Crossed

Chapter One

Chapter One

They call it the wall. Well, I'll just clear one thing first; it's not really a wall - it's a huge hill that is along the east borders of our village. Although, it's so steep that it looks like a mountain edge. On the other hand... I'm still willing to climb up it. If it means exploring the "Unknown Land", as they call it.

All it does is stop us getting out, stops us getting to a place unknown. Well, that's what I believe it to be. But every stupid person in the village says: "Nonsense! It protects us! Keeps evil, murderers and the beasts away!" Yeah, messed up. I can't believe that they all believe it, hell no, it's not fooling me. It never fooled me, really. I want to get out. Explore. Find my own way in life - not become the next Mayoress of Dundale... The moment my wretched, so called "Father" dies, I become the ruler of the village. My Father has never been in the picture, he's always been the frame.

I force myself to stand. Sweat glistens on my brow after lying in the blazing sunlight for the past 7 hours. I come here most days. I lie next to the wall, sometimes I fall asleep, imagining my escape. It's not getting over that's the real problem, it's what's on the other side. There could be anything beyond the village. I grab my bag and my sandy leather jacket. I jog towards the fence, which is at the end of the clearing.

They, whoever "they" may possibly be, really don't want us to get out; there is a high voltage fence followed by the wall. A couple of months back, I got so sick of being caged in the village and having no place that I could call my own. So, I dug under the fence and now I have a passage through the fence. When you think of a fence, you probably think of just a barbed wire fence knee high? Yeah, well try this 3 metre, partly rusty, black fence which you can see the violent electricity pulsing through the inner veins of the metal. One touch and you'd be surely dead.

I slowly crawl under the fence, through the hole that I made, and stand up on the other side. I walk through the barren field which we all call the clearing. Soon a field turns into a forest, and the forest turns into lanes and orchards. Screaming and squeaking infants run up and down the lane playing tag. They all look so happy... It isn't long before I come across home allotments and the tiny wattle and daub houses with the thatched roofs.

I soon come into Central, it's basically where all the market stalls are, where the Dundale fire is and where everyone meets. You will always find the person you're looking for, here in Central.

"Rumours say if you touch the fence, you burst into flames and are burnt alive! But the worst is over the fence... Up the wall, buried in the weedy grasses there are venomous snakes! One drop of their poison would be fatal..." A young teen called Marigold Slater describes. She is surrounded by a bunch of kids, all younger than 12 and she's telling them a story. It's not really a story, it's just one of the many suspicions of the Unknown Lands.

"But if you somehow get across these hurdles, there is more! You will get hunted down and killed by the vicious, flesh eating monst-"

"Bullshit!" I say crossing my arms and shaking my head, grinding my crooked teeth together.

I catch a fierce glance from my Mother. Yeah, she hates me swearing; well, I suppose everyone does.

Hardly anyone curses in the village. It's very religious here, so much that it is untrue. The only ones who swear constantly are "The Children Of Satan", as some people call them, but they're really called The Rebels. I don't really know any of them well, but god I want to. There's 8 of them. I really want to be one of them. But I can't. Think what would happen if the heir to be Mayoress, became a frowned upon punk. Not good.

Gasps lie around me. But my Mother speaks up. "Florence, do not curse," She says in her harsh tone she always uses on me whenever I do something wrong. "Come on, I need to have few words with you..." She sighs grumpily as she walks away from the fire and towards our house. I just follow her with an emotionless tone, not looking at the stares that lie all around me.