War

Chapter 1: the dream

Hi. My name is Cassette. I'm thirteen yrs old. I live on planet #5 ,or as some people call it, Earth. There is life on other planets now. Most people have fled from the Earth. Toxic fumes have invaded our once safe air. We now live in protective shells. I know how crazy that sounds, but it's true. How did it get this way? Most say something about global warming, whatever that is. My life is a poor one, living with people that must slave away every day to get food., Yes,they must work day and night to feed their poor families. Nobody governs or controls us people, which makes for some very unpleasant moments with other sections of what used to be North America. People fight over food and land. Some world, huh?I just woke up. Wait. Where's Trista? She's my big sister." Trista!" Now I remember .It's hunting day. I almost forgot. I get up and put my clothes on. I want to go with Trista. I put on my jacket and walk out the door. It's almost 60 degrees outside and my dad tells me to wear a jacket if it's this cold. I shiver as the brisk wind makes my auburn hair wave in the breeze. My green eyes look over the landscape. It looks like spring will come soon. The seasons are controlled by the scientists who made the protective shells. I see Trista hunting a deer." Trista!" I yell to her. " Hi Cassette." she grumbles as the deer trots away." Oh, sorry." I say." Can I hunt with you, Trista?" She nods and goes to stalk another deer. I follow her. " Here, take this." She hands me a gun." For the deer." I look at her and turn to the buck. He looks at me and runs away . " You need to stay hidden." I go back to finding my prey. I see a rabbit. I shoot it straight in the heart,then pick it up. " Is this good?" She looks at me ,then says " Sure." And takes it from me. " Pretty good for your first time. Lets bring it home for lunch." I run back to my small cottage. " Mom, I shot my first rabbit!" I yell when I see her. " That's great, Cassie." Then, she ruffles up my hair and says " My little girl is growing up." But I'm already grown up. Sort of. I roll my eyes and go to my room. There's hardly anything to do in here, so I get a book out and read it. Hunting for beginners. Can't there be any interesting books? All of the books are either about hunting or history. Most history is boring except for the world wars. I find those lessons interesting. I don't like all the people dying ,but I find it okay. Only two of them have ever happened, thank god. I don't know what would have happened if there had been more. We probably would have had worse conditions than now. I skim the book. I've already read it about ten times. I'm a little tired so I jump into my blankets and fall asleep.

I wake up to find the sun setting. " You've been asleep almost the whole day." Trista whines at me. " You missed valuable hunting time." she grumbles at me. I scowl at her."What's for dinner?" " Deer." I walk over to the dining table. There sits a hunk of meat. I dig in. Then, I go outside to the darkness that is filling into what used to be light. The twinkling stars show up one by one, illuminating the night sky. " Beautiful, right?" Trista settles down next to me. " Uh huh" I say without much thought. A little while later I fall asleep in her lap.

I'm sweating and hot. The air is thick and humid. I'm running faster and faster away from it. Trista stands beside me." Mom, Dad!" I scream in terror. They aren't following . They're too weak to come. Tears stream down my face. Trista grabs me by the arm and runs faster. " We have to leave them. We'll all die." she tells me. But I can see she's hurting inside. Finally, we get far enough that we can stop running. And then it happens. Without notice, the bomb explodes. I capture her in a hug and start sobbing. She rests her arms around me and tears are forming in her eyes.

I wake up ,my heart pounding . My eyes are wide open, filled with sadness and terror. I'm breathing heavily at what just happened."Cassie we heard you screaming last night. Is everything alright ?" My mother says strolling into my room." Mom!" I scream," You're alive!" I hug her tightly. She looks slightly surprised at what I say, and gives me a confused look. " Um... yes I'm alive..... haven't I always been?" She says confused. " But... I thought you had died in that explosion...." She looks at me. " Oh ,sweetie, you must have had a nightmare. There was no explosion." she says knowingly. " Oh." I say.

I go outside to get some fresh air. Trista sneaks up behind me. " You wanna go into the woods with me?" She says. "Sure."