Transient Life: Book One of the Era Series

Change of Fate, Chapter One (Sample)

Thou art mine always and forever,

for thy fate is mine.

Wrong do not get it,

fate existeth not,

for fate is part of me.

After all, I am the...

In a silent and dark place, there is a small box-like object. It judders, bright light radiating from it. A noise which isn't pleasant to hear keeps repeating itself, like ringing. Someone in the dark wakes up, pissed off by the juddering object. It moves to grab the thing that keeps ringing, shutting it down.

She puts the lights on in her room. A young schoolgirl, twelve years old, sits up on her bed. Her hair is long, brown, and messy due to restless sleep. She looks like she's had rest only for a few hours.

Another school day...

With that, she stands up from her bed to prepare for the upcoming school day. She isn't happy about it, but she doesn't hate school either. After all, she gets to see her friends daily.

After dressing up, she opens the door of her room. She doesn't like the sight that welcomes her. Her home is almost entirely empty. Decorations that remain are packed like the family was about to move—and they are, in fact.

"Oh, you woke up!" Her mother exclaims.

Emily turns to look at her in desperation. "Please, tell me this is a nightmare..."

But her mother shakes her head. After that, Emily looks downcast and walks to the kitchen like an obedient child. Only a table remains with two chairs. There is a sandwich prepared for her on the table with a glass of water, one that was made less than half an hour ago. Tableware is packed, so her parents made her day a little more comfortable and prepared breakfast for her before she'd even woke up. She sits down at the table to stare at the sandwich.

She grabs it with both hands, not eating it, but instead, she keeps staring at it, weeping and clenching the sandwich. She hasn't moved before, and she doesn't want to leave her home like this. Her friends, her loved environments, her loved home, and her somewhat loved school is here.

The new home will be far from here, and she won't be able to visit her friends, not unless her parents are willing to let her travel four hundred miles from the new home. Thus the moving pains her even more than their dog's death two years ago. She doesn't have any friends where they are moving to, just unknown people she may never befriend. On top of that, Emily's a person who wants to hold tightly onto whatever she loves, and she seldom likes new things, especially new people. She's been known as a cold-hearted girl at school to those who have migrated, but not in the sense of bullying, she just never talks to them, ignoring like they weren't there.

Her mother doesn't know how to comfort her daughter, she seldom does. Emily is a complicated child, that is what her teachers say about her. She can be emotionally broken, and quickly at that, but if you give her a day, she'll emerge as a whole new person. The more you make her break in spirit, the stronger she becomes, that's what her grandfather says. Now that they are moving for the very first time, Emily will be shaken, and as cruel as it may sound, her grandfather waits eagerly to see how Emily emerges out of this one on her own. After all, her grandfather knows all too well that Emily's parents can't deal with a broken child; hence she'll have to swallow the tears on her own accord.

Emily grows furious and throws the sandwich away, imagining that it was her father whom she tosses away, not a sandwich. It was her mother and father who came up with this idea of moving, so demonstrating her wrath to her parents is what she should do, she reasons. Emily stands up and walks hastily towards the front door, not eating anything for breakfast, nor even adding any makeup. She grabs her backpack and steps outside. Every step Emily takes further away from her home makes her feel much better. The words mother, father, and moving, are poisonous to her right now. She makes up her mind to hit anyone who blurts any of those words today at school. No, she doesn't use violence at school, or at least she hasn't until this day. She is a kind girl, sometimes even caring. Today is just an exception.