Ashwin Oswin and the Gauntlet of Gold

Chapter 01 | The 13th Birthday - 1st Rough Draft

Ashwin Oswin was dangling upon a cliffside by the length of her lower body and her stuck foot which was slipping away. Her blood was against the front most of her forehead, She has always been one for adventure but it was usually just imaginary and not truly death-defying.

However, this time the stony surface scraping against her back, the branch holding her up against the drop, and the wilderness all around her were real and terrifying. The cacophony of sounds created a spine-tingling fright. It was all she could think about.

Ash has always wondered what death felt like ever since her mother died from cancer but she never wanted to meet him at the ripe age of thirteen-years-old. Death was going to have to wait on when she was ready and she wasn't ready to die-just yet.

As if you were wondering, this was the story of Ashwin Oswin, adventure extraordinaire and how she became who she was. It all started on her 13th birthday, oh how predictable was that. Anyway, she was if you could say it, utterly uptaken by the fact of becoming just like her idol father. The Professor Oswin an American archaeologist, antiquarian, and explorer who became world-famous after his discovery of the Sphinx's secret royal treasury.

At the start of the day, it felt like the rays of Lady Luck were shining upon her walnut colored hair which usually laid a ponytail. So at the balls of her feet, she dressed in her usual attire which consisted of a plaid overshirt, dark blue jeans, and a plain white t-shirt.

Ash went to get her backpack when she remembered to take her number one possession. A simple wooden slingshot. It was given to her by her mother on the day she died. On that absurdly normal day, a whirlwind of emotions had rocked her world apart. So to deal with the torrent of depressing thoughts, Ash simply grabbed a pebble and began practicing with her newly bestowed tool. Firstly, she just shot at trees trying to get a consistent arc and then Ash began using cans as her new target dummies. Every single day, She did this routine until she was exhausted and slept. Her father dealt differently with his grief by becoming intangibly close to his work which usually was balanced with his family importance.

When the first year of middle school started just three months after her mother's funeral, Ash just felt robotic and downtrodden going through the people infested hallways. She noticed the average cliques with the popular's leaning against the lockers. While the not so lucky were hiding behind their metallic walls symbolizing their inner struggle with the situation.

So at the beginning, she ignored the problems with the tyrant power imbalance going at school like how many would have in her position. This ignorance stopped at lunch however when a person accidentally tripped on Samantha Wood.

An accident which could have happened to anybody but unluckily landed on Craig Miller who was focused on his book about supernovas. He was the stereotypical geek which got 'teachers pet' written across his forehead.

Samantha at first seemed befuddled but a simple switch clicked within her. So she dumped her whole tray, on purpose, down at the already downed Craig. Looking back at the group of people which began crowding she said, "whoops", as if it was an accident.

Ash simply snapped at the total disrespect for a fellow human so remembering her reading of the Art of Chivalry. Ash got up from her lonely spot, dug into her backpack and swiftly took out her slingshot. Pocketing a meatball inside the rubber compartment, she let the piece of meat loose.

This slowly set a course of humanity as gravity took hold and landed the meatball in her hair sounding out a plop. Everyone who spotted the hair infused meat gave an uproarious laugh until Samantha glared at them. Scanning the crowd until her eyes landed upon Ash with the glop still clinging on her fingertips and not the hidden slingshot which was tucked right afterward in fear of losing it.