Life of a Karman

Life of a Karman - Meet The Willows

And that's that! First chapter Posted. It's a little short to my liking, but I'm also not going to fuss over something being too short. Be sure to vote, comment, and fan if you enjoyed Life of a Karman~ <3

I'll dedicate this chapter to my oh-so curious friend who can never seem to stop asking me what I'm doing, and my normal response would, as always, be "Writing." So here's do you, Rinnie.

The beginning chapters can be kinda boring, but you gotta read up to chapter 7 & 8 <_< They're awesome.

The photo on the right was the second cover I made for the story. I love this cover, but I decided I was leaning more for the mysterious cover. So I changed it, I might change it again later. The photograph I used in the new cover is taken by "nikolinelr" VIA Deviant Art. Her piece is titled "A Secret Place".

~Alice

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Chapter One: 

"Where are my shoes!?" A scream came from upstairs. I glanced over my shoulder to watch my sister frantically run up and down the stairs. A small smirk crossed my lips as I looked over to the side at the front door. There, next to the door, were two high heel boots just waiting to be worn by my sister's precious feet.

"They're down here!" I spoke, clearly annoyed, from the couch. I turned back to the television and grabbed the remote, searching for the mute button. I just knew that she would continue to talk through the rest of my show, so I might aswell mute it now. Soon after the mute button was pressed, I heard the thumps of footsteps hitting the stairs. When I glanced over my shoulder, my sister was turning her head around like an owl to find her shoes. Finally, her eyes landed on her shiney heels, she practically ran to them.

"Thank god..." She said and bent over at the waist to snag her shoes off of the ground. She picked them up in her hands and began to unfasten one of the straps, glancing over at me.

"God didn't have anything to do with that..." I muttered. Somehow, I 'shockingly' managed to talk just loud enough for her to hear my words.

"Fine. Thanks, Nessa." She emphasized my name and walked over to me much more graceful than her earlier thud down the stairs. She sat silently on the couch next to me and started to pull on her heels, straping them at the side.

"You're welcome, Steph." I mimicked her tone and let a small smile creep on my face before turning my attention back to the television. I pressed the mute button again to let sound flood the room. I should've known that she wouldn't remain silent for long.

"Whatcha watchin'..." Steph asked cautiously, yet carelessly. I turned my attention back to her and sighed.  She was tucking her last heel into her shoe as she spoke.

"Well, I wasn't watching anything in general," I pushed myself up to my feet and started to adjust my shirt.  "I was just hoping to find something familiar," I carelessly tossed the remote next to her and turned around to walk away.

As I walked torwards the stairs, Steph called out my name. I turned around to look at her with confusion. She grinned at me and pointed to the front door, waving her finger around. "I'm the one with Saturdays off. You have Fridays off -- but it's not Friday! Go do your job!" She said to me teasingly. She knew I hated traveling out to these daily chores. 

I glared down at her from halfway up the stairs and let out a sigh of defeat. I grumbled as I slid down the last of the stairs and stuck my tongue out oh-so maturely. I stormed out the front door and shuffled down to our mailbox before she could say another word to me.

I opened my mouth and let the steam roll off my breath into the crisp winter air. Carefully, my hand trailed the side of the mailbox with my finger. I used the metal, flimbsy container as a support beam -- I wouldn't want to fall down on the ice.

I pulled out two envelopes and read from who they were from. One from the bank -- for my mother of course. And one from KARMA Inc.  I set the bank envelope back inside of the mailbox so I could open the KARMA Inc card addressed to our family.

After I tore open the card, I skimmed the two letters inside. Usually we receive three letters a day; a letter for my mom, Steph, and myself. Today was Steph's day off, so she didn't receive any today. Quickly, I picked up the bank envelope back up and retreated to the warmth inside of the house.

I closed the door behind myself and heard Steph's footsteps coming closer, but I was too engrossed in reading the mission for today to look up at her.

"Who'd you get?" Steph asked curiously.

"I have some kid named Scott. He did some kind of community service. Says I should be there at..." I trailed my finger along the card and stopped when I saw the digits, "10:42." I looked up at the clock on the wall and huffed. "Thirty minutes."

Steph snagged the paper out of my hands, leaving a small, thin paper cut behind. "That's it?" She exclaimed with a frown and read over my paper, almost as if she were double checking. "You're so lucky.. when I was sixteen I received atleast two a day!"

"Oi, I have my fair share of missions." I said and snagged the papers back from her hand. I pulled Mom's envelope to the top read her list. "Shoot..." I said with a frown, "Mom has a robber..." My mother always gets the best missions.

When I looked back up, I saw my mother descending the stairs. Her long hair was pushed over her shoulder and she was dressed formally.

"Are you reading my mail again, Nessa?" Mom asked. She walked over to me and pulled the letter out of my hand. I winced as the paper brushed yet again over the paper cut that Steph had made earlier.

"Nessa you should know better!" Steph exclaimed. "Curiousity kills the cat..." She taunted me with a click of her tongue.

"Stephanie. You're 22. Act your age." Mom scolded her strictly. She turned around and took a b-line to the kitchen.

I glanced up at Steph and smirked. "Ha." I said simply with a smile to her. While folding up my note from Karma, Steph glared at me. I slid the note in my pocket and smiled. "I've got to head out. I have some.. " I waved my finger around in the air in front of her nose. "Business to handle." I flung the front door open and stepped back outside after I grabbed my jacket. "Have fun cooped up in the house, Steph." I called back to her. While grinning, I slid my jacket on and walked down the driveway.

Steph and I almost always travel together on our missions assigned to us by KARMA Inc. Since she doesn't have a mission today, she will get lonesome and bored, as she usually does, inside the house.

"Have fun in the cold!" Steph screamed after me in frustration. Her voice echoed down the street and she flushed slightly. I wasn't quite sure if she was flushing from the cold or her loud voice.

"I will." I said just loud enough for her to hear while I continued to walk through the snow to the city. 

Now, where was I going again?

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