Seed

Chapter 1

It was like a dream, like I was floating. Gunshots were blurred out by the sounds of explosions and the screams of the people trying to escape the enemy. I remember shaking. Strong hands wrapping around me, and feeling scared. Then there was darkness. They say I escaped, but in my mind, it was more like fleeing to the underworld.

I heard another boom from above. It used to frighten me, but I have grown used to it. The memory of the first time a bomb hit causes me to let out a sniffle of laughter.

I was asleep in my bed, dreaming of being in a forest with my mother, who was singing a calming song to me. Suddenly, there was a loud bang.

I awoke with a start, unsure of what was going on. I didn't know what to think. My father entered my room in a frantic manner.

"What's going on?" I asked out of curiosity.

"Stay here, Allie!" he yelled at me.

Several bombs struck the world above. I remember shaking violently in my bed, thinking that they had found us and that at any minute, the enemy would going to march into the sewer I call home. I prepared myself for the worst.

I didn't get much sleep that night. More bombs hit the following nights and for a while, I never thought it would end. But as quickly as it had stopped, the bombing resumed once more. I learnt slowly that it would be a while before I left the sewer.

For some reason, I feel like I would have prefered if they had come on that first night. Maybe then I would be out of my misery.

The aftershocks of the bomb from above only slightly shake the walls of the sewer. I gaze into the filthy puddle next to me. My reflection in the dimmed light seems to make my pale skin glow in the rippling water while my dark brown hair simply blends into the muck. I lean against the curved wall and sit down, waiting for the rumbling to pass just to make sure I won't be knocked down when I attempt to walk.

Soon enough, it was still and quiet just as it was before. I get up and walk down to our makeshift lounge and kitchen area. I don't really know how my father managed to separate each section from the next, seeing as our home was just one long, old and empty sewerage pipe.

I kneel down next to the cupboard in which we keep what little food we can find in. I open it up and pull out what I assume is a piece of mouldy bread. Even though it was probably months old, we never really have much of a choice in what we eat.

We're lucky to survive down here given the condition of the upper world. I never complain – even if I did, I'm positive no one will be there to listen. No one cares to listen to me anymore. By no one, I mean my selfish father who is the only other human being I know. He and I live together down here.

I barely ever see him as he is always in his seed lab which is 'out of bounds'. He is a passionate seed collector, but I think he is altering different seeds to create something new. I have no idea what he is working on as he doesn't tell me anything about it, apart from the fact that it will change our lives when he completes it. I don't really know anything about him either. About what actually happened to Mum.

The seeds that my father collects are all different shapes, sizes and colours. There is always a trail of mud and dirt from where he walks around the house.

It can get pretty lonely for me down in this sewer, but I have my friend, Alfie the baboon. He is an albino baboon plush toy and I feel as if he is the best friend I could ever have. I wish he was real. I am certain that I would never be lonely again if he came to life.

But playing with Alfie is not the only way I pass time. One of my favourite things to do in the entire world is create jewellery. It reminds me of my mother, as she was a jeweler and taught me how to make jewellery.

I play with the bracelet on my wrist that took me months to make. It is a simple string bangle with little charms made of old rubbish and various items I have collected over the years. The charms all represent things that make me happy, such as a sail boat, Alfie and a small seed blossoming into a beautiful flower.

Just like my father created his lab, I created a little place for me right next to my bed. I use it to make my jewellery in and keep everything I have found and made.

I spend a while creating more jewellery from the materials I have, including a ring from a stray piece of an aluminium can.

I call myself a jeweler, although I do not sell my creations. I keep them for myself to admire and sometimes wear. I hear noises coming from my father's lab and carefully place the ring into the cardboard box which contains the jewellery I make.

It is nearing the time for me to go to sleep. To be honest, there is no way to tell what the time is in the upper world as we have no clock. I know my father will be coming into my room soon to check that I am asleep.

I conclude that the mouldy slice of bread I ate would be the only thing I would have for dinner. I'm not really hungry for anything else anyway.

I walk back over to my bed and lie down. As I lie against the cold, hard concrete floor and pull the thin newspaper sheet over my body as a blanket, I think of how much different my life could have been if my father and I had stayed back in the upper world and experienced the dangers and terrors that come with it. Would I have been happier?