the rest of the world, I only know this because I’ve heard father discussing it with the family leaders.
I also said that we are now in hiding, not by ourselves, but with six other families as well. We travel as a group, making our way to the shores of India where we will be able to sail to Australia: the only peaceful territory left on this war-tainted planet.
Because of our constant moving, I have seldom slept well within the span of the last four years. Father is always trying to give us time for rest, but even then, there is barely enough time to settle down for the night. At this point, I have given up on rest.
On this particular night, we were taking refuge on the top of a three story building that once served as an office complex, before the war. The six families that make up our caravan tend to separate themselves. Almost all of us get along well, but there are certain pairings that would do well together. Personally, I do not exactly like the Bennett’s. They are a peculiar family made up of a father named Henry, a mother named Lydia, and three daughters named Mayla; Sadie; and Rennet. Mayla and Sadie are descent, but Rennet is not exactly my type. She and I could easily be compared to oil and water, though she would have to be the oil for she is much too thick. In her mind, she must always be right, no matter if her logic is sound or not. This trait has come to annoy me a great deal. You see, I strive to know everything I can, and when I am corrected or proven false, I take it as a learning experience. As for her, she knows everything so she doesn’t need to learn.
Please excuse me for my ranting. I am simply upset. Forgive me.
Moving on to a more productive topic, my father just told us that there has been a violent outbreak in Rome. This means that we are going to have to speed up our rate of moving. We cannot risk being found in the middle of a riot, and riots like these are never concentrated. When a riot starts in a major city the violence spreads to any town within a 50 mile radius. At least, that’s what Mr. Burns says.
Mr. Burns is one of the family leaders in our convoy. He is a former governor of Samuel Astrem, but he wasn’t one of the major competitors. He was a small, independent party with very few followers, but what he stood for was noble. He stood for peace, unlike the majority of the other governors. Because leaders like him were so few, he was not seen as major party. In my opinion, he should have been Astrems successor, but the world does not agree with me.
Today the world thinks that a good leader must be bold to be strong, and lucky to be wise. It seems foolish to me. Just because a man is outspoken doesn’t mean that he could lead the world through war, and just because someone is in the right place at the right time doesn’t mean that they always will be. If the world puts its faith in sheer luck then what future do we have? If we do this then we leave our future to chance, and that is what we did when we allowed our society to get entangled in this mess. If we had been smart and allowed someone like Mr. Burns to lead us through Astrems death then maybe we wouldn’t be caught up in this, but that is something that we can never redo. What’s done is done. We cannot afford to look back; there is far too much danger in our future.
From what I’ve heard, we leave for Black Forest tomorrow morning four hours before dawn. The reasoning behind our early departure is simple: We are now in one of the most populated cities on earth. Leaving any later would put us at risk of being seen. We can’t have that, can we?
“Bridget?” judging by the lightness of that voice it must have been Liam, my closest companion, “Are you still awake?”
I had been lying on the far edge of the building, not even attempting to sleep. “Yeah”
There was a soft sound of movement beside my head and then a hand on the side of my ear. “You okay? You really took a beating back there.”
He was referring to my argument with my Mr. Davis. We had gotten into a debate over politics, and since Mr. Burns was too scared to stand up for himself I took the liberty of doing it myself. Mr. Davis seemed to think that no matter who had taken up office at Astrems death, we would have still ended up like this. I don’t have the patience to explain the whole argument, but I will say that things got a little heated and the end result was the red, swollen imprint of a hand on the side of my face.
“Yes, I’m fine.” The fact that he had taken a seat was a clear sign that he was not going to be leaving any time soon, “How are you?”
He looked down at me, “We are on the run from the world, Bridget. My condition never changes. Like always, I am tired and sore.”
I let out a soft sigh as his hand moved to the soft spot behind my ear. He always knew just how to calm me down. “Aren’t we all?”
There was a moment of silence as a light in one of the windows of the building beside us turned on. We were both motionless. Even the hand that had been softly rubbing the side of my head went motionless. The light flickered for a moment then vanished.
Both of us let out long withheld breaths, “I wish we would hurry up and get out of here.” He said in a wispy voice that only I could hear.
“I know it must be hard for you, since you consider Paris your home, but every move we make must be precise. We are in a maze right now.” My attempts at comfort failed miserably.
“I know, but we need to be moving faster. At this rate, we won’t make it to India in time to catch a ferry. By the time we get there the war will have destroyed them.”
