The Dream Garden

Prolouge

   “As you all know, as my great grandfather before me, I plan to keep this city, and the residents inside safe.” Mayor Watt says from his makeshift platform in front of the gates. “The threats outside, the accidents that have been happening have increased tenfold in the last year.” He glances at the gate. He didn’t notice worried parents in the crowd in front of him, worried lovers, wondering how long he would shut the gates for. “I have decided for the safety of everyone to cut our ties with any treaties, to close the gates indefinitely.” This caused panic, a lot of panic. It took the guards, the officers quite a few minutes to get everyone calmed down again.
     “Everyone! Everyone! I am aware, that there are still family members or friends out there that you know. And want safe. So, for the next 2 hours, the gates will remained opened and monitored. I would go home and call them on your tellies. Get them home, however possible. This will be your only warning. When the bells ring, the doors will close.”
That was that. Everyone rushed back to their homes, calling up their loved ones on their tellies so that they could get home in time enough that they wouldn’t be locked out. Among those were two people, a mother with her son.
The mother drags her son indoors and runs to the tellie. But Ambrose wasn’t one for sitting still. So he follows his mother into the kitchen, where she was dialing on the tellie. “Mum what are you doing?” He asks quietly. She hung the phone up, redialed. “Mum!”
She turns around and looks at him. “What do… you want?” She was holding back tears, which made Ambrose hesitate. She had never cried. Not in all the times her husband, his father, left on adventures for months at a time. Not when they didn’t have enough money for rent. Never. “I have to get a hold of your father. Go play quietly.” Then her back turned and she was dialing again.
Ambrose didn’t leave the kitchen. if he left the kitchen then he wouldn’t be able to hear, and Ambrose was too curious a child for that. So he sat on the other side of their kitchen island and listened.
His mother dialed again, and this time she managed to connect. “Hello? Hello. Hi. This is Victoria Bennett. I’m calling to see if Cyrus Bennett is nearby? He is? Oh thank you, please get him for me? Yes yes, of course I can hold.” She sighs in relief. That made Ambrose a little bit happier, because if his mom was happy, so was he.
An hour had passed by the time she actually managed to get on the phone with her husband. “Cyrus? Oh thank god, Cyrus you have to get home. The mayor is closing up the gates.”
There was a muffled response on the other end.
“Forever Cyrus! They said forever. Please come home. For once in your life, choose us.”
A pause, a hesitation. And that hesitation made all the difference. Because if he hadn’t paused there, or if he hadn’t taken an hour to answer the phone, or the mayor started his speech a minute later, he would have made it home in time.
But, none of that happened. And so, when the bells rung at the 2 hour mark and the last of the outside came in for what would be the final time, he wasn’t there. Ambrose held his mothers hand as they waited, but he never showed. Then it was time.
“It’s time. Guard Johnson, close the gates.” Mayor Watts orders to the guard on his right hand side.
“Yes sir!” The guard responds. She walks over to the  lever, and begins to move it down. the gate follows, working on a complex series of pulleys and wires. Ambrose watches from the crowd, wide eyed. He had always been interested in the inventions that made up the cities inner workings. The rails and cogs on the railroads that brought him to school each morning, the giant clock tower in the middle of town, the blimps that are now all on the ground that no one seems to want to put in the air, or even the small clockwork pet dog he had gotten last year for his 4th birthday. his father had made her himself. He had named her Manari. For no reason at all other than he liked the name.
He watched as the gates shut with a resounding clang. He looked up at his mom. “Mum why are you crying?” She bends down in front of him and takes both of his hands. “Where’s dad?”
“Daddy isn’t going to be coming home for a while… so… so  you’re just gonna have to be the man of the house now. Do you hear me? Your going to have to be the man.”
He looks up at her. “Did.. Did dad get locked outside?” He asks. At only years old he was extremely smart for his age. She sighs and lowers her head, preparing herself to tell him the truth.
“Yes he did.”
“But he said he was gonna come home? And the Mayor said he wasn’t going to open the gates again. How is dad gonna see us?”
“He’s not.” She admits quietly.
“Oh… Okay. Can we go home now?”
“Yes we can.” She stands up and takes her sons hand, turning to walk away from the gates, away from her husband, who had just come crashing through the woods.

“Please!” Cyrus calls through the gates bars. “I live here, my wife lives here, My son… Please you can’t just lock me out!” But his voice was drowned out by the others trying to be let in, all because they missed the cut off. He eventually stopped screaming. Turned around, and returned to the woods. His home had rejected him.
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▪︎Hello there! I'm the author of this book, Adrian Boswell. I'm looking to become a published novelist in the future. However, if I want to make any money off of this, I have to be mindful. Linked below, and in my bio, is going to be my cashapp. If you are feeling generous, or just have a little extra cash, feel free to donate! I obviously will accept constructive criticism on my work. I plan to have the first draft of the first chapter out by January 10th 2023.

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-Cashapp: https://cash.app/$idiootsaliens