The Adventures of Scott and Shada

The Escape

                The moon gently rose in the sky. Its light pooled on two people. They were leaning against a tree. Grass surrounded the tree. In front of the tree, the grass turned brown and dark, then it disappeared all together. Just beyond the grass, lay a barbed wire fence. Over the fence lay a large building. One word was plastered over the sides. Hell. In a vibrancy of colors, shapes and sizes, it lay. It had been written so many times on the wall that it now resembled modern art. It was color, and it was beautiful. Look over to the left. A smoke stack billows black into the night sky. Look over to the right. Another factory billows black. Look behind you. You see green. A tree farm that covers 50 square miles is right by the school. It clings on to life. The air is breathable in it. No one should venture into it but everybody does. Acid rain pelts it, winds whip it, and humans tread on it, but it survives.

On one side of the massive Oak trunk, sits a red haired female. She has a nice smile. Her name is Shada. Right beside her holding her hand is Scott. He has dark brown, messy hair. He mostly smirks instead of smiles. As they sit side by side, the moonlight continues to wash over them. Scott checks his watch and stands up. Shada gets up right beside him. Wordlessly they continue on into the farm, hand in hand. The moon winks at them again as they disappear within the trees.

"Are you sure you want to go with me?"

"Yah."

Scott swung Shada around and looked her in the eyes.

"Once I take off, there is no coming back."

Shada stopped smiling for a moment then laughed.

"You seriously think that I would do all this planning and preparation and not go through with it?"

"Well..."

"Get to know me better. Apparently, nine years haven't been enough."

A little girl plays with some stones, her hair hanging down on either side of her face. She picks two up and walks them to where some lines in the dirt symbolize a house. She begins muttering softly to herself. Suddenly, a shadow crosses over the dirt and stones.

"What you doing here forso***." A gravelly voice demanded. (It isn't proper to call people forsokens and that is why I bleeped the last part out.)

"N-n-nothing."

"Then get out of here." A foot collided with the childish scrawlings in the dirt. The soil flew into the child's face. Wiping her eyes Shada scrambled away. She finished cleaning one eye. She turned her head around to glare at the bully. A young boy came behind the bully.

"Turn around." The boy said. The bully turned around and laughed at him.

"Why did you want me to."

"So I wouldn't be punching you in the back." With these words he punched the bully in the face. The bully looked surprised for a moment and blood trickled down his face. He responded with a hook. The boy ducked and flipped the bully over his head. He walked up to me and helped me up.

"My name is Scott, what's yours"

They continued walking into the gloom. The smog overhead cleared for a fraction of a second and a meteor streaked by a star. The smog closed again almost instantly. Around the area people's heads were down, staring at their feet. Their minds on survival, not caring, not wondering, not living, just surviving. They didn't care for such things. They only wanted to live another day. Government controls gave them a job but took away their hope. No one else saw it, only Scott. He smiled a slight smile. Then lowered his head and went on.

Parked in front of the twosome was a piece of junk. It sat dull and gray under the drab sky. Scott pulled his keys out of his pocket and unlocked the cockpit. It slid open. He climbed into it and put his hand out to help Shada. Her bones dug into Scott as she settled down. The cockpit swung down and they both thanked God that they were on their way.

The ship climbed into the sky, eager to get on its way. The engines flared as the smog was pierced. Shada gasped at the brilliant display of stars. Scott pointed out Sirius, and Sol. Gradually, the moon recided and the gas giant revealed itself in its pink and purple self. Scott steered by a rocky moon. A mining drill rumbled underneath them. They passed this and coasted just below the planet's rings. Shada gasped at the marvel. Scott remembered this from when he had been taken here after his father had died. That was 10 years ago. And now he would follow in his father's footsteps.

"Come here son."

"Ok daddy."

"I want to tell you something."

"About my mother?"

"No. Listen, I will not always be here, so I want you to always remember something."

"Ok daddy I'm listening."

"Three things are more important than anything else, Faith, Love, and, Hope. The first one, Faith, means that you trust yourself and God. You never let him down and you act upon that. The second one, Love, means that you put others first and yourself second. Love is not a warm feeling inside of you. It is willing to sacrifice for a person. The final one, Hope, means that you keep striving for your goals no matter what. I nearly lost Hope when your mother died. But I kept going. You will suffer loss, some people lose so much that the only thing that keeps them going is Hope. Head my words, son, and you will go far."

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