I sat up, resting my head on his shoulder. Liam was very tall for a 15 year old. Compared to him I was a shrimp, but I didn’t mind it that much. It was good to be a shrimp at these times. In fact, because of my size I fit perfectly into his right side. “We will make it, Liam. Have a little faith. My father will lead us through this.”
He let his head fall to where his right cheek was against the top of my head, “I have all the faith in the world to give your father, but I have absolutely none for the other dear sirs that he is trying to please.” Liam and I had nicknamed the house leaders ‘The Dear Sirs’.
“I’m not all that happy with them either, but I do trust that father and Mr. Burns will keep them in line.”
Liam brought his arms up to hold me around the shoulders, “I should hope so.”
At that moment, I wanted everything to just stop, to just put the world on pause, but of course, I couldn’t. The feel of his wrist watch against my back struck curiosity. “What time is it?”
He held his watch to his face, squinting to see the clocks face, “1:57.”
I sighed, “We should be packing everything up.”
He looked down at me, “I guess you’re right.”
We both stood up and I was reminded of our differences in height. He was a full foot taller than me. I brushed the debris of my old jeans then reached up to pat him on the arm. “You need to get packing.” I smiled at him.
Both of us turned to head back to the group, but were faced with something we didn’t expect. My heart fell as I realized that the group had already moved on.
They had left us here, to fend for ourselves. Reality turned to fog and my body became heavier than it had been only moments earlier, as it rested in Liams strong arms. I fell to my knees, mouth agape with shock.
Flashes of memory ran through my head, making me want to cry.
Father waking me in the middle of the night, telling me to pack my things.
Mother shielding my eyes from the violent city around us.
Mr. Burns smiling sympathetically at me after I managed to tear my shirt on a nail.
Liam leaned down to make sure I was okay. “Bridget!”
I gulped then looked at him, “What are we gonna do, Liam?”
He pulled me into his arms, the way he had earlier. “We can stick together. We’ll leave for Black Forest once both of us are packed.”
“But how will we find it?”
“This is an old office so there’s bound to be a map somewhere inside.” His voice was starting to show signs of fear, “I never unpacked my bags. You just pack yours while I go find a map.”
He stood, slowly removing his hand from my back, and then walked to the door on the far side of the roof. The door was off of its hinges which allowed him to enter. He shot me a reassuring look before disappearing into the doorway.
I attempted to stand, soon noticing how heavy I felt. All of those sleepless nights were catching up with me, all at once. I fell to my knees again, but this time in front of my bag. The tears suddenly began to fall and as I wiped them from my cheeks I noticed that instead of clear, they were a bland shade of brown. The filth on my face must have been pretty thick. I threw what clothes I had into my bag then threw it over my shoulder.
Right on cue, Liam pushed his way out of the building. “I found a map, and I also found a compass.” He was speaking to my back.
I turned to face him, boldly showing my tear marked cheeks. His face fell at the sight of mine. “Let’s go.”
We lowered our bags by a rope that we found in the offices storage room then repelled down. Liam pulled out the map and gave me the compass. I gave him north then he found the street that lead out of the city and towards Black Forest.
I met Liam’s eyes and gave him a nod. I knew he understood that we were alone in this. There was no one to lean on, absolutely no one.
We started down the road, leaving all memories behind us. After all, memories are just heavy luggage, and we couldn’t have that could we?
I apologize for my angry demeanor. Please realize that my anger is not aimed at you, dear reader, but at them: my cruel relations. They have cursed me, and so for this I am angry. However, it is unjust for me to be taking this anger out on the very people that are taking the time to read this.
You see, I live in the year 2786, and a horrible year it has been. This age began in the year 2747 when a company called “ASTREM” started its world-wide government plot. There would be one, over-all leader, governors for each country, and two council members per governor. Their idea was that if we could all agree on one central government it would end the age of war. Their ideas were noble, as was their leader, Samuel Astrem, but at the death of the world’s leader, his governors began the argument of who would carry on his roll of supremacy. The council normally took a position below the governors, but with this crisis they rose to the occasion, proclaiming that the people of Earth would vote on who they wanted as their leader. The leading governor, Leon Anderson, was the expected winner, but on the eve of the announcing he was murdered by a hired assassin. Police caught the perpetrator and were able to persuade him to enlighten them on who he was working for. It turned out that he was hired by a running governor. This discovery put Earth in an uprising. Around the globe, supporters of Leon Anderson and of the opposing parties were set against each other. Fatal riots broke out in Hong Kong, New York, London, and Moscow. These cities had been major political capitals but were then turned apart by separate views. This resulted in shootings, lynching’s, and total world-wide chaos. The madness only increased in the years to come. Finally, in 2785, my father, Mayson Carter, started the underground in the West side of Ireland. My family and six others went into hiding as a way of escaping the evils now dominating the government of the day. My father got word of a peace settlement in Sydney, Australia, completely cut off from the rest of the world, and so we set off in hopes of catching a boat in India. We have been on the run ever since, trying to slowly make our way to the tip of India before the riots destroy what boats are left there.
