Love in Smoke

                                                                              Chapter 1

 A silent tear slithered down the face of Daniel Cartonelle.  He couldn't decide which was hurting him worse at that moment: the unbearably sharp coldness that started in his toes and rushed all the way up is spine in a great chill or the astronomical hunger that seemed to be tearing through his stomach like a wild beast rips into the flesh of its prey. 

     However, no matter how starving Daniel became, none of it matched the pain of the abuse he had endured at his last home.  It could hardly be classified as a home.  A home is a place where a person feels safe and happy.  That house was the polar opposite.  His father had beat him repeatedly with a belt every day of his life for making the slightest human mistakes that everyone makes. No matter how hard Daniel tried, he could never seem to please the ill- tempered man. 

     Daniel ran two fingers across the vile scar that inhabited his lower side.  He could remeber clearly the day it was put there. That had been the day he finally worked up enough guts to make a break for it.  To run for his life.

     He had been doing the monotonous job of washing the dishes by hand after dinner.  3 cups down, 7 to go, He thought as he extended an arm up to the cupboard to put a glass in.  Suddenly, his hand slipped and the glass fell to the floor with a paralyzing shatter.  Daniel's stomach cramped up with fear and his palms became sweaty.  His whole body seemed to know what was coming. 

     Then the chilling sound of his father's footsteps coming down the hallway.  They were "horror movie cliche" but in real life, that sound was petrifying.  Daniel clenched his fists, preparing for the pain that he was going to endure.  Finally, the man entered the room with the black leather belt that Daniel so dreaded the sight of. 

     "Can you tell me what that sound I just heard was?" Voiced his father calmly, as if asking where the frozen food section of a store was.

     "It was a glass breaking.  My hand slipped and it fell," Murmured Daniel weakly.

     "Do we know what the punishment for breaking things is in this house?" Asked his father as if he were speaking to an ignorant child, not a 16 year old.

     "40 lashes with the belt."

     Daniel felt his muscles tense up as he received the first lash. His eyes drifted across his flexed arms.  They were impeccably toned from hours of weight lifting for football.  It was then that he realized that he could fight back.  He was no longer that frail 9 year old curled up in a ball, crying.  Now he was as strong as, if not stronger than his father.

     Faster than he could think about it, Daniel whirled around and punched the man square in the nose. The two of them made eye contact for a few stunned seconds.  Daniel was standing straight up and is father was on the ground holding his nose.  Fresh blood dripped between his fingers, giving Daniel a rush of pride.  That was the first time he had been alpha over his father. 

     It wasn't long, however, before his father reached for a rather large shard of broken glass.  Daniel took off towards the living room, but his father followed close behind, glass in hand.  The man chased him all around the house until they were back in the kitchen. 

     Daniel dove behind the table, but it was too late.  His father reached out and and slit 4 inches of his side right open. It stung like hell, but there was no time to keel over in pain.  Daniel reached out and grabbed the glass shard, feeling it pierce the flesh of his hand.  He ripped it from his father's grip and threw it across the room.

     The two wrestled around the room, throwing punches and slamming eachother into furniture.  That went on for about two minutes.  Finally they were both back on their feet.  Daniel could hear his heartbeat as he looked around, trying to decide what to do. He ran for the door, but his father caught him and slammed him down on the counter, wrapping both hands around his sons neck. 

     Daniel was running out of breath.  He's really gonna do it.  He's really gonna kill me this time, thought Daniel.   His eyes darted around the room looking for something, anything to save his life.  Then he saw it: the cast iron pan that was still sitting on the stove.  In one swift motion, he reached over, grabbed the heavy object, and slammed it onto his father's head with all the power he could muster.  The man fell to the ground with a thud.

     Daniel packed his bags full of knifes, a '22 with ammo, matches, a sleeping bag, and everything he thought he would need to survive in the woods for a couple months, and biked all the way to a bus stop.  He boarded a bus to the nearest national park, which, conveniently, was also the largest in the world.  He would have plenty of room to live without being found.  

     He made plans to live among the trees.  Just him.  A chance to un-live his horrific childhood.   His only music would be the delicate song of the birds.  He would hunt to get food, and sometimes just for entertaiment.  Seeing life leave an animal made him feel that feeling of power again.  

     After actually living in the woods for two weeks, Daniel found it not to be as easy as he had expected.  He missed 80 percent of the shots he fired and he didn't have unlimited ammunition, unlike the shooting video games he had played at his friend's house.  He hadn't brought a tent, either, causing him to wake up every morning wet and cold.

     Daniel had, however, lucked out and found a clean spring so that he could wash himself and save matches by not having to boil all his water.  It was easily spotted because it was surrounded by big rocks.  These boulders seemed to be everywhere and had prooven useful when he was cooking or wanted to keep something off the ground.

     The scenery was divine in that part of the park.  The trees towered overhead like nature- made skyscrapers, and since it was spring, the beautiful flowers were just beggining to bloom.  One day, Daniel had wandered upon the most beautiful sight he would ever find in that forest.

     He had been taking one of his regular theraputic nature walks when he caught the slight glimpse of a bright clearing.  He wandered toward it, curiously, and slowly pushed through the treeline.  Daniel's eyes beheld an angelic waterfall that fell beetween the mysterious treeline up above. The water flowed down like the pleated skirt of a silk dress.  It shined and reflected in diaphanous patterns, like strings of diamond, silver, and saphire.  The flow landed with a crash onto the stretch of water that sat nearly still, but rippled slightly if you looked very close.

     He had walked over to the edge and stared at his reflection.  His soft hazel eyes blended immpecably with his tanned skin.  His dark ruffley hair had been a favorite of the girls at his old school.  If there was one thing he was always good at, it was picking up ladies.  Daniel must've been the best looking guy in the highschool, behind Cody Fishengale.  

                                                                                                                                                                                            Thinking of his dating life made him remember Annabelle, his last love.  She had been the sweetest girl he ever had.  She had actually cared about him and his well being, not just his looks.  She helped him get off drugs his Freshmen year, rather than doing it with him like other girls had.  She told him he was perfect and comforted him when he was depressed.  She was the girl that every guy dreams about.

     Then one day they got in a huge fight about something stupid and it got so heated that she slapped him and walked away.  The next day, Daniel got a call from Annabelle's best friend saying that it was over and she was dating another guy, Tony. 

     He splashed his reflection and ran back to his campspot, where he sat down on a boulder and cried silently about everything he had gone through and the hunger and coldness that was overcoming him.