L'Extrémité
It was cold, and there were icicles’ encircling each house, in the city’s ravaged lanes, while shimmering great silvers and golden tones. The air was gray with smoke, and ash. Marks on the snow-covered roads, where horse drawn wagons once were. The road now scattered with bloodshed, broken glass, shop items, and other assorted household items which wouldn’t ordinarily be lying there. Tangled boot prints, where struggles and resistance had broken out could be seen, still there. Even screams and cries were told through the maimed frames of the buildings.
Imagining the faces, the stone faces of the heartless murderers against the innocent children, he could not contain his anger while walking down the grief-stricken avenues, boulevards, and streets. Delicately skimming through the blight, he found a doll, a young girl’s doll. He looked up, to only find his own living room window, cracked, staring at him. The same window stared back, in which he gazed out of in his youth, wishing to broaden his horizons. The same window, where he told his baby sister what he would one day do and see. Picking up the doll, he imagined her.
“She’d be about 11 years now,” he thought to himself.
Clenching the doll, he imagined playing with her. Teaching her to buckle her shoes, or jump rope in warm summer days, he grieved. Off on his own adventures, he lost sight of what really mattered.
His home, destroyed. His family, gone. He was all alone in an unforgiving world. He hated….himself. What next? Thinking about what he had done on his adventures, he began to cry again. All his life, nothing made him warm. Nothing comforted him. Nothing would have kept him living, except for her. He cried not for his family or sister, yet for her… Remembering her smile, voice, smell, and the way she made all his fears and sadness turn to happiness, he drifted into sleep.
“Breakfast!” hollered Chrono’s Mother from beneath the loft
Half awake, Chrono stirred under his sheets. He turned in his bed, and the bright light from the glossy window made him squint. “Morning again,” he thought to himself. Another day of sadness, another night of loneliness. Like every other day, he whispered
“This has to change. Something has to give. Why am I forced to endure all this pain?” “What if I were born into a traveling band of thieves or a prince of some far away land?” He pondered that. The “what ifs” would nag at him like piercing knives, torturing him. “If I were a thief or prince, would I not become bored of the same thing, eventually as a prince or thief?” As usual, he lost himself in thought. After all, what else was a boy to do; not enjoying what others would call fun? He didn’t like playing catch in the square with the other kids. His father was never home; and mother paid no attention or showed no interest in him. He much rather make trite comments under his breath about how happy they were.
“Get up! Come get your breakfast!” Shouted Chrono’s Mother once more.
He rolled out of bed, dreading the steps, counting them. He got to ten before he saw his baby sister. She was so cute, and innocent. He knew she wouldn’t be like the others. Perhaps like him. “Perhaps like him…” He wished that to be so much, but then didn’t want that to happen. He didn’t want her to go through all the pain, and suffering.
He came to the table and his breakfast, his sister sitting next to him. Only two years old, but he felt he could tell her anything. I guess it didn’t matter to him if she really understood it. As long as someone was listening. He told her that he wanted to leave this place, and no one could stop him. How he dreamt about mountains, and skies, new people, and places. No one could make him take anymore of this. He told her that he would come back for her, once she was older. They would go away on the adventures together. He told her this, and different variations of it everyday. Explaining how he would protect her, and she would tag along like any other sister would to a loving brother.
Staring out the window across the dirty wooden table, something caught his eye. What was that, in the distance? He saw a ship, flying over the bean fields, just below the clouds. Miniscule in size, and propelled by spinning shafts of rusted metal, the airship glared in the morning sun. Between the propellers, a faded brown balloon the size of a small shack. It limped through the air, like an old man in his last days.
"There's my ticket out of here," he smiled to himself. Not knowing what he was about to begin. His parents wouldn't miss him. No one would.
He started to walk out the door, not before giving his sister a kiss on the forehead and saying good bye. Out the door, and into the square hardly noticed by anyone. With the bit of money he had in his pocket, he bought some bread and ate it on his way. Walking through the avenues, Boulevards, and streets, he was almost reluctant to sneak aboard this ship. For once, he enjoyed seeing the busy, yet happy smiles on the faces around him. Perhaps it was because he too was happy, or perhaps it was for the reason that he would never see them again. By mid-day he had crossed the city on foot, and was nearing the port gates.
