Life Singing

== Prologue ==
I remember the very minute vividly. The day I saw the magnificent beast, it was as if a light had been switched for me. 
I could suddenly see it all. I could see the stupidness of living in fear like a lamb, I saw a small glimpse of what world lay outside the towering gray walls, I saw the emptiness of my own life.
Yes.
Yes.
I saw it all.
I wanted more.
I needed so much more than everything.
I can still remember its beautiful, ebony dark eyes and its soft white looking fur. Daring me to take a step further into the unknown.
And its horn.. oh, its horn. I’d heard shady stories about how the horn centered on the head of a beast such as that had magical healing properties. Tales that had never been brought to light. 
Oh, but I’d bring it to light.
I’ll bring it to life the moment I catch it.
Call me crazy. Call me insane. I don’t care. I’ll be laughing when I’m holding the horse’s head in the air. I’ll. Be. Laughing.
So let that sink in before you try to poke fun at me. 
The day I saw the unicorn was an unusual day indeed. One of the few days I got to go outside of the house. I remember exactly why. We were running short on food and we had to go to the market to hold us off as the sheep and the cattle in out modest barn grew big and strong. 
Usually, I’d be no different from the sheep, safe in the barn, but no. My father needed an extra set of hands, and apparently I’m easy labor.
So the day was dark as usual. Clouds were stretched across the sky, blocking out the sun. This was the normal weather.. when it was sunny, many people took it as an omen that something bad would happen. A dragon raining fire down on the village, a cockatrice scratching its deadly stone beak on the animals and people. Not today, though, which is why the threat took me by surprise.
The day was quite simple. We crossed paths with a few people, we got to the store, dad bought a couple pounds of meat, we got a few chickens and a rooster, the normal junk that litters a perfectly fine day. I took slight notice of the pleasant things, such as the slightly warm breeze, the rustling of the trees that edged the human life, little things like that. Other than that though, I kept my mind on the work.
“Boy,” I remember my father saying.
Gruffly. I turned my head to the name. While it wasn’t my name, dad liked to use that word so much, it started to replace my own name. Goodbye Timber.
“Take the chickens and the meat home. I have another errand to run.”
Of course you do. Hope you get enough beer to unknowingly die in a hole.
I nodded silently and walked the shiny gray stone path home, suddenly aware of all the nice things of the day.
I stared at the trees gaping over me, listening to them whispering lullabies to eachother.
I felt the warm breeze on my back. Maybe sixty-five degrees.
I felt the bubbling happiness in my chest, ready to fly me around the world.
Then I saw the wall that stood next to my house, and all of the goodness of the world vanished like dew on a sunny day. How cruel. 
Trying to muster up the happiness back, I thought of how lucky I was. I mean, I came from quite a rich family if I were to even see the wall every day. Apparently, being close to the danger cost more than being in the center of my world.
Then I saw it. Finally.
Its off-white mane.
Its snowy fur.
Its lean and yet muscular horse-like figure.
Now if I were stupid like some fathers I can mention, I would have brushed it off. I would have let it be.
But I couldn’t. I couldn’t just leave that behind.
So I didn’t. 
Instead, I walked up to it. “Hey,” I said. My voice was laced with a gentleness I only used with animals. “Are you lost?” Maybe I could have taken the horse. That would make dad proud. Horses were rare and valuable here, and that horse could get us tens of thousands dollars. Maybe he’d be less of a jerk.
It turned around with a small whinny, and flicked its tail. I took a sudden step back.
The creature wasn’t a horse. Horses didn’t have a shining, spiraling horn protruding from their heads.
This was a dangerous beast, a terrifying unicorn.
I heard a shrill voice, and it took me a moment to gather myself to realize that the raspy scream was my own. I took a step back, my eyes glued to the beast in front of me. It can’t hurt me inside. With that thought, I let out another shriek and ran inside. I vaguely heard it let out a fierce horse-like yell, and I could swear I heard something in my head that told me not to go. Like I’d listen to that voice.