Living in the underground is not in any way easy. You are constantly moving from place to place, trying to elude those who attempt to find us. While on the run with the underground, you live out of a suitcase and barely ever get sleep. You would think that we would adapt to this style of life, but this isn’t life; therefore, we cannot adapt to it. We are living in a way that should not even exist. We recently discovered that one of our own has cancer. This did not go over well for the group. There were some that wanted the victim and their family banished; sent out into the war territory. Logic soon shed light on our group, and the notion of this banishment was dismissed.
Living like this is not what any of us want, but it’s the best we have for now. For us, there’s no way out.
My name is Bridget. I am 17 and currently residing in what remains of Paris, France. We plan on making a run for the fortress at Black Forest, Germany, the first chance we get. Like I said, my father was the one who started the revolt, but he was only a piece of its power. There are now at least 70 fortresses spread out across Europe. I’m not sure about the rest of the world, I only know this because I’ve heard father discussing it with the family leaders.
I also said that we are now in hiding, not by ourselves, but with six other families as well. We travel as a group, making our way to the shores of India where we will be able to sail to Australia: the only peaceful territory left on this war-tainted planet.
Because of our constant moving, I have seldom slept well within the span of the last four years. Father is always trying to give us time for rest, but even then, there is barely enough time to settle down for the night. At this point, I have given up on rest.
On this particular night, we were taking refuge on the top of a three story building that once served as an office complex, before the war. The six families that make up our caravan tend to separate themselves. Almost all of us get along well, but there are certain pairings that would do well together. Personally, I do not exactly like the Bennett’s. They are a peculiar family made up of a father named Henry, a mother named Lydia, and three daughters named Mayla; Sadie; and Rennet. Mayla and Sadie are descent, but Rennet is not exactly my type. She and I could easily be compared to oil and water, though she would have to be the oil for she is much too thick. In her mind, she must always be right, no matter if her logic is sound or not. This trait has come to annoy me a great deal. You see, I strive to know everything I can, and when I am corrected or proven false, I take it as a learning experience. As for her, she knows everything so she doesn’t need to learn.
Please excuse me for my ranting. I am simply upset. Forgive me.
Moving on to a more productive topic, my father just told us that there has been a violent outbreak in Rome. This means that we are going to have to speed up our rate of moving. We cannot risk being found in the middle of a riot, and riots like these are never concentrated. When a riot starts in a major city the violence spreads to any town within a 50 mile radius. At least, that’s what Mr. Burns says.
Mr. Burns is one of the family leaders in our convoy. He is a former governor of Samuel Astrem, but he wasn’t one of the major competitors. He was a small, independent party with very few followers, but what he stood for was noble. He stood for peace, unlike the majority of the other governors. Because leaders like him were so few, he was not seen as major party. In my opinion, he should have been Astrems successor, but the world does not agree with me.
Today the world thinks that a good leader must be bold to be strong, and lucky to be wise. It seems foolish to me. Just because a man is outspoken doesn’t mean that he could lead the world through war, and just because someone is in the right place at the right time doesn’t mean that they always will be. If the world puts its faith in sheer luck then what future do we have? If we do this then we leave our future to chance, and that is what we did when we allowed our society to get entangled in this mess. If we had been smart and allowed someone like Mr. Burns to lead us through Astrems death then maybe we wouldn’t be caught up in this, but that is something that we can never redo. What’s done is done. We cannot afford to look back; there is far too much danger in our future.
From what I’ve heard, we leave for Black Forest tomorrow morning four hours before dawn. The reasoning behind our early departure is simple: We are now in one of the most populated cities on earth. Leaving any later would put us at risk of being seen. We can’t have that, can we?
“Bridget?” judging by the lightness of that voice it must have been Liam, my closest companion, “Are you still awake?”
I had been lying on the far edge of the building, not even attempting to sleep. “Yeah”
There was a soft sound of movement beside my head and then a hand on the side of my ear. “You okay? You really took a beating back there.”
