The Fallen: Alison Mccaw is not Dead yet

Chapter 3

Alison awoke with tears in the corners of her eyes. "I guess I cried myself to sleep." She muttered. She sat up and saw at the end of the bed a pile of clothes and a small piece of paper. "Put these on and come to the kitchen." It read. Alison did as it said and put the tight black leggings and rather baggy blue tunic on and came out. Altyo was waiting there. "We have to head out to the hall." He told her as he opened the door. His gills formed again on his skin as they stepped out into the warm water. They swam along the bottom until they reached the towering blue building. "Aha, young Ali-" He started

"Alison." Alison corrected.

"Yes right. Anyway, today many people will gather and meet with you, so prepare to pick someone as your adoptive parent." He announced.

"I'm picking them?" Alison asked.

"Yes, its our tradition." The fat old man answered.

"And its starting." Altyo interrupted. A crowed of about twenty people was outside the kings hall.

"Hello my people, this is Ali-" He began.

"Alison." Alison interrupted.

"Alison," He corrected. "Is here because the golter dragged her down here." There was a loud snort from somewhere in the crowed. "Alison would you like to say anything?" The fat old man asked her. "No." She answered him.

"Line up for ten minutes to talk to Alison alone." He announced. Among all the odd, green-tinted people, she saw one face she recognized. Altyo? She thought.

The first person she talked to was a woman and her husband. The people treated her like a three year old, asking her if she liked to play with toys. The second person was a man and his boyfriend, who were not bad people, but she had one person in mind. After thirteen people had talked to her, Altyo came and sat down with her. "Why are you offering to adopt me?" She whispered. "Because, as I said before, your not a bad person." He answered simply.

"And I think I'm ready for a bigger responsibility than greeting people at the gate." He added. 

"It's hard to pick someone I don't know." She explained to him.

"I get it." He responded. A silence followed that was both awkward and comforting  at the same time. "My ten minutes is up." He said eventually. 

The last six people were fine to her, but in the end she picked. "Altyo." She said, her voice shaky." Altyo came up with her to hug her. "Lets go back to the house he whispered. And they left with the rest of the crowd.