All Work. No Childhood.

Ch. 1

Seeing the children's smiling and laughing was a happy sight to see.

The warm breeze washed down the hill side, the air rolling over me like waves, and into the small, enclosed valley below, where the children chased and tagged each other. The trees that scattered along the hills side provided much appreciated shade from the sun that hung high up in the clear, afternoon sky. I still felt its heat on the breeze but knew it was better then direct exposure to the sun's fury.

Leaning back, I set my head against the tree, letting the warmth of the mid-day's air soothe my mind as I closed my eyes. For some reason, I felt at peace watching them down in that valley as if they had no care in the world. After all, they were only around 7 years-old at the most.

Yet, for some reason, it felt like they shouldn't be enjoying any of this freedom.

Suddenly, the light breeze was replaced with the harsh rush of cold water in my face.

"...Thank you." I wiped the back of my hand across my face. I opened my eyes and was greeted to the sight of a girl in a Tank Top and jeans, bucket in one hand and the other on her hip, standing over me. Her orange hair dangling over her shoulders as she looked down at me with emerald eyes. Eyes that meant business as I barely held back a smile.

"Glad to see you're awake, Myke." She said with a half genuine, and half annoyed, smiled.

"Glad you're here to keep me awake." I smirked and sat up. The sky was covered in musty, brown clouds, as if blocking out any signs of the rich, luscious blue sky that hovered above in my dream. The healthy, green hillside was replace with a dried up, dusty hill, the scattered trees reduced to one or two, half dead trees.

I stretched. "I was having such a nice dream too." I yawned.

"Well, welcome back to reality." She said with an irked sigh as she tossed the bucket and sat next to me with a huff, pulling her knees close to her and hugging them.

I glanced over at her. What's got you so agitated...? I wondered.

I followed her gaze to the group of children that worked on a shed that was about three-quarters of the way finished.

"How much longer do you think it will take them to finish Alizce?" I asked her.

She watched the Kids with a thoughtful, motherly expression. "Well," she began with a sigh. "Considering it's been 5 days and they're just getting the final wall up now, it might take another week for them to finish the roof."

As she watched the Kids nail the wall into place, I knew she was hurting on the inside; despite how much she tried to hide it.

Most of those Kids she looked after them their whole time being here. Even though she would put on a strong smile for when some of them ended up being traded away, I knew she was twice as sad on the inside. Even with the Kids she took care of here, I always caught glimpses of her by herself, examining little tokens she collected from some of the kids she took care of and watched for a moment as she held them closely in silence.

Me on the other hand, while I had a good relationship with the Kids, I never was that close to them like she was. I'd occasionally play Hide-&-Seek with them. I've even hid them from Alizce when they played with her. They'd stop to talk to me with about a good or bad dream they had or when they came to me with a "boo-boo". I even helped Alizce with protecting them from some of the other Teens that live here.

However, despite how much they've grown on me, I usually kept my distance and didn't interact with them unless they came and found me.

"...Sophia might be getting traded soon..." Alizce said in a solemn voice. She always came to talk to me about the Kids and what plans Father had for them.