Winter

Chapter one

Sighing, I trudged to my house, letting my feet drag in the red yellow dust thrown up in my path.  The sun was sinking on the horizon, turning the town vibrant red in it’s one last attempt to give light to our planet.  My day had been long, I’d been searching for a job since the sun had risen.  Now I was bidding it farewell, with a dirty face, sweaty body, and hands torn from manual labor.  

Today I turned fifteen, which marked the passage into my working adulthood.  I wasn’t expected to chose a career path or anything, just get a part time job or apprenticeship somewhere that interested me.  My mother had given me a map of the best route to hit up all the potential job-givers in town.  I’d gone to the general store, the grocery store, the granary, the barn; I’d been to city hall, the police station, even half way to settlement Eighteen, because somebody had mentioned a job there.

I turned around halfway there, apparently there was a virus going around and they were on quarantine; with such a shortage of medicine Winder couldn’t allow a disease to get out.  Eighteen would be isolated for weeks or months on end.

So, after all that work, I’d returned home unemployed.  My grubby hands reached for the doorknob, and I stepped into my cool home.  The lights were off, and I thought nothing of it.  To the left was my coat closet, and I kicked off my shoes.  I reemerged to the tiny foyer and sprinted up the steps two by two.  Slipping into my room, I grabbed an outfit, then submersed myself in the shower.  

After cleaning up and changing I returned back downstairs, turning to the left again to get to the living room, which was just right of the front door.  I grumbled that my mother wasn’t home yet, and my hand searched for our lights.  The sunset had almost gone, and just as I reached for the switch the lights snapped on.

“Happy birthday April!” Everyone shouted in unison.  For a moment I stood, slack jawed and shocked, but I quickly composed myself and began laughing and smiling.  In the living room were my parents, the Clays, the Stratos and Resenos and Toins, and their children.  I squealed in happiness as I rushed the crowd, hugging them all simultaneously.  They hugged back and gave me several birthday wishes.  

After the greetings my Mother presented me with my birthday present, a blue gown with black glittery lace around the edges.  She shoed me to the bathroom to put it on, and as I laced up the back I observed myself in the mirror.  It squoze all the right places, bringing out the flecks of blue in my green eyes, and contrasting my pin straight, strawberry hair.  

We had cake, none other than vanilla, my favorite, and sang happy birthday for about the tenth time.  The icing was thin, since we didn’t have enough supplies for much frosting, but it was deliciously sweet anyway.  As the adults were stationary in the kitchen, the kids moved back into the living room.  I sat in the middle of my sofa, feet tucked neatly under me, with Mark on my left and Emily and Braint on my right.  We faced the fireplace while the other guests sat in the chair and love seat in front of the coffee table.  I looked out the panoramic window, the focus of our living room, into the night’s stars.  In the corner, between the kitchen and the living room, was a lit fireplace to keep us warm through the night.

As was custom we began sharing stories about me, which lead into stories about everybody else.  We reviewed our past year in Semper together, covering the fights, the parties, the jokes, and the school work.  We reviewed mine and Briant’s ongoing prank war, so far I was in the lead, and talked about all the failed pranks the town had been sucked in on.  The war was lighthearted, and it wasn’t like we’d split the town in two, we just mutually agreed that every person in the town, with their consent, was at our disposal for our pranks.  No teams, no alliances.  

Briant Clay was the oldest child in our town, he’d just turned sixteen.  He was like a shadow: with skin so tan that it resembles brown sugar and jet black hair, as if somebody’d spilt ink in it.  He is almost as buff as Hulk, yet not green, nor a super hero.  His eyes are either black or dark brown, but they vary in the lighting.  Despite his ragged and dark looks, he is the most family oriented, loyal person I’ve ever met.  Anything Briant commits to happens; as seen by his long term romance with Emily Strato.