The ship was stopped only to reload, and that process was almost complete. He had to find a way in, and fast. If there was ever a time to start a new, this would be his only chance, he thought. Sometimes you just have to take a hold of the reins and go. The thought of not knowing where you are going or what will happen next made him capricious with excitement. Spotting a ladder leading to a side hatch into the hull of the aged ship, he darted in. Concealed by shadow, he moved through the maze of barrels containing substances he knew not of among the cargo. Seemingly out of sight and touch he leaned back to rest.
As he leaned, a cry came from that very direction. A girl. Her…
At that, the ship jerked, and then lifted off the ground. It hesitated in the air for a moment, motionless. For that moment, which seemed like a century to both Chrono and this girl, they were locked in each others’ eyes. Both knew what each other were thinking, both too afraid to act upon it. Another jerk came from within, and the airship sped off to directions unbeknownst to either stowaway.
Soon the clunking and bustle of the engines died down, and the airship glided through the air.
“Who is she…”
“…and what is she doing here?”
“Why do roads meet here, in such an odd place?”
Sharply, the girl averted her eyes, seemingly interested in the faded crest upon a barrel. She had never seen it before, although that didn’t worry her. “Who is he? Is this what I am destined for?” She thought to herself.
Like she was aboard another ship of grandeur stature, she acted as if he had bumped into her on purpose. “Excuse me.” She said in a proper tone, like a Noble to a peasant. “What are” She stopped short, catching the tone in her voice. “What are you doing here?” She asked meekly.
Chrono hesitated, still trying to recover from the brief moment of bliss. “Eh, nothing. None of your business.” He replied as if hiding something.
A few minutes of silence passed. Both of them were making an effort not to make eye contact. They looked through cracks in the hull of the ship, where vast meadows and the tips of green and gray mountains could be seen. Meadows filled with flowers of all colors, golden yellows and luscious blues and greens. Like something out of a dream. Steel gray, lined with evergreen, the mountains like humble giants, resting among the spacious meadows and fields. Chrono was especially interested in them, for he had never left the walls of his own city. A sense of calm appeared to come over everything. The clouds, the mountains, the meadows, were all in perfect harmony.
Chrono looked up, like he had just seen the key to unlock all the happiness in the world. “I’m Chrono.” He said keenly.
All of a sudden, a shy side that she had never known came upon her. She couldn’t speak. Summoning up enough strength, she answered, “Eden.” She wanted to smack herself for being so stupid. Her heart, in pain. Yet not heart burn, heart ache. What was this feeling, and in such short a time?
“I ran away from home,” Chrono continued. “I found the perfect opportunity by this ship. The city doesn’t get very many, and when it does, it’s usually just to reload supplies. Say, what are you doing here?”
Something stirred from behind another barrel. Eavesdropping and gathering courage, a timid boy jumped between the two. “Get away from the Princess Eden! Have you no manners?!” The child-like figure was dressed in a black robe, and wore a pointed hat. The brim of the hate shadowed his face in almost complete darkness, not allowing anyone to read his emotions. The way he liked it. He carried a staff made of wood. At the top of the weapon was a beautiful gem, engraved into the hard wood.
“Princess?!” Exclaimed Chrono. He stared at Eden not like a different person, but in disbelief. Why would a princess be on such a cargo ship? What could possibly be so bad that she would leave a grand castle and luxury?
“Actaeon, what are you doing?!” screamed Eden.
“I’m here to rescue you from this dirty serf. Soon, you’ll be back in the safety of the palace,” retorted Actaeon.
“Rescue me? From Chrono?” said Eden.
Chrono became a little upset at how he was being treated. He left home to get away from all of this, not find more of it. “Excuse me little one, but I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”
“Little one?!” Actaeon was almost in a tantrum.
“Please, Actaeon. Chrono is not going to hurt me. Leave him be. I also don’t intend to return to those stone walls. Castle, you say. It is a lonely prison in my eyes.”
“But…!” Actaeon’s jaw dropped once he realized what had just been said. He glared at Chrono, suspectingly. “What are you? A deceiver, what have you slipped the princess Eden?!”
“Don’t be silly;” said Eden, “I am doing this on my own free will.”
“Very well. I’ve followed you thus far to protect you, and I shall not stop now. If you are to continue on this little escapade, I will accompany you. This scoundrel shall do you no more harm,” snapped Actaeon.
Chrono shook his head. “Get off your high-horse, buddy.” He muttered.
“What was that?!” Actaeon said, even closer to that tantrum.
“It sure is sunny!” Pointing his finger through a crack, scratching his head with an uneasy smile, Chrono avoided more bickering.
Linear Mode
