Acronus ( EXCERPT OF EPIC FANTASY NOVEL )

Chapter 1

The morning sun is blazing down on a somewhat small suburban neighborhood. It's quiet here. Most people are staying inside because of the humidity. It usually rains a lot this time of year in Jacksonville, Florida. Today however, is a sunny summer day.

My mom, dad, little sister and I are trying to get things packed and into a moving truck. We have two neighbors helping us. They're the 'Canons' – the only people we ever talk to, really. Everyone else just does their own thing. They keep to themselves.

My family is quite desperate to move, considering the pressure of having to repair a badly damaged house. It's a burden too much too bear – financially and physically. However, I can say our lives haven't been too bad – at least we had great neighbors living beside us.

Forgive me; I haven't introduced anyone besides the neighbors. I'm Rachel – I'm 17. My sister's name is Meagan and she's 14. We live here with our parents Janice and Quinn. Meagan and I are pretty quiet and study a lot; we're homeschooled. Our family is not your average everyday family of today, I would say. It's more like old-fashioned American living for us, which I can appreciate.

I've gone into my room to have a last look at it while everybody else is finishing up. I think Meagan is in her room. Most of the furniture and other belongings are in the truck by now, thank god. We have it parked in our huge backyard, which our grandmother used to call 'the field'. For the longest time I didn't know why she said that but I know now. It's all grass and there's a small red building in the back at a fence that separates our yard from the interstate. The building was used for storage.

Right now, as I think about that, I'm sitting on my bedroom floor staring at something I hold dear. It's a picture of our grandparents just before they died. It looks as though they were at some picnic area while on vacation in West Virginia for a family reunion. My family and I were never invited to any of these reunions; it upsets me a little.

I close my eyes, shake my head of this memory and decide to pull the last bag close to me so I can stow the picture away for the journey to a new home.

I hear someone stop in the doorway. Instinctively, I glance over at it and find Meagan.

"Hey, what are you looking at?" she asks.

I put my hand over the center of the picture and slowly rise. "Just a memory." I show her and then put it in the bag. She crosses her arms over her chest, "I miss them too, Rach."

"Yeah..." I say, "So are mom and dad ready to go?"

She nods to what I say and tells me, "They're saying goodbye to the neighbors. We should join them."

I smile softly, readjusting the bag over my shoulder, "Ok then. Let's go." I follow her out and find dad just outside the screen backdoor.

"Are you two gonna say bye?" he asks.

"Yeah, we're headed that way." Meagan tells him. I nod once and keep going, with Meagan soon trailing behind.

We go around to the right side of the house where the moving truck is and find Mr. and Mrs. Cannon standing there talking with mom. They stop once they see us.

Mr. Cannon smiles warmly. "You girls be good now, you hear? Take care of your momma and daddy." He walks up and hugs us as Mrs. Cannon puts her hand on her hip, also smiling.

I hug her and him, and Meagan says with a small laugh, "We will."

We then see Dad coming back to the truck.