He was referring to my argument with my Mr. Davis. We had gotten into a debate over politics, and since Mr. Burns was too scared to stand up for himself I took the liberty of doing it myself. Mr. Davis seemed to think that no matter who had taken up office at Astrems death, we would have still ended up like this. I don’t have the patience to explain the whole argument, but I will say that things got a little heated and the end result was the red, swollen imprint of a hand on the side of my face.
“Yes, I’m fine.” The fact that he had taken a seat was a clear sign that he was not going to be leaving any time soon, “How are you?”
He looked down at me, “We are on the run from the world, Bridget. My condition never changes. Like always, I am tired and sore.”
I let out a soft sigh as his hand moved to the soft spot behind my ear. He always knew just how to calm me down. “Aren’t we all?”
There was a moment of silence as a light in one of the windows of the building beside us turned on. We were both motionless. Even the hand that had been softly rubbing the side of my head went motionless. The light flickered for a moment then vanished.
Both of us let out long withheld breaths, “I wish we would hurry up and get out of here.” He said in a wispy voice that only I could hear.
“I know it must be hard for you, since you consider Paris your home, but every move we make must be precise. We are in a maze right now.” My attempts at comfort failed miserably.
“I know, but we need to be moving faster. At this rate, we won’t make it to India in time to catch a ferry. By the time we get there the war will have destroyed them.”
I sat up, resting my head on his shoulder. Liam was very tall for a 15 year old. Compared to him I was a shrimp, but I didn’t mind it that much. It was good to be a shrimp at these times. In fact, because of my size I fit perfectly into his right side. “We will make it, Liam. Have a little faith. My father will lead us through this.”
He let his head fall to where his right cheek was against the top of my head, “I have all the faith in the world to give your father, but I have absolutely none for the other dear sirs that he is trying to please.” Liam and I had nicknamed the house leaders ‘The Dear Sirs’.
“I’m not all that happy with them either, but I do trust that father and Mr. Burns will keep them in line.”
Liam brought his arms up to hold me around the shoulders, “I should hope so.”
At that moment, I wanted everything to just stop, to just put the world on pause, but of course, I couldn’t. The feel of his wrist watch against my back struck curiosity. “What time is it?”
He held his watch to his face, squinting to see the clocks face, “1:57.”
I sighed, “We should be packing everything up.”
He looked down at me, “I guess you’re right.”
We both stood up and I was reminded of our differences in height. He was a full foot taller than me. I brushed the debris of my old jeans then reached up to pat him on the arm. “You need to get packing.” I smiled at him.
Both of us turned to head back to the group, but were faced with something we didn’t expect. My heart fell as I realized that the group had already moved on.
They had left us here, to fend for ourselves. Reality turned to fog and my body became heavier than it had been only moments earlier, as it rested in Liams strong arms. I fell to my knees, mouth agape with shock.
Flashes of memory ran through my head, making me want to cry.
Father waking me in the middle of the night, telling me to pack my things.
Mother shielding my eyes from the violent city around us.
Mr. Burns smiling sympathetically at me after I managed to tear my shirt on a nail.
Liam leaned down to make sure I was okay. “Bridget!”
I gulped then looked at him, “What are we gonna do, Liam?”
He pulled me into his arms, the way he had earlier. “We can stick together. We’ll leave for Black Forest once both of us are packed.”
“But how will we find it?”
“This is an old office so there’s bound to be a map somewhere inside.” His voice was starting to show signs of fear, “I never unpacked my bags. You just pack yours while I go find a map.”
He stood, slowly removing his hand from my back, and then walked to the door on the far side of the roof. The door was off of its hinges which allowed him to enter. He shot me a reassuring look before disappearing into the doorway.
I attempted to stand, soon noticing how heavy I felt. All of those sleepless nights were catching up with me, all at once. I fell to my knees again, but this time in front of my bag. The tears suddenly began to fall and as I wiped them from my cheeks I noticed that instead of clear, they were a bland shade of brown. The filth on my face must have been pretty thick. I threw what clothes I had into my bag then threw it over my shoulder.
Right on cue, Liam pushed his way out of the building. “I found a map, and I also found a compass.” He was speaking to my back.
I turned to face him, boldly showing my tear marked cheeks. His face fell at the sight of mine. “Let’s go.”
We lowered our bags by a rope that we found in the offices storage room then repelled down. Liam pulled out the map and gave me the compass. I gave him north then he found the street that lead out of the city and towards Black Forest.
I met Liam’s eyes and gave him a nod. I knew he understood that we were alone in this. There was no one to lean on, absolutely no one.
We started down the road, leaving all memories behind us. After all, memories are just heavy luggage, and we couldn’t have that could we?
