The Children of When (Complete)

Chapter One: Leah

Leah punched her pillow in frustration as she climbed into bed. Why couldn't she just stay here for the rest of her life? Whose dumb idea was it anyway, that everything had to change just because you turned fourteen?

Her thoughts were interrupted by the voice of her twelve-year-old foster-sister, Maddie. "I don't know why you're so miserable, I'm the one who has to stay in this boring hole for another two years. Aren't you even a little bit excited about where you're going?"

Leah groaned. She pulled the covers up around her neck, and snuggled down into her warm, comfy bed for the last time. She'd hoped Maddie would be asleep. Talking to little Miss 'I'd-be-excited-to-be-going-on-an adventure' was the last thing she wanted to do that night. She'd deliberately gone to bed later than usual, in the hope of avoiding such a conversation.

A whoosh from the other side of the room was followed by a thump as a pillow landed on her head.

Maddie giggled. "C'mon Leah. Don't be such a sourpuss!"

Leah huffed and threw the pillow back. "Yeah, whatever. Look, I just hate not knowing anything about where I'm going. And I happen to love living in this boring hole!"

Memories of carefree summers spent swimming and playing in the crystal clear lakes with her friends, or racing headlong through fields blooming with an abundance of flowers, filled her mind. She'd never do any of those things again; well at least not in Naissance, where she wanted to be.

Maddie's sigh drifted across the silent room. "Ok, I get it. Sorry, I didn't mean to be a pain...'night Leah, sweet dreams."

Maddie's gentle snoring was soon drifting through the darkness. Leah sighed with relief. She piled her hair on top of the pillow and rolled onto her side. The soft glow of moonlight calmed her frayed nerves as it seeped in through her bedroom window.

She sorted through the few things she knew about what would happen the next day. She needed to arrive at the clearing, known as 'The Circle', before nine o'clock on the morning of her fourteenth birthday. Which was tomorrow! The words jangled in her tired brain. From there, she'd be transported to wherever all the other children who'd ever turned fourteen went. And that was all anybody seemed to know, or at least all they would tell her. So why the big secret? And why did everyone she asked just shake their heads and tell her not to ask so many questions?

The same unanswered questions continued to tumble around in her head. She punched her pillow one more time. You're leaving Naissance tomorrow whether you like it or not, so you just need to get over it! She sighed and closed her eyes. But she knew sleep would definitely be a long time coming.

* * *

Leah opened her scratchy, sleep-deprived eyes to the sounds of bustling activity and a delicious smell wafting up from the kitchen. Pancakes, her favourite! She stretched, jumped out of bed, and pulled her hair up into its usual ponytail. Then she remembered what day it was. She slumped back down onto the bed, her eyes filling with tears. Why? she asked the roof for the gazillionth time. Because it's the rules - that's why! the roof replied; the only answer she ever received to that question. She wanted to scream at the unfairness of it all.

"Leah... hurry up," Miriam, her Guardian for the last fourteen years, called from the kitchen. "It's nearly eight o'clock, and you don't want to be late."

She almost laughed at the thought. What happened if you were late? Now there was a question she'd like answered!

She'd miss Miriam the most. Round in all the right places, she always knew when to offer a comforting hug and a sympathetic ear. And somehow her hugs always made everything better.