It's finally here! I'm super excited to share this with you all, but I've got a few notes before we start:
This is still in revision, so expect some mistakes and bear with me.
As you'll notice, this chapter is pretty short. Be thankful, because the next several will be a lot longer!
The story is written as if the main character (Jason) is reflecting on his journey years after it took place.
This is only one chapter, so the story won't be rounded out yet or conclusive.
Finally, if you notice anything (inconsistencies, grammatical errors, story critiques, anything), please mention it in the comments! This will be an immense help to me in the revision process and will change the final product for the better!
Now, without further adieu, here's chapter one!
Chapter One
I remember the night of my departure from the year two-thousand-and-twenty well, it is the staple upon which many of my sorrows are hung from.
It was the twentieth of October, amidst a warm streak. Our peaceful household had drifted into sleep, Faith and I in our bed, and our daughter Emily in the room across from us. I was twenty-five, my wife twenty-four, and my daughter nearly two. I was then employed as an engineer in a factory that specialized in automobiles. Our income was not insufficient, but not extravagant either. We were a simple yet happy young home, soon to be disturbed, however.
I am not one to wake lightly, but that night my eyes eased open at a rather simple sound. I hesitated, something I now regret. But parents soon learn that not every noise needs tending to, therefore I nearly ignored it. But, as my eyes closed and I sought whatever dream I had stirred from, I recalled the sound. It was a slow creaking, the sound of attempted caution. My eyes shot open as I connected the sound to that of a window being eased open. I rose, not thinking to wake Faith, and stepped out into the hallway.
I opened Emily’s door, my heart quickening and my eyes fully departed from slumber’s haze. As the light of the hallway stretched across the room, I beheld a man of strange appearance.
His clothing was colored a dull brown, mixed with several lighter articles here and there. His pants were high-waisted trousers, with a long jacket parting and hanging down the opposite sides of his legs. He wore high leather boots, much less practical than any I had seen in twenty-twenty. Around his mouth was a thing cloth, out from which a single furl of his brown moustache peeked out. His eyes were hidden behind a set of dark circular goggles reflecting the light of the hallway I had stepped from. His forehead, dirtied and sweaty, was the foundation upon which his wild hair fell to his shoulders. Completing his mysterious presence was the sight of Emily clutched tightly in his arms.
Without a second glance and with alarming mobility he lept out the window, Emily tucked underneath his arm.
“Stop!” I shouted as I lept after him. My feet touched the wet grass but for a moment, and then I was in frenzied pursuit.
The man was swift, more so than me, but I kept close behind. I shouted several times into the abandoned and empty night, hoping to alert neighbors so as to stop the thief. But none woke, and the man soon left our lane and entered the thicket on the opposite side.
“Faith!” I screamed, hoping to at least alert my wife before I thrust myself into the dried leaves and branches. They clawed at my face and arms, but my only thoughts were on Emily, of the tender child tucked rudely beneath the man’s arm.
By the time I caught up to him, he had run into a small clearing where a large spherical contraption sat. I stopped momentarily at the sight of it, for it was as foreign to me as the man’s appearance. Half of it was bowl-like, with four short supports jutting out to the ground. The other half was open, with two large opposing rings around what seemed to be a cockpit. And while it all sounds very impressive, it appeared quite rustic.
The man turned around once he reached the machine, as if in the hope that I had not followed. We stared at each other for a moment, he with one gloved hand on the machine and the other around Emily, and I with clenched fists. He then turned and nimbly lept into the side of it, sealing my daughter into a cabinet after he had seated himself. I acted instinctively, running at the machine and leaping into it after him. Not a moment after I had lept, the man pulled a lever, initiating a deep thrum. After I had landed, a metallic covering slid over, sealing us within and subjecting us to the purpose of the device.
I grabbed at the man, ready to tear him to pieces and rescue my daughter. He was quicker than I, however, and struck me with surprising force. I was slung against the side of the machine as the man began to work it. I was not entirely defeated, however, and was about to make a second attempt when the machine lurched and began its horrid work.
There was one more moment of clarity before the world around me changed. In it I heard the sharp wailing of my daughter, and then all of my senses were plunged into chaos.
My head began to throb, and my vision twisted, the world around me becoming as a poorly constructed mosaic. I shook myself, gritting my teeth and focusing on the man before me, but I could not maintain any semblance of control over myself. I was as one in a trance, unable to achieve footing or clarity. My mind was lost to me, and I saw many things I did not understand and cannot fully recall. I tried to speak but heard only the pounding of my heart and felt only my blood freeze and harden. Yet my only concern was of Emily. The thought of her innocent frame undergoing these same fluctuations tortured me and filled my heart with the most intense anger I had ever compassed. But finally I gave in to the weariness which hounded my person and accepted the welcoming hand of unconsciousness.
I know not how long I was unconscious, and am not entirely cognizant of what happened while I was. Nor am I certain of when I first woke, for I possess several flashes of memory I cannot place but am able to tie to this time. They are vague images, fragments of voiceless memory that come to my recollection, uncertain and as a dream. These images are filled with rain and a muddy street, myself stumbling through it. I suppose I very well could have dreamt it, I have no way of knowing.
That's it for this week, thanks for reading! If all goes well, I'll be posting the next chapter within a week or two!
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