Selfless

~Chapter 1~

"CINDY, GO FETCH THE TV REMOTE!" a raspy voice yanked Cindy out of her thoughts, causing her to groan. Her step-father constantly ordered her to get things for him.

She briskly walked out of her dusty, bedless room and entered the living room, and picked up the remote that was just inches out of the balding, fat, stinky man on the couch. Cindy tried not to gag at her step-father, Cornelius's stench. He acted as if a shower would kill him.

Cindy handed him the remote, and he snatched it without so much as a 'thank you'. He pressed a button with a stubby thumb, and browsed through the channels. Cindy was only slightly irritated until he said, "Couldn't you put on some decent clothing instead of those rags? You look like a rat."

Her irritation morphed into anger, because he was the one who'd sold all her clothes. She didn't have anything else but the dirty dress that she was steadily growing out of. And before she knew it, she let her anger override her common sense.

Cindy poked the remote, imagining her intentions. The place where her index finger had made contact turned to glass, and the rest of the remote transformed into glass.

Cindy bit her tongue to keep from cursing at herself. She knew very well that her powers were supposed to be kept secret, as her mother had told her from the time it was discovered to her final moments on her death-bed. She felt foolish to let her anger reveal her secret.

"Wha-what? Who- you!" Her step-father sputtered, switching his shocked gaze from her to the glass remote. Cindy took a step back, breathing heavily, due to her fear.

"I-I'm sorry." She whispered, backing up more. Her step-father advanced, hand raised to slap her. The glass remote fell to the floor, shattering. It seemed to be a reminder that Cindy could turn anything into glass, because he lowered his hand, letting it fall limp to his side.

"Get out of my sight." he growled.

Cindy didn't need to be told twice. She fled the house. A lifeless scene greeted her as she looked around for somewhere to go. Brown dirt with only a small amount dried-out weeds and a murky grey-blue sky. She'd heard stories from her mother that there were once vibrant flowers and rich green plants in many places of the earth, and that the sky was once a lovely blue. But that had been just two years before she was born.

Cindy almost tripped in her haste to get distance between her and her step-father's house. After running along the dirt road for a few minutes, she reached a familiar weed field. She usually went there to daydream or calm down after an argument with her step-father or brothers.

Her step-brothers weren't as bad as her step-father. Well, one of them wasn't bad at all. Magnar was actually like her brother, and they were really close. Phillip, on the other hand, was a bossy, manipulative jerk. He constantly made fun of Cindy, or ordered her around.

Cindy sat down on the floor of the field, and the long weeds exceeded her height. She couldn't see anything past them. While staring up at the grey sky, her mind wandered to her past.

She'd never met her biological father, and her mother said she never would, for he had died. Her mother had told her countless tales of her and her father's adventures, with Cindy hanging onto every word. Cindy and her mother had once lived in a small apartment, with one bedroom and in an area where shootings, robbery, and fires were a normal occurrence.

Cindy's mother had promised her that one day she'd make Cindy the happiest girl in the world. And Cindy had always believed her, until her mother had died without full-filling her promise.

Now that Cindy was older, she knew that her mother hadn't married her step-father for love. She'd married him for Cindy, in hopes that his wealth would make her daughter's life better.

It hadn't, but Cindy appreciated the effort. Sometimes Cindy would be startled at her striking resemblance to her mother. The same shoulder-length blonde hair, the same sky blue eyes, same thin eyebrows, and the same smile. Cindy closed her eyes, imagining her mother was beside her. She knew she wasn't there- but Cindy couldn't help but feel disappointed as she opened her eyes to find the spot next to her vacant.

She missed her mother dearly. She missed her comforting hugs and smile that could make anyone join in. Her mother had passed of cancer when she was ten, just a year before the cure was found.

Cindy let out a weary sigh. It was getting dark, and she'd have to be getting to the house soon. She cringed at the mere thought of all the yelling her step-father would let out, and he might even hit her. But it was either that or be arrested by the Checkers for running away.

The Checkers were a force of trained people that arrested law-breakers and settled conflict with other Societies. Societies were other civilizations.

Checkers were part of the Establishment, a government that ruled all of what used to be America. The Establishment hadn't named the area yet, but they were still thinking about it.

The Establishment had a few branches. The Administration monitored the public, and reported back to the Decisive. The Decisive then made up ideas to make the area better. Then Final, the most powerful branch, voted on the ideas and Checkers enforce them.

Cindy had learned everything she knew about the Establishment from Magnar, since her step-father wouldn't allow her to go to school. Magnar taught her as much as he could, though.

Cindy got up and started to walk back to the house.

"CINDY! GET IN HERE, YOU'RE IN HUGE TROUBLE!"