One Step Forward

Prologue

For as far as the eye could see, hills rolled across the horizon; dips and troughs of green lush landscapes, speckled with sheep and cattle, looked like a mirage against the blue abyss of the sky and clouds. Trees littered the hills, of all shapes, sizes and colours, and danced in the early morning winds of spring's blustery arrival.

On top of one of the undulating hills was an old farmhouse, occupied by a family who had lived in the area for generations. The hill itself was named after the family, known to the locals as 'Rushford Hill', who had been honoured with naming as repayment for their continued service to the town. The Rushford's were well known throughout this part of the country as a family of dedicated farmers, who had managed the land for hundreds of years. The townsfolk of Linton Village were always happy to greet and natter with the Rushfords whenever they were about the town.

It was fair to say that the Rushfords were almost figureheads to the Linton neighbours and their status had only grown through Mr Rushford's successful stint as the mayor. Mrs Rushford was just as admired, she had a little shop and cafe in the town where she sold the produce from the farm  and served home-cooked meals to all the locals. The Rushford's had three children, Emily, the oldest who was about to turn twenty-three, Marie, who was fifteen and had just begun her GCSEs, and Pip, who had only recently turned three years old.

Emily was the eldest child, who although had been an adult for almost five years, still lived at home as she was trying to save up enough money for her dream to move to a big city. She hoped to escape the notoriety of her family in the area in which she had grown up and wanted nothing more than to blend into the crowds of people in New Hoveen. She had heard stories about the big city lifestyle and the possibilities that it could offer.

One day she was going to live in the city and nothing was going to convince her otherwise.

————————————————————————

The city never slept. Noise was a constant ebb in the wind, cars droning past, trains rumbling against the steel tracks, the sound of demolition and rebuilding; an unending torrent of sound. It was hard to get a peaceful moment when the city thrived until the early hours of the morning. Underneath a bridge, towards the centre of New Hoveen, was a row of houses, small in size and crammed together with barely any breathing room from their neighbours. These houses looked like they had seen better days, the plastered front had begun to crumble and the bricks beneath had started to sprout from the cracks.

Within one of these houses, lived a group of young men, all of whom were renting a room in this shared house. The four occupants of this house all lived very different lives and rarely saw or even spoke to one another. One of the men was an aspiring architect and had moved into this living situation after the collapse of his long-term relationship with his girlfriend. His name was Brandon Davies and although he had lived in the city for his whole life, he wanted nothing more than to escape the hustle and bustle of city life, but there were far and few between job listings for architects outside of New Hoveen and following his far from amicable split with his girlfriend, money was tight and luck was not on his side.

He wanted to leave the city and never look back, but the simpler life of countryside living seemed almost a million miles away.

———————————————————————-
Two people.
Two dreams.
Two separate paths.

Will they ever cross?