When I got inside, mother hardly noticed my ghostly pale skin. “Put the food on the table,” she had told me. Shaking in my boots, I obeyed, only to go upstairs with a loud pattern of thumps from my muddied shoes later when I found out that I dropped the chickens somehow, maybe because of the utter fear when I saw the unicorn. Dad’ll be pissed.. When I was upstairs, I decided to draw to take my mind off things and draw.
To this day, all I have been able to draw since then were magnificent horned horses, to this day I’ve only been able to scratch down the piercing gaze of the manticore.
To this day, I’ve only been able to think of the outside world.
== Chapter One ==
It’s been a good five years since that small, earth-shattering incident. Since then, there’s been a new job with my name written in bold all over it. 
Back off, dad’s rich beer buddies with multiple jobs. This one’s for me.
I like to think that my government sees us all as useless pawns. However, don’t tell me that the pawns don’t have the best part of the battle. They’re in the front lines. They’re the ones who are always fighting the battles. The battle never stops until another, more powerful piece steps in. In a way, life as the ‘worthless’ pawn is the most fun. 
Why do I bring that up?
Well, the government is sending a select few of us out on dangerous journeys to the outside world.
As soon as my mother heard about it, she knew this was the right job for me. No, not because I want it more than a stray wants the sweet, lovely taste of food. She wanted me to have the job because she wants money. See, apparently putting your life on the line for uncharted territory pays well.
Like I give two craps. I’ll be sure to advise whoever runs the place not to pay my parents for doing nothing.
When I got to the building I was supposed to have the interview in, I noticed how the people all scrutinized me with their eyes. I listened to the wary whispering they tossed around so freely. I felt a little shiver crawl up my spine. 
It doesn’t matter. Nothing but a touch of information upon my skin.
I looked around slowly, and slipped into a chair near the front. Bigger people glared at me. These guys think I was gunna take the job?
Well they were right. I would be taking one of the slots.
“Hey pipsqueak,” a voice close to me grunted unpleasantly, “Did ya hear? Survival studies are two blocks away. Better go graduate from school before trying to carry out a big boy’s job!” 
A bunch of ugly sounding laughing filled the room at that stupid joke. I simply scoffed. “Oh, wow. I feel the heat off that one.” I replied flatly, shooting the man a glare. I caught his image in my mind. He had dark, scarred skin and rather broad shoulders. He has very dark brown hair that shared the color of dark chocolate or the mud he crawled out of to get here.
“Hey, hey. If you ever grow out of the mindset of a five-year-old, tell me. I’d be happy to teach you some..” I fished around for the word I was looking for, waving my hand slowly. “Big-boy insults,” I finished calmly. 
“Well, I never!” The man sputtered. 
After that, a few people looked my direction, but nobody said anything.
Finally, a touch of calmness. I felt it in the air around me, relaxing my shoulders and eyes. 
Before I knew it, I wasn’t the twitchy, anxious, defensive mess of a person I was just a few minutes ago. 
Just calm.
When I heard my name called, my head lifted up sleepily. Did I manage to fall asleep? Yikes.
Making a mental note in my head to be more aware, I got up and walked up to the door.
I noticed that most of the people that were around me before were gone, either having gone home or in an interview with another person. 
How’s that for aware?
“Alright, we’re just going to ask a few questions, Timber, and you’ll be answering them honestly,” a woman said. I slipped into a chair across from her. “Okay.”
“So what makes you want to go to the unprotected parts of the world?” The woman asked, scanning a paper in her hands. A few strands of auburn hair streaked with stressed out gray fell into her face. 
“It sounds interested,” I replied, leaving out the crucial detail of why exactly I wanted to go risk my life. I wanted to see more dangerous beasts.
“Hrm. What skills do you have in survival?” She tossed me a small clipboard with a white sheet of paper on it with simple questions. I looked around for a pen, and grabbed one as quick as I could. 
