Sunscorch

Chapter 1- Ceremony

The sun had just risen over the valley and the foggy feeling of dread filled the air. Somewhere in the distance a coyote howled a final goodbye to the moon. Every person in the Sunscorched valley would be getting up for work soon, simply following their daily routine without notice of the signs of the approaching storm. Why would they? In the whole continent of Sandra, the valley (despite the heat) was the safest place there was.

This was the small city of Sunscorch, named after the way a person's skin grew to be after living there for so many years. It was usually a very beautiful place, despite the lack of greenery. The stone red houses lined up perfectly with the rise and set of the sun, and when the sun had kissed the edge of the valley goodbye, the moon would fill the sky and a plethora of stars and comets would appear.

Today however the usual calm of the dear little valley would not last, for a peculiar girl in the 184th little red house on 5th street would discover that she would be caught in a whole mess of trouble today. Today was the day she would be given her own career at the Ceremony. The Ceremony was known throughout the land as the most important event in a young adult's life. It was usually a very prestigious and quick ordeal. Today however, no young adult would have an inkling of what career they would get. To them, just about anything could happen.

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The sun had just made it's way past the curtains only to land annoyingly upon her forehead. Glass opened her eyes groggily to see that it was late afternoon. Noticing this she sat up in her bed. Stretching she felt her back crack pleasantly. It was always nice to wake up on a day off. Day off? Why would she have a day....

She jumped out of bed in shock as she realized she had to get to the ceremony. It was crucial that she get there on time. There was a list to sign in, and the ceremony area would be off limits afterwards, not to mention getting a good seat for the opening. Every 16 year old in Sandra would be attending the Ceremony.

Glass nearly tripped over herself as she rushed into the bathroom, undressing and slipping into a tub of cold water she had set the night before. The freezing water shocked the last of the drowsiness out of her. After scrubbing her skin, she put on the dress she would be wearing to the ceremony.

It was nothing extravagant, just a simple white hooded dress. The white deflected the sun's rays and the hood offered welcome shade. Something her mother wore to her ceremony. Speaking of which, "Glass!" Her mother called from the kitchen, "You're going to be late!"

"I know!" Glass said as she hopped down the stairs one of her boots already on, the other dangling from her hand. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

Her mother shook her head at her, Glass finally having made it to the bottom of the stairs. "Would you have gotten up any earlier?"

Glass groaned and dragged her feet to the kitchen counter. "Of course I would have!" She said indignantly, though they both knew otherwise. "Mmmhmm," Her mother said as she turned to make breakfast.

Unfortunately for Mrs.Stotch her daughter had grabbed a peeled prickly pear out of the bin and dashed out the door while her back was turned. Glass would have waited for her mom, who would also be in the crowd at the ceremony, but her mom had an awful habit of cutting it ridiculously close when it came to time.

Glass began jogging at a light pace while simultaneously trying to devour her prickly pear. Being her clumsy self she ran into a person coming out of an alley. She fell back onto her bum painfully. She only stayed down for a moment as she hurriedly got up to pat the dirt of her dress.

She glanced quickly up at the man, ready to tell him off. She would have given him a talking to but was startled to find that he was wearing the weirdest getup she had ever laid eyes on. It was like something out of an western moving picture, something ancient. A plaid shirt and blue jeans. Glass scoffed at him under her breath, he even had the leather vest and boots to top it off. Those things, artifacts really, never come cheap. Especially in such good condition. He must have gotten replicas, though the hat seemed real.