At End's Gate

BEAUTIFUL PARADISE

The kids took their seats on the dining table.
"James can you say grace?" David Sanders asked his son.

"Yes, I can dad. Let us hold hands and pray."

They prayed, blessing their food. Once they were done, David looked at Paige. "How was your day love."

"It was fine daddy," she answered

"What exciting thing happened to you today?" David asked again.

"Nothing really dad. It was just another normal day in college"

"Normal is good sweetheart," he responded after swallowing the chunk of meat he had been chewing. "Blake how was your day?"

"It was fine," he responded with a grin.

"You seem to be in a good mood," Claire pointed out.

"Mom, it's because Chelsea Donovan said she'll go to the dance with him." James said laughing.

"James!!!" Blake responded with an annoyed look.

"Hahaha. Young love," his father said with a chuckle.

"It's okay Blake. I'll help you punish him," Paige whispered into his ear, with a smile on her face.

"How about you James? Did your day have any excitement?" Claire asked.

"My day was great. There wasn't much excitement but just knowing that in a few months senior year would be over gives me bliss," he responded with a laugh.

"That's good to hear," his mom said cheerfully.

After the meal, the children washed the dishes. Once they were done, they went into the lounge and sat by the fireplace, to listen to their father's intriguing stories.
"Yesterday evening I told you that today I would talk about the history of Redstone."

"I think we had plenty of history lessons dad," Blake told his father.

"I know but your teachers don't narrate it the way I do," he responded with a grin. Everyone laughed. "Do you know where the name Redstone came from?"

"They never taught us that," Paige answered.

"I guess you do know more than our teachers," James said with a chuckle, "Enlighten us please."

"Okay. There was once a time when war was the order of the day. Leaders were greedy and wanted to overrule each other. Civilians were killed and the bloodshed was overwhelming. One day the war became too intense to the extent that civilians of various nations came together and formed their own force determined on overruling all the greedy leaders. They were led by a man of a gentle soul. His name was Alexander Redstone. He didn't care about power which made him the ideal person to lead. The civilians group prepared all the ammunition they could gather, readying themselves for the day they would face the people who brought darkness into their lives." He made a sudden stop to observe whether the children were still paying attention to the story.

"Go on," Blake said

"Now we get to the interesting part, the war. The dates had been set. The civilians group had planned to attack each opposing camp one by one through ambushes. Everything seemed to be well put out but Redstone still had a bad feeling about the whole thing. He also had relatives that were killed as a result of the wars but he could see that most of the people were letting their emotions get the best of them. He knew that this would make them lose since they were going up against people who learnt how to block out their emotions when fighting. When the people went to the first camp, they entered into the tent only to see an unpleasant site. They saw bodies of soldiers on the ground. It was truly disturbing. On top of each body there were papers written two names on each paper. They were names of the people of the civilian camp and a relative they had lost in the earlier wars. The civilians were overwhelmed and scared. The ruthless leaders had formed an alliance against the civilian group. The people were frightened by the threats as well as anguished by how the opposition could cartoon their dead relatives."

Paige looked sad,"Why though?"

"Cruelty my dear. The civilians then found another paper by the door, written a location and date. They understood that location was the site they would meet their opposition. They looked at Alexander for guidance but he was a bit shaken after seeing a paper with his and his father's names. He looked at the people and told them that they would have to train in preparation for the day. When the day arrived, the people armed themselves. Alexander was calm and told the people to not fight with emotion. They arrived at the location, prepared for anything because they knew that it might be an ambush. They saw the opposing leaders in the first line but it seemed as if they were under the leadership of someone else. This made Alexander a bit nervous. Then he saw a face emerge from the left flank. He looked at the face only to receive a shocking site. The face was his father's. He was stunned. His father had faked his death and was leading the opposition. Those near Alexander were the only ones who saw his bitterness. He tried to pull himself together. He fought valiantly. When the time came for him to face his father, he fought boldly. This amazed the other civilians. He was willing to sacrifice his father for the greater good. Though the casualties were many, the civilians won. They then named the place Redstone. They just teach you in school that Redstone was a place of Liberation. It was actually a man who brought Liberation."

"Why don't they talk about him? Blake asked.

"Alexander said he didn't want the recognition because it was a joined effort. He was truly noble."

" Dad he killed his father though," Paige pointed out.

"Sweetheart sometimes great men have to make difficult choices for the greater good."

"Even if it involves losing a family member?" Paige asked

"Yes my dear. Okay what's the lesson of the story?"

"You should not deal with fights emotionally," Blake answered.

"Yes," David said before looking at Paige.

"You should always put other people's thoughts before yours," Paige answered.

"Yes, but what's the biggest lesson? James?" David's gaze shifted to his son.

James smiled, "It's quite obvious dad. The lesson is you should not be too trusting."

"Very good my boy. Good night to you all. Pleasant dreams," he said as he stood up from his seat.

"Yes, you should all go to sleep," Claire said.

The family went to bed.

Hie Guys. Thanks for the reads. If you liked this chapter please make me smile by pressing that star at the bottom. This chapter is dedicated to TheGirlInTheMask181 for being the first person to vote on my first story. I am forever grateful. Thank you so much. I wish everyone a great day:-)