The Maze

Chapter One

Chapter One

Where hedges reach up almost to the clouds and where all hell breaks loose – Kura ended up there.

Earlier that day, she’d been lurking around her small cottage, being curious at the age of fifteen. The rain poured on her hair, but she showed no sign of quitting. Her mother was sick in bed, and her father was still at work at the Blacksmith’s in town.

I have just enough time to catch a rabbit before Colin comes out, she thought. Colin probably hasn’t even woken up yet… after that, it’s no use.

The silence of the morning and the cold freshness of the air comforted her, and put her in her zone. All she needed was some game… a rabbit, deer, something. Anything would be all right – they barely had enough money for fruits and vegetables, but they needed some sort of meat. That was always Kura’s job.

Suddenly, there was a small rustling noise coming from the bushes. From instinct, she turned her head immediately toward the sound. Out from the bush popped a rabbit, quite a big one at that.

Dinner.

Readying her bow quietly, Kura aimed at the rabbit’s backside, hoping to hit it straight in the heart. The rabbit remained stationary, sniffing the air like an innocent infant.

Pulling the arrow back on her bow, she squinted one eye, and with the other, stared and concentrated straight on the rabbit, ears perked up, almost as if—

“Kura, Kura! I had a dream and you were in it! Kura! KURA!”

The rabbit scurried away as fast as its little legs could go, and Kura completely missed, the arrow lodging into a nearby tree.

Colin rushed over to Kura and started yanking on her pant leg. The bottoms of her pants were muddy and wet, and for that matter, she was soaked from head to toe. The rain had slowed, but Colin didn’t seem to notice that there was any rain at all.

At the age of seven, Colin didn’t wait to greet his sister in the morning. Normally, he would greet his mother in this way, but she was still very ill, and their father was at work.

“Ugh!” Kura groaned. “I almost had it! I could almost taste it, Colin! I told you to not bug me in the morning!” She quickly walked over to the tree and yanked at her arrow, but fell backwards in the effort.

Colin frowned, and looked like he was about to cry. “I’m sorry, Kura, I just wanted to see you!”

Ignoring Colin, Kura wandered inside, with Colin stumbling behind her.

Once she entered the cottage, she spotted her mother, Celia Avalos, sitting at the small wooden table in the kitchen. She looked pale and fragile, sitting there, sipping a cup of coffee.

“M-mom,” Kura stuttered. Her mother turned around slowly, and managed to put on a small smile.

“Good morning, Kura. Good morning, Colin,” she said faintly. After giving their mother a nice hug, Colin skipped over to the window and started to draw something on some paper.

After a moment’s pause, Kura walked into the kitchen and prepared herself a bowl of oatmeal. Sitting down across from her mother, Kura dove into the food like a savage cavewoman. Letting out a small laugh, Ms. Avalos set a frail hand on Kura’s, looking at her. Kura lifted her head slightly, and cocked her head.

“What’s up, Mom?” Kura said curiously. Sighing, Ms. Avalos patted Kura’s hand.

“Well,” she started. “I got up early this morning so that I could go to the town square and get some fresh vegetables for supper, but I’m still very ill, and I don’t think I could make the trip.” Kura nodded.