Goldfish Girl

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Summertime - 2034

Saturday had been an exciting day for Ellie, Jesse and Dina were the perfect tour guides around The Jackson Community. They showed Ellie the library and introduced her to their friend Cat, she was a really cool person. Cat had shown Ellie some of her artwork and her own random comic book sketches she had been working on for the last week, she was also a fan of the Savage Starlight series. Cat's artwork blew Ellie away, she had really impressed Ellie with her comic strip stories. Cat was also designing tattoos for some of the local people, she dreamed of owning the first ever Tattoo Parlour in The Jackson Community someday. Ellie joked about being her first customer, but Cat took her joke seriously and offer her a discount when her dream happened. Ellie had spent the whole Saturday with her new group of friends, they hung out at the playground area and Cat took them to one of the community's nature walk trails for a picnic. Cat's Mom had made them a few steak sandwiches and a flask of hot strawberry tea, she had even gave them some beef jerky. They had spent the day reading comic books and exploring the trail, they even discovered rope swing over a pond. Ellie had watched them playing around in the pond and splashing each other, she told them she couldn't swim when they invited her to join them. They didn't make fun of her or question her why she couldn't swim, she did mention to them that Joel was going to start teaching her how to swim from Sunday.

The day had been fun for Ellie, she couldn't wait to do it all over again next weekend. But now it was Sunday and Joel was going to teach her how to swim, he had mapped out a route for them to take outside of The Jackson Community. It was going to be the first time she had ventured beyond the safety of the walls of the community since she had arrived there, but she trusted Joel's judgement. They left their house and headed to the stables, Ellie was really looking forward to riding a horse again. Tommy had told her he had chosen the perfect horse for her to use on trips outside of the community, she couldn't wait to meet the horse. She entered the stable with Joel, Tommy was already there with two horses for them. He introduced her to a beautiful brown coloured horse named Shimmer, he told her that this horse would belong to her from now on. 

Ellie stroked the horse's neck and checked beneath it, the horse was female. Joel checked both of the horse's satchels, there was food rations and medical supplies inside of them. There was also a drinking canteen and some spare bullets in a small satchel, it was all the things they would need while they were outside of the community. She mounted her horse and took hold of the reins, she placed her feet in the stirrups while she beckoned the horse to move forward with a gentle tap on the horse's sides. She rode the horse out of the stable and greeted a few on the farmhands, she had met a lot them in the week while she worked on the crop fields. Joel wasn't that far behind her, she rode the horse to the wall's gates and waited for him there. The gates opened as Joel approached them and Tommy gave Ellie a bow with about five arrows, he told her she may need them just in case they ran into any trouble. She thanked him and put the arrows in the satchel, she then connected the bow to her backpack. Tommy waved them off before they rode through the open gateway, he told them to take care on their journey while Ellie waved back at him. Joel took the lead while Ellie rode not far behind him, they made way along a pathway and through field of corn. Ellie looked at an abandoned Gas Station as they rode passed it, Joel told her that they had found some useful tools in there a few days ago. 

They kept on moving forward until they found themselves in a forest of tall trees, there was a stream running through the forest with many Bluebells lining the embankment. The small stones in the water glistened in the sunlight and the sweet scent of flowers wafted on the breeze, it was just enchanting. Joel checked his map while he continued to ride his horse, he told Ellie that they should arrive at the lake in an hours time. They kept on moving through the forest, the sweet smell of covers lingered in the air. There were many beautiful wildflowers and the bird flew above them in the treetops, the day was getting hot now. The landscape beyond The Jackson Community was just stunning, it was nice getting to explore the lands outside of the community. It wasn't long until they came to the edge of the forest, there was a vest lake just outside the forest. 

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