20 Left Book 1: Ignight

Gathering the Kindling- Ellie McDuffles

 I woke up and what did I hear. The answer is nothing. I heard nothing. Nothing at all. No cars driving up the road. No talking voices right outside my window. None of the sounds I heard everyday. None of the sounds that woke me up.

Feeling unnerved, I got up, wrapping the tattered, old blanket around my narrow shoulders.

On the island kitchen bench was a large and heavy-looking, ivory envelope. It was closed with a gold and blue swirled seal, picturing two lions with their paws aloft, holding the earth.

I knew this seal well, I had learned about it during World and Space Studies. It was the seal of the World Council who ruled us all from above.

I suddenly realized that I had been standing in the doorway of the kitchen, motionless, for ages.

I glanced again at the envelope and slowly walked towards it. Maybe it could tell me what happened to everyone and why it was so quiet. Whatever it said, I felt that it could explain my predicament. Well, I hoped it would explain my predicament. With trembling hands, I slowly open up the large envelope to see what secrets it may reveal.

A large beam of light shot up out of where I had just shot up out of where I had opened the envelope. Expecting this, I placed the envelope back onto the counter. Out of the light, a beautiful woman's face appeared, staring at a point just above my head. Her short brown hair bobbed in place as she opened her thin red lips to speak.

"Hello, Ms McDuffles. My name is Janaya. I work at the World Council and am speaking for them now. We are delighted to tell you that you have been chosen to be part of our Cleanse the Earth project.

You, and 19 other teenagers from Australia, have been chosen through a special selection process to restore our beautiful planet Earth to its previous grandeur. You must make your way to Alice Springs as quickly as possible. There you will meet your new leader, Jak Monroe. To contact him use his lifeline number, #4789632. When you get there he will assess you and give you a job. When everything in your job has been taken care of for the time being, you will return to Alice Springs to start your training. Your job will be in one of the new provinces. We have also sent you a copy of the rules and conditions you must always abide by. We will send you news of you friends and family later on. All animals are remaining on Earth, this includes any pets you may have.

You will never see me again so remember my words carefully.

We look forward to seeing what you can do to restore the planet Earth.

Sincerely, everyone at the World Council."

Finally, the woman's mouth stopped moving and the light shrank and went back into the envelope. I stood there stunned, until I shakily made my way to a chair and sank down into it. This couldn't be real. Could it. I hoped not. I had good friends and an amazing family. I mentally corrected that thought, I have good friends and an amazing family. I refused to believe that they had disappeared out of my life. This was probably all just a stupid joke they had thought up. But as I sat there, nothing happened. No one came laughing out from behind a corner shouting 'April Fools'. Nothing.

It was then I knew things would never be the same again.

I couldn't deal with this now. I had to go for a drive. Running outside quickly, I jumped into my small, blue hovercraft. I was quite proud of it actually. I had bought it myself using money I had saved up from all the different jobs I had done. It was also the latest model which meant it went very, very fast. And that was exactly what I needed right now. As I sped across the brown and black paddocks, I found myself heading towards the sea. The sea that I lived by was probably one of the least intoxicated places on Earth. It actually still looked like the old Earth. Blue and sparkling in the rare rays of sun that dared venture through the smoggy clouds.