The Land Never Lost

Chapter 1

The night sky cast an ominous glow on the quiet city. The roads were dimly lit by the soft buzzing streetlights and the few apartments whose lights were still on. Occasionally, a random car would pass in front of the neighborhood playground. The tiny park was where all the children in town would go. It was the one place that still felt pure. If one was in search of a positive surge of energy, they couldn't help but be drawn there. That place was one of the last of its kind.

Places where good energy gathered needed to be protected. Or at the very least, watched. Sitting on the roof of the apartment building that overlooked the playground was an orphan boy. During the day he would move around. Happiness was more vulnerable where people were more active. But at night, he would always make his way back to this spot. On this street. Looking at this playground. It brought the boy peace. He felt it was his responsibility to protect it.

You see, there is one truth about this world. Where there is good, bad will come. And when bad comes, it will not leave until it eliminates all good. As humans age they lose that natural sense of good. They become increasingly disillusioned with the world. They are told to "grow-up" or "be real". Occasionally, an adult can hold onto imagination and hope. However, what happens when a human loses all of that positive energy? A Gloom will manifest. A dark humanoid figure. Glooms look like shadows being pulled upright and given three dimensional form. One moment to the next they appear. One Gloom for every human that no longer believes in anything. Glooms exist only to spread despair through the world.

The same as with every night, glooms gathered at the playground. The orphan watched as the shadowy creatures walked around the slides, swings, and jungle gyms. As they touched something they would leave behind a faint black glowing hand print. The boy could see them and the residue of their presence. No human can see glooms. No human should have been able to. This boy was different. He was always different. He knew what the touch meant. The same as with all contact with a gloom, something would go wrong. A slide would break. A chain would weaken and snap off a swing. The parents will fear for the safety of the kids and keep them from this place. Another happy place destroyed and left abandoned because of these miserable monsters.

"Well Flap, I think it's about time to clear these things out. Let's try to be quick about it. I'd rather not have another pool incident." the boy said to the bird-like creature sitting on his shoulder. The green bird stretched his wings and threw his head back. A gesture that looked a lot like laughing. "Yeah I'm sure you found it funny, making that loud noise. You know how hard it was to hold my breath to hide from those kids. I nearly drowned! Flap, the whole point is to protect them without them knowing. This way we let their minds run wild with imagination. It keeps the hope alive."

The boy stood up and stretched. He swung his arms in circles and squatted down. With a soft chuckle he leapt off the building towards the glooms below. A bright green flash illuminated the park and when the moon shone through, the park was empty. The creatures were no more. The boy and his bird were nowhere to be seen. The ground around the park now glittered softly as if the stars from the night sky were touching the earth.

The next morning showed no remnants of last night's events. Now the city was bustling with people rushing to work. The playground was full of children being rounded up and hurried off to school. Perched on the branch of a nearby tree sat Flap. Flap was watching the children intently. His green and yellow plumage made him camouflage with the leaves of the tree. Just as the last child walked out of the park, Flap shot straight up into the sky and forward through the clouds.

As he flew above the city he spotted his friend. The boy was running along the rooftops chasing two glooms that were trying to sabotage a building's fire escape. The boy's shoes started to glow and on each ankle sprouted a pair of small wings made out of green light. One Gloom crouched down while running and dragged his hand across the roof. Both glooms stopped and spun around. They stood there waiting on the boy's approach. Just as the boy's foot hit where the Gloom touched, the roof collapsed in a circular hole. The boy was lost in the rubble. Flap witnessed this and darted toward his friend to help. Satisfied with the damage, the glooms turned to leave the scene.

"Wait up guys. Now where do y'all think you're going? Don't I get a turn?" out of the debris the boy floated covered in a glowing light. Before the glooms could react, the boy flew at them. He spun around in a circle and kicked both glooms in the head. With a flash of green the monsters were no more. The scene was covered in a glimmering coat of dust. The crumbling of the roof immediately stopped. The boy looked up and saw Flap circling the action.

The boy jumped off the side of the building into an empty alleyway. For the next several hours, he and Flap patrolled any area where glooms were present. They stopped three glooms meddling with the buses in the school parking lot. Two more glooms were around the public library. This process continued long throughout the day.

As night approached, the city settled into its nightly calm ambiance. Flap soared through the sky carrying the exhausted boy in his claws. He flew towards the playground instinctively every night. As Flap descended he dropped the boy from a height he knew was too high. "Flap you jerk!" the boy screamed as he fell onto the grass with a loud thump. Flap let out a series of mocking sounds. Flap picked an apple off a tree and tossed it towards the boy. "I know. I already know Flap. I kind of went a little overboard today with the hunting. Thank you for the food buddy.". The boy went to take a bite out of the apple when he heard the crunching of leaves. Coming into the playground was another child. He looked to be about the same age as the boy. The boy and his bird ducked behind a tree and watched the kid walk around the park aimlessly.