A String of Hope

Chapter one

The tall grass swayed outside, and a little ten year old boy sat inside looking out.
"Julie! Come on! I really want to go out and play!" the boy jumped up, looking at a girl who was a spitting image of him, only five years older. They had the same big brown eyes, same blonde hair, same smile as the girl stood and opened the back door.

"Well, if you want it that bad, Sean, then let's go!" Julie sprinted out the door, her long thin jacket billowing behind her in the wind.

As Sean and Julie got closer to the tall grass in their open wilderness backyard, their panting and laughter only got louder and louder.

"Julie! Go hide. I want to come looking for you," Sean pointed into the tall grass.

"Ok, Mr. Bossy pants!" Julie laughed again, and charged into the tall vast jungle of green and brown wheat like grass, and Sean started counting.

"Here I come!"

Sean looked around, seeing a rustle in the grass, and he ran, landing on top of the lump that he found.

"Oh! Sean you're heavier than you used to be," Julie heaved and Sean laughed.

"Again! You find me this time!" Sean shouted, scurrying off.

They played for a while, the sun slowly crawling across the sky, making shadows shift. Making more unruly darkness.

"Come on, kids! Moms got dinner ready," their father yelled from the house

"SEAN WATCH OUT!" Julie suddenly screamed as they were retreating back home, and she pushed Sean away to the ground.

"What?" Sean said from the floor, annoyance in his voice. But his question needed no answer.

A large snake bit Julie on her bare leg once, twice, three, four times. She screamed again, tears already filling her big brown eyes.

"Sean..." Julie fell to the ground, and the snake slithered away when their father fired a gun into the air.

But Sean recognised the long black snake. That was a Black Mamba.

It had long ago earned its title as the deadliest snake in the world. What was it doing in America?

"Julie?" Sean fell to his knees, examining her wound.

"Don't touch it, it hurts," Julie said in between shivers. "Sean, I know what that was."

"I do too," Sean kept on blinking repeatedly, not wanting to cry in front of Julie.

"If I don't see you tomorrow..."

"You'll be fine," Sean interrupted. "If you aren't, who will help me practice? Mom and Dad don't know how to play, and they certainly don't want to learn all of the notes and stuff." Sean wasn't talking about running in the tall grass.

"I will still help you, but from elsewhere," Tears were streaming down both of their cheeks by now, their parents sitting next to them. "I love you all."

"No..." Sean started sobbing as Julie slowly closed her eyes, drifting into unconsciousness, but her chest still heaved up and down.

"She's still alive, just sleeping."

But they all knew that she would be gone in the next hour, never to wake up.

"This is your fault, Sean," Sean's mother said calmly. Too calmly. "If you hadn't let her push you, she would live."