The One

Crunching herself into a ball more tightly than she thought possible, Kaitlyn backed herself into a corner. The smell of fresh hay and dust filling her nose. Rays of sunshine filtering through gaps in the old barn board, illuminating particles of dust in the air. Breathing as quietly as she could manage, Kaitlyn, put all five of her human senses to use. Fear welling up inside of her with every beat of her young heart. She had to calm herself. "Only bad things come of panic" her mother'a words echoed in her memory. Kaitlyn missed her mother, sixteen was far to young to be on her own. Grief suddenly over taking the fear she choked back a sob. "Get ahold of yourself, Kaita" she told herself. Kaita is the nickname her father called her. Koal had been her father's name, Koal Karusoe. Thoughts of her father reminded her of the clear and present danger she currently faced. She had to survive. She had to!

Failure was never an option. "Never", now there was a word that provoked mixed interpretations. Once upon a time something not happening ever. Not now though. No, things had changed. The world had changed. And with it, changed many of things our kind had once taken for granted. The word "never" being a prime example. What once had meant an impossibly long time, now meant simply that it could be a while. "Never", as it once was known no longer existed. Thankfully for every change there is also an opposite effect. "Forever" no longer suggested permanence, but rather it inspires hope. "Forever" now implies that things can change, that the future had not yet been written. Forever is still a long time, but it is not infinite, and that means we still have time to make things right. Time to survive. Time... Time... Oh but I digress.