Midnight. Two figures are walking down a road, their feet shuffling. The man has busted knuckles, after a quick glance he put his hands in his pockets abruptly. His eyes wander left and right, helping him to keep his chin up. His eyes now focused on the empty, dark road. The man hugs a girl. She's 10 years old. The girl flinches as an explosion adds light to their left side. After having her face buried in his chest for awhile, the girl lifts her head up and asks the man a question.
"Why'd you do that to our house?"
The man looks down at her and sighs, he pats her awkwardly on her head. The man feels out of place comforting his child.
"Protection," he simply states.
The girl focuses ahead letting the flames illuminate her eyes. She feels his arms tighten around her, she feels alone. Now more than ever.
After a while of watching their once beloved home get swallowed up by an inferno. He reminisces of the earlier years in that home. It was a place full of warmth and love, now it was full of sadness and pain. The man wondered to himself if that was the reason why it was so easy to let the home go. The man glances at his daughter standing awkwardly in his arms. He steps aside and grabs her hand. He smiles to himself upon seeings it still fits in his. Reluctantly, she holds his hand back. He takes a look at the burning pile of rubble and sighs. He has to be strong; that is the only way he can keep what remains of his family alive.
"Time to go," he turns towards his old, blue, chevy pickup truck.
"Where will we go?" the girl looks at down at her father's intertwined fingers.
"I'm not sure," he replies while opening her car door. She plays with her fingers and he notices. He purses his lips at the sight of his child, for the first time in his life he is unsure of what he is doing. He wants to comfort her, but he is not sure how. "It's going to be okay. I will protect you, no matter what," he promised her mother that he would. He searches her eyes for any sign of comfort, but there's none as he expects. She's just like her mother. He misses her mother. He sighs in defeat while shutting the door. He rounds the back of the truck, but not before stopping. Their home is almost completely burned, you can hear the foundation snapping and popping as the fire consumes it. They have nothing now, just each other. They hardly know each other.
After taking one last look at what's left of his home, he gets in the car and proceeds forward. The girl angrily mumbles to herself, she looks out the window. She thinks to herself, "That's what he said to mom."
He glances at the burning structure through his mirror as the last words of his wife cross his mind.
"Never look back,only forward," her gentle voice echoes in his head a thousand times over.
He drives into the distance leaving everything he knew and loved behind. The life they once knew is over now. There was no going back.
"Only forward," he whispered to himself.
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Hey everyone. It's Aniah here. I really hope you liked the first chapter. Sorry if it is kind of rough this is the first book I've written (with the help of my amazing co-writer Bobby) in over 3 years. I used to write a lot of fan fictions, but life got in the way of that. I have decided to resurrect my hobby of writing and try again.
Bobby and I spent all night planning, writing, and editing this chapter. Please feel free to comment and like any time. Thank you!
