"Pedro lost his temper then, and the beating began. It did not stop until long after Jade had lost consciousness and Pedro had run out of breath..."
Alone in the world, Johnny Roberts has to face his worst fears, and overcome his greatest obstacles...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Morning found Johnny several miles away, still in the forest, and with no idea where he was. He hadn't slept for over twenty-four hours and he was exhausted.
He crested a rise and found himself in a clearing in the trees. He decided it was as good a place as any to get some rest, so he set his rucksack on the ground to use as a pillow, and after brushing away as many twigs and leaves as he could he lay down and closed his eyes.
His thoughts were erratic, flitting like a bird between what had happened with his father, what he was going to do now that he had run away, and what his future held in store for him. He tried to picture himself as grown man; he could see himself with a nice car, a nice house, a dog and a beautiful woman on his arm. He couldn't quite make out her features, and as he drifted into blissful sleep, he was desperately trying to focus on her face, but didn't seem able to for some reason.
He woke up several hours later, cold and confused. His back hurt, he was hungry, and he felt alone and miserable. He was somewhere in the middle of the forest, in one of the wildest regions of South Africa, and he had lost all sense of direction. He sat up and looked around.
Judging from the position of the sun, he could see that it was around midday. He knew that he had to make use of all available daylight, so he climbed to his feet and walked off into what he hoped would be the right direction... hoping that it would lead him to a road... or farm... or some form of civilization that he could use as a means to escape.
He had only taken several steps before, without warning, he tripped over something, sending him tumbling to the ground. Frustrated with himself for his clumsiness, he dusted his hands off and looked around. A few feet behind him was a piece of silver metal sticking out of the ground. At first glance, it looked like the bumper of an old car or something, half-buried under the dirt and leaves. All he could see was the edge of it, protruding from the ground. He moved closer to get a better look.
It was shiny silver, about three feet across, and it seemed to curve ever so slightly. What fascinated him was its brightness and the fact that he couldn't see a single dent or scratch. Obviously part of a larger buried object, it shone as if made that morning.
Johnny stretched out his hand and touched the object uncertainly with his fingers, and was surprised to feel a strange vibration. At the same time, he was convinced that he could hear a faint humming sound. He stood up and took a step back in disbelief, combing his fingers through his hair. So much had happened in the last few hours. He was hungry and hadn't slept well, he was cold and alone, but yet he felt a strange sense of excitement well up within him, like a dormant volcano coming to life, and without thinking, he reached forward again. This time, on some base instinct, he grabbed the object with his open hand and closed his eyes.
His entire being seemed to explode; he was suffused with an energy that he could never have imagined. Eyes closed, it felt as though he was standing, mesmerized, at the foot of a rainbow, or watching a star being born. He fell backwards and landed on the ground; startled, perplexed, and filled with excitement. It felt like something had awoken deep inside him; it was like plugging his soul into a power socket.