These were easy roleplaying situations. I have the basic set of survival tools, and I have to make my way out of sticky situations, such as getting clean water or hiding from a hellhound.
I filled everything out and handed the woman the paper, which I successfully kept from looking like wordless chicken-scratch.
She grabbed the clipboard from my hands and scanned it over. Guessing from the wrinkles over her brow deepening, I would say that she was pleasantly surprised.
Or horrified.
I sighed and put the shiver of anxiety behind me.
“Okay. We have a few more questions.” Yeah, no crap. What did this woman take me for? Interviews are longer than two questions. Always.
“Are you in doing well physically? Do you suffer from any diseases?”
I nodded carefully. “I do have a disease, I guess if you want to call it. ADHD. But other than that, I’m healthy as a horse. If the bigger guys are stronger than me, though, I’m quicker. I guarantee it.” I was feeling the desperateness of this situation grow on my back, forcing me to blurt out random things.
This was like life and death. Like a hellhound attack. If you let your guard down and don’t fight head-on, the situation is bound to best you. If you try too hard though, you’ll end up besting yourself.
The woman nodded and scribbled something down on her paper. Her gray eyes hardly looked away from mine, almost as if she were daring me to look somewhere else. “Have you seen a real monster before?”
I froze. Maybe it wouldn’t hurt to exaggerate. “Well duh.” She stood up a little straighter. “Tell me about it.” Perfect.
“It was..” I paused for a wave of dramatic to crash over us. “A unicorn.” I noticed the woman tense slightly. “The beast was huge. I was only thirteen at the time. I stared into its eyes, and it stared into mine. I remember it all.. the stink that rose off it, the long, sharp horn that could penetrate any force that dared to reckon with it. For that fraction of a second that we stared, I saw something in its eyes.” I pointed to my eye and made a terrible face.
“Bloodlust.”
She tilted her head a bit, and I noticed a couple flicks of her pen. 
“The monstrosity suddenly ran at me, with full speeds. This thing was fast.. I felt it as I ran, the air running out of my chest, the ache in my legs. But once I reached a dead end, I saw that.. it was gone.”
The woman nodded eagerly and scribbled a bit more down in her notes.
What an idiot.
== Chapter Two ==
The days following were quick and anxious, though I was pretty sure she believed me for whatever reason. I mean, she had no reason to. 
She’s just gullible.
But that’s not important.
What’s important is that I’m probably going to kill myself waiting for something to happen.
Some sign that I got in. As confident as I am that I managed to get in, I still don’t know if I will be able to wait another day without knowing for sure.
I don’t know if I can wait another day with my family. Seriously.
Every day they’re nagging me about how much they need the money. How much I’d let them down if I didn’t get in. Isn’t that ironic? They didn’t bat an eye at me when I was a child with childish needs. They just put me to work as soon as I was walking on two feet.
‘Hungry? Work for yesterday’s leftovers.
Bored? Well get to work, the floors aren’t mopping themselves.
Getting sick of your parents’ lectures that never end? Work to distract yourself.’
Learned all this at the sad age of six.
But oh, all of a sudden I have potential for a job that pays well? Give the child everything he asks for and more, along with the same note-‘hope you get the job!’
No parent can change the way they treated their child as a toddler. 
I’m not even sure why I’m upset over it. Something that small is something I shouldn’t be this angry about.
But yet, I can’t stop it. The anger keeps exploding out of me with the power and heat of a volcano. Every time they try to make amends for money.
I know what I have to do, and what I have to do isn’t something they’ll like.
But since when do I care about them?
I’ll be sure to tell whoever runs the place not to give them a share of my money. It’s mine, not theirs.
Maybe I should tell them about it before I sit through one more day of relaxation. It gets old and boring really fast. I can’t just sit through that.
