Number One
Prologue
Lights flickered here and there, though I could not tell what they were meant to be. As I stumbled towards them in the knee high snow, I realized that I would never be able to get there. It was too far, too far away. If I ever did make it there, it would be years and years from now.
Reaching out my hand was no good for I would never be able to reach those flickering lights. My feet slipped in the snow and I fell. I seemed to fall too long for the short distance there was from me to the ground. My hands sank into the snow and I felt them go cold. Then numb.
The lights that flickered too far in the distance disappeared and they were no more. Strong arms wrapped around me and hauled me from the ground. A deep, husky voice filled my ears. They told me I would be okay. That nothing could harm me. That he was there for me. That he would protect me from the strange flickering lights.
Voices filled my ears and I knew that everything was just pretend. This was all a dream. He continued to repeat to me, but I pretended not to know what he was talking about. Even though I did know, it was troubling to make out each word and put it together into a sentence that made sense. It's okay... It's okay. It's not okay.
Words were hard to make sense of, even though I have grown up with words since I was only a little girl. I remember when books were the greatest of adventures. I remember when I used to run around in the tall grass outside of my cottage. Barefooted, free. Wind blew against my face and my hair was lifted from my shoulders. Then I could fly.
Now those days are over. Nothing can bring me back to them but sweet memories. But memories don't come so easily. Memories are like candy. Good memories are like your favourite candy bar. Bad memories are like those disgusting veggies that you were forced to eat. Good memories only come when you do something good. They can only come on a special holiday, or when someone gives you the permission to eat them. Bad memories you are forced to have every day.
Those lights that flickered in the distance was my only chance to have a good memory again. Now I would die. Now, I would die a slow and painful death. I won't see my family again. I won't see my friends again. Not that I ever had either of those. I never had a true family. I never had true friends. At least, I never did until I was forced to.
An adventure came to me one day. I was forced into it. That was the day that I met my true family. That was the day that I met my true friends. That was the day that I met my enemies. That was the day that my whole life came into play.
When I was little, I always had my nose in a book. My life was nothing but books. I would wake up, read, eat, go to school, read, eat, and sleep. Sometimes I didn't go to school. Sometimes I didn't eat. Sometimes I didn't sleep. Books were my escape from this strange place we call home. This strange place called Earth.
Earth isn't all that we think of it. Why would someone bring such and innocent child into this world? Where war rages, where men rape and murder, where other children abuse and offensive words roar. Why would someone do something so terrible to an innocent child such as bring them into living Hell?
People think of Earth as beautiful when it is opposite. The only thing good about this world is the other worlds it contains. Such as books, paintings, and music. They are the only things that can contain this terrible place that we call home.
Fear floods this world. Fear, revenge, anger, and depression. The only thing that is stronger than these feelings is hope. Hope that the world will change and everything will be perfect. That every person that begins a world will die. That every bully, every rapist, and ever murderer will go away. Such as a memory. Such as those disgusting veggies that we had to eat as children just disappearing into dust.
More candy will be fed, making us sick and drunk with happiness. But things like this don't happen because the world is far too evil to contain such happiness. Every ray of sunlight the sun provides for us is crumbled into dust by those nasty people.
Aaron is one of those nasty people that tore me away from my last ray of sunlight. Strong arms wrapped around my struggling body. My screams were distant. I felt as though I were underwater, in a dream. Every noise sounded as if I were underwater. They were distant, echoing.
I almost died, I would have been so happy if I had. I wanted my death to be slow and painful. I wanted to leave this world and go into a new one. I wanted to move on and away from the endless raging war and heart break. But I was stupid to think that something such as that could ever happen.
Arms trapped me and I was struggling to breath. When I opened my eyes, everything was gone. I could not remember. Names were blurred. Every veggie and candy was taken away from me, out of my grasp and sight. Memories were gone. I would have done anything to even have a veggie, but as I searched and searched, they were all gone.
My name is Charlotte Blanchard. And this is my life story.
