Seven Generations

Chapter one - a short trip

8:00 am.
Lucas turned off his alarm clock. He let out a long sigh before getting out of bed and looking at the mirror. He knew what was planned for today. His parents thought he studied and read too much so they decided to go on a trip to his grandparents' farm for the weekend. The boy cleaned up his room and went to take a shower. Meanwhile, Hannah and Robert sat at the table discussing about their son.
"He is a charming young boy and his grades are above average.Yet, he still doesn't know what he wants to do.." his mother said putting a hand under her chin. "Honey, we shouldn't rush him. He still has a lot of time to think about this." Said her husband calmly. Hannah nodded. "Maybe we should set up an arranged marriage.." Robert folded his arms in a displeased manner. "Stop worrying about that Hannah."

Lucas walked down the stairs and heard their conversation. He politely greeted his parents before sitting down quietly. Both of his parents knew Lucas hated when they spoke about arranged marriages. He didn't plan on getting married to some strange woman who'd most likely take advantage of his intelligence or looks. Hannah looked at Lucas sadly. She felt guilty for talking so much without considering her son's feelings. "Oh Lucas I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to go that far.." Lucas nodded. "Don't worry about it"

Robert put a hand on Lucas's shoulder. "Anyway, today we're going to grandpa's farmhouse! So go pack your stuff after breakfast." The boy nodded and tried to eat as slowly as possible because he knew his parents wouldn't let him take a book with him.

After breakfast, the boy went back to his room. He opened his little brown suitcase and threw in a bunch of clothes. He took a notebook and a bunch of pens Incase he'd get bored on the road. Once he finished packing up, he walked down the stairs and waited for his parents to finish.

Robert walked up to him. "Lemme check your bag." He said suspiciously. Lucas sighed and handed him the suitcase. "seems you didn't bring any books. That's good. Now, give me your phone." The man laughed. Lucas was quite annoyed but did as he was told. His mother walked in the living room. "Alright, let's go." She sang happily with her three humongous suitcases by her feet. "..Mom, I don't think you'll need all that. It's just a weekend after all." The woman looked at him straight in the eye. "I. Need. These." And walked to the car. Robert chuckled. "Be careful about what you say to her" Lucas shook his head and helped his father carry his mother's bags. Although Robert was aging, he had a strong and healthy body. He looked quite tough with his intimidating posture.
Lucas jumped into the car and tried to fall asleep while his father started the engine.

The drive was long and seemed endless. Lucas managed to sleep for a bit but woke up after half an hour. He took out his notebook and a pen and started sketching whatever he saw that seemed interesting enough. "Lucas, while we're at grandpa's, try to make the most of this trip please." asked Hannah. "Sure..." he answered quietly.

Two hours later, the car stopped in front of a light beige house with red roof tiles and red gables. Sitting on a rocking-chair in the veranda with a smoking pipe,was Matthew,Lucas's grandfather. Matthew was a tough old man and loved to talk about his days as a hunter. He taught Robert everything about hunting and guns but he had no interest in becoming a hunter. Robert only wanted to look for trouble as a kid.

Lucas's parents stepped out of the car and greeted the old man. Lucas let out a long annoyed sigh and followed his parents.

"Lucas! My boy, how long has it been? Two years? Three years? Well that doesn't matter. You've grown up so much! How old are you now?" 'Still talkative I see..' the boy thought to himself. "I'm sixteen now." He chuckled as the old man ruffled his light brown hair. " already a man I see! Well make yourselves at home!" He said happily while heading back to his farmhouse. Robert and Hannah carried the bags into the house while the teen stared at the sky.

The farm was so peaceful. The sky was clear, the vast land was so beautiful and the place was so quiet you could hear the crickets. The tall trees around the house looked strong and easy to climb. Lucas remembered climbing the trees and reading for hours before falling asleep. A bunch of meters away stood the barn and the chicken coop. The sounds of the horses and other animals could be heard from here. Lucas felt nostalgic. He suddenly remembered he had to help his parents with the bags but once he turned to the car, no one was there. His family members were all waiting for him in the dining room. Hannah stood up and peeked her head out the window. "Hey! Lucas! If you don't come I'll eat your share!" The mother exclaimed. Lucas ran to the front door and quickly took off his boots. "Wait! I'm coming!"

Lucas sat in front of his grandfather and started eating while the others made jokes and spoke about the old days. Matthew glanced at Lucas with the corner of his eyes. He knew Lucas was a huge book lover and adored history. He seemed to want to tell him something but he'd always stop himself for some reason. After the food, Lucas offered to do the dishes. "What a fine young man." His grandfather said to the married couple. "You did an amazing job raising him. I'm proud of y'all" Hannah and Robert smiled. "thank you.." Hannah said with a hint of sadness in her voice which Matthew noticed but dismissed it. "Anyway, wasn't Henry supposed to live with you, dad?" Matthew shook his head. "Your brother has a lot of work to do. He went to live in the city a few weeks ago." "What? How come I never knew about that until now?" Robert asked slightly irritated. Matthew shrugged. "It's okay he'll probably tell you sooner or later. Anyway, let's talk about that time you said you wanted to marry Hannah!" The old man said grinning widely. He knew his son always gets flustered whenever that topic comes up and he loved seeing his reaction.

Meanwhile, Lucas finished washing the dishes and decided to look around the house since he didn't have anything else to do. The walls of the house were white and beige and looked very old. The wooden floor creaked a lot and the fourniture looked so used but it somehow had a charm. Lucas went to the attic where he found a strange looking book. He picked it up and blew the dust off. The book was heavy and looked like it contained a huge number of pages. The cover was dark brown and had a black leather stripe on it. Lucas turned the book around and found nothing. He then opened the book carefully and found a whole bunch of writings. It didn't look like a language he'd understand so he turned the page and found something quite interesting. He found a family tree with his last name on it. Lucas read the names carefully. "William Crouse, Emma Crouse, Jonathan Crouse.. this is pretty cool actually." The boy said as he read the different names on the book. He closed the book and looked around the attic a little more. After a while, Lucas found nothing interesting and decided to go ask his grandfather about the people in the book. He had hope one of his family members were a noble or a rich merchant.

Once he walked down the stairs, he found Matthew asleep on the rocking-chair near the Tv. His parents were sleeping as well so the boy didn't bother them. Instead, he went outside. It was still daytime and the sun was bright. Lucas thought it would be nice to climb a tree behind the house and see the rest of the book. 'Just like before' he thought. He walked behind the house and found a nice strong tree. He attached the book to his belt and tried to climb the tree.
Lucas was pretty strong since he played a lot of sports so it was easy to climb at first. But then, the boy put his hand on the wrong place and fell. When he fell, he hit something hard that made a strange sound. Lucas thought it was strange because the land bellow the tree was all grass. He stood up and pushed the leaves and plants away. Once the plants were out the way, the boy found a wooden trapdoor. "What is this?" He whispered to himself.