The day continues to drag by slowly as I explore my thoughts, sitting in a chair with a pen in my hand making obnoxious clicking noises. Steps approached my doorway, and I’m snapped out of my thoughts. I recognized the heavy thumps of boots. 
Well speak of the devil, a voice in my head sneers. I quickly took a glance at the door.
My father stood there nervously, holding a bowl in his hands. I blinked and tilted my head just a tiny bit. “Do you need me?” I asked. “I, uh, no, uh..”
His broad shoulders lifted and fell. I saw his pale fingers touch his curly brown hair.
I watched in amusement as dad struggled, looking for words, filling in the blankness of his speech with stuttering and ums. Finally, he held out the bowl. “Eat.”
I looked at it and sighed. “Leave it somewhere else. Maybe Peony wants it.”
Dad looked genuinely hurt, but in the end he decided it was smartest to leave me be. What a shocker.
I watched him leave with a scowl. Once I heard my sister’s talking, I muttered, “Liar,” and went back to my ever so busy day. After a couple moments of listening to talking echoing from the other room, I heard a loud squeal from downstairs, then a yell. “TIMBER!” My mother yelled. I sighed and let my weight drop to the floor. With a quick “Coming,” I made my way downstairs. Mom stared at me excitedly. 
“I read the letter.”
“What? What letter?”
She squealed and gave me a quick, large hug. “Ohh, you got in, you’re gonna make us so PROUD!” 
I noticed Peony and dad come through the door. Now I’d have witnesses.
“What.”
My mind was suddenly heavy running ragged with fury.
“You got in,” mother repeated.
“Excuse me, why in a month of monster attacks would you open the letter before me?” I snapped. I paused, and added her name at the end to tick her off. “Quartz?”
She flinched, and opened her mouth to make a comeback, but thought better of it. She glared at me. “I know you don’t want the job.”
Wrong.
“You could have lied to us! I was trying to ensure the truth.”
I laughed a furious laugh. “Oh, and like you would care! You just want me to give you money!”
Mom flinched. When she was angry, it seemed her auburn hair and her freckles glowed redder, more noticeable. I waited for a moment, then smirked. No comeback. With that, I snatched the letter from her puffy pale hands.
I scanned it over and walked to the door. “Also,” I decided to end the argument with, “You’re not getting the money for trying to make amends from treating me like dog sh*t.”
“WELL NOW,” my dad’s voice boomed, “I HARDLY THINK THAT’S F-“
Before he could spit out another angry voice, I opened the door, left, and slammed the door. I hesitated a moment before dashing off. I was good at it. Better than people like dad, at least. I ran and ran, I ran until I noticed the sun was sinking to the other end of the wall when I decided to stop. 
I walked around quite calmly and checked my own pockets for any change. Nothing. I couldn’t rent a motel for a few nights, because a sphinx knows, I’m not gonna be able to sleep in my own room. I looked around, suddenly wishing I had eaten the pudding. I only had one thing left to do now. I had to go back to my own house, steal my own money, and rent a motel or something. Luckily for me, nobody but me knew where I keep my money.
As I walked to my house with visible reluctance, I noticed a bunch of people crowded around eachother, elbowing eachother, and yelling at eachother. I felt a prickle of nervousness shiver down my spine. None of them looked particularly friendly with all of their scars and upset frowns. None of them looked to have homes, either.. there was only so much space in the bordered area. I shuddered. I’ll kill all of the monsters. Then, we can have unlimited space.
My pace picked up as I noticed people staring at me suspiciously, probably searching for a bulge of a wallet in my packet.
By the time it was dark outside, I recognized the area. This was where we went to get produce when our own crowded farm and little garden didn’t produce enough for us. I felt a spark of triumph set a new blaze of determination in me, and kept pushing onward, even though my fingers were numb and my legs were tired. 
Just a little bit longer.
Category:Literature
Category:Original Stories
Category:Original Stories (Unfinished)
Category:Fiction