Apocolypse

Chapter 1

"Wake up Tripp!"

I rise from my bed to see my sister standing short and skinny continuing to call me for breakfast. It is almost time for Choosing Day but today does not seem like a splendid day to do so. Choosing Day is the day when the Government chooses your job for the rest of your life.

I get up and dress myself in a Transformers t-shirt and blue shorts. Downstairs, I find my mother and sister eating breakfast. I sit down to eat my food, but in a spite my mother confronts me.

"What are you wearing? Today is no ordinary day, Tripp. Today is Choosing Day."

"Yeah but Mom, I have no better looking clothes to wear."

"Sure you do."

I follow her upstairs as she pulls from the closet a shiny blue suit. The suit is big yet fashionable with cuff links shaped like two dragons. I wonder how she found this and why she had it.

"It was your father's and he wanted me to save this for you when it was the right time."

I change into the suit which is big and sagging. I notice a light as I place the cuff links on. It seems as if it is magical. I don't like the suit but it is the most appropriate style to wear.

As soon I know it, the Lochards are here to guide me to the castle. It is time. The moment I have been waiting for. For once, something exciting is happening in my life.

I enter the castle and approach the large wooden doors leading to the throne of King Bentley. I am terrified. I wonder what the Government will choose for me. The jobs include: the Guardians; the Farmers; the Knights; the Cooks; the Hunters; the Seekers.

I have always hoped of being a Knight other than the fact that I am small and bony. The Knights' commander will never choose me for my looks. I have no sense of strength or muscle. Other than me, this kid named Ben Phelps is perfect for being a Knight. Ben stands about six feet tall and glows in the sunlight with his muscular olive skin. Ben and I have been enemies as long as I can think of. I have no idea why he picks on me instead of other guys who are larger and stronger than me. But, at just the right time, Ben and his crew have also arrived for Choosing Day.

His friends, Cole and Jermaine, stand behind him as if they were little kittens following their mother. All seeking to be Knights.

"What's up chump?" Says Ben.

"What do you want Ben?" I ask.

"Nothin' but I wanted to tell you to forget about being a Knight. Commander Swordsmith will never choose you. You have nothing on you. Lack of muscle, lack of looks, and especially a lack of family!"

I fall to the ground as I am kicked and punched in a corner. I begin to cry but I try not to relinquish crying out loud. Cole and Jermaine laugh and join in with Ben attempting to beat me. Inside me I feel hatred and fire after he says my family has been whipped out. My mom is not my birthmother. But my father was actually my real father. I no nothing about my father but I hear that my mother died in childbirth. Sometimes I cry and wonder how my father died. My sister is also not my biological sister. She was born in Shanghai, China and was soon adopted my my adoptive mother.

I continue to think and cry while the boys are still beating me. In a spite, a whiplash pushes away the boys. It was tall yet not muscular and was dressed in a black robe with a hood. The mysterious person took off their hood and seemed to appear as a girl. I knew who she was. Cecilia Greensboro. She protected me appearing tall and perky like a female god sprouting from a lightning bolt.

"Stop torturing others like this!" She says.

" Make us" responds Cole.

In a flash Cole pulls out a knife and aims for Cecilia but he was no match for her. She had him on the ground holding the knife Cole once had in his hand. She had him pinned down like a bear biting off the head of salmon.

Rushing in came Sorcerer Valentine. She pulled Cecilia off him and demanded an exclamation. We told her what went wrong but the boys ran off before a single word came from the Sorcerer's lips.

The Sorcerer leaves and Cecilia approaches me.

"Hi, Tripp!"

"Hi"

"Are you ready for Choosing Day?"

"No"

"You don't talk much do you? Anyway I preparing to be the first ever woman knight in Dinwiddie. How about you?"

I don't want to tell her about my wishes. I am scared. I want to be a Knight but I know Ben was right about me never being a Knight. I continue to until I see the large wooden doors of the castle open up. It is time.