Chapter 1: The Beginning

Walking down the street in a small town east of Bralorne, British Columbia, I swept my feet through the thick layers of autumn leaves. Hearing their fragile bodies crumpled underneath my weight, I puffed out an exhale of breath. The air in front of me grew in a bundle of white smoke that slowly disappeared with the wind. Trees on both sides were competing each other, displaying their leaves with a wide array of colors: red, green, golden-brown, orange and even some black. I sighed as I headed toward the mountain that materialized almost out of nowhere in the distance within a patch of dense fog. It was about an hour's walk to my destination, one that I welcomed with all my heart.

Our town was fairly small; only five hundred or so people were occupying this rural area. Traffic was never a problem nor was the infraction of laws. Most of the people in the neighborhood had low income, and thus almost all of the houses nearby were old and frail looking. There weren't any BMW's or Mercedes as there were in the big cities. The cars were somewhat old and antique here, blowing out acidic smoke from their exhaust pipes.

As I continued down the battered sidewalk, a few vehicles passed by. Some of the drivers recognized me and honked their horns to greet me. I waved back, not smiling. What was the point of laughing, or seeing other people laugh when you had a toilsome life that was not worth mentioning? What was the point of being joyful or feel light-hearted when your parents were always caring about themselves and never had paid any attention to you?

I hung my head as I trotted further away from my house. How I wished that my parents could spend some time with me, talking to me. How I wished that I had a normal family like everyone else. My Dad was doing stock marketing and he rarely came home. My mother was a banker and she rarely came home. More than half of the time I arrived at my house after school only to see an empty structure with no lights on. It was especially cold during the season when fall turned into winter and I long for warmth. More than half of the time I had to cook myself dinner and eat alone with only one light on in the kitchen. Imagine a thirteen-year old boy living by himself.

I seldom went out and play with my friends. They all thought that I was not meritorious enough to play with. Some of them ridiculed me, and others just shunned away from me. I only had a few good friends, but most of the time they were busy with their other pals. I could only hang out with my best friend, Jake Towin. He was the same age as I was though slightly taller. Compared with my hair, his neatly trimmed hair was golden-brown while mine was slightly long and near black colored.

When the school was over in the summer, we would usually go up into the alp that was filled with wild animals and uncharted lands. Within the mountain surrounded by giant, green, ever-lasting pine trees, Jake and I would play Cops 'n Robbers with our cap guns. If any hikers were nearby, they would definitely hear our excited screams and thrills.

There were many hidden paths that only both of us knew because after all, we had almost explored the whole sedate territory in the forests. Along the trails, Jake and I would use the bows that we had made using branches that we had hacked off from small timbers to catch feral fowls and small rabbits. Whenever we had caught one, we would skin it off first and then barbecued the dude. Both of us, of course, were not professional hunters. However, we had learned the basic idea of hunting from books that we had looked up in the library.

Now the school was going to start in two weeks time, Jake thought that we should party a little before the long, agonizing hours of sitting in front of the teacher and bury our noses into the books.

Without me noticing it, I was already at the nadir of the Igloo Mountain. We named our phenomenal prominence Igloo since the peak of it was shaped like an ice dome. I carefully chose a path in front of me that was hidden by a decayed bush and began my ascend to our rendezvous point.

Half an hour had passed and I was already sweating in the cold autumn temperature. Birds flew overhead and sang in the air while the soft, gentle wind began to pick up and urged me to hurry up. I sighed as I flung all of my troubles and frustrations behind me. I am going to have fun today, and nothing should spoil my mood.

"Hey! Take you forever, Tobieaz!" Jake saw me from the top of a giant boulder. He waved at me while shouting my name.

"Yeah, well I have to take a leak you know? An hour's hike is terrible for my bladder."

"You sure took a long leak. I bet you've even made a river out of your urine," Jake started another one of his pathetic quip. He jumped down onto the soil, which was covered with pine needles. "So, what are we going to play today?"

I shrugged and said: "I dunno. What do you want to play? Hide and Seek?"

"No way! Last time you ditched me in the middle of nowhere when you couldn't find me after a long time!"

"Hey! I have to go home okay? I already shouted your name and told you the reason, but nooooooooo, you just have to ignore me."

Fuming slightly, he stared at me for a second there. Then he smiled. "Ah, forget it. So what are we going to do? Hide and Seek is old and besides, this place is too big for a game like this. It'll take us forever just to find the other person."

I leaned against the gray boulder. I yawned. It was one o'clock in the afternoon, but I got up at seven this morning when the sky was still dark. "This sucks. Two weeks left of summer vacation and we can't even figure out what to do."

Jake climbed up onto the slab of rock again and sat there with his legs crossed, staring down at me. "I thought you are smart and you can think of something. Looks like I'm wrong." He sneered.

"Bah! I ain't a computer. What can you expect?" I waved his frolic off with my hand.

He looked up into the blue sky and just stayed in that position for a while. Finally, he said in a mild voice: "What is your dream?"

"Huh?"

He grinned as he lay down on top of the massive stone, facing upward still. "What is your dream, Tobieaz? My dream is to become a police officer shooting bad guys with my gun. That would be so cool."

I remained silent as I thought about it. Up till now, I had never thought about having a dream. I guessed that my life was such a disaster that I didn't have the mind to have a dream, a wish of my own. I was too young to mature that early. Suddenly, I felt as if a twenty-pound dumbbell was pressing down against my heart.

Hearing a chirp and a buzzing sound on my right, I turned my head. There on the leaf-coated earth, a small hummingbird was looking back at me, observing me. It then flew off effortlessly like a bullet. I instantly had this wild imagination. A smile slowly crept onto my face.

"I would like to have wings so that I can fly in the sky," I said, still smiling.

Jake laughed as he rolled over onto his stomach. "Wings? Humans don't have wings. What kind of dream is that? You are weird, Tobieaz."

I frowned as I saw my own best friend laughing at me as well, just like the others. "Hey! A dream doesn't have to be realistic you fool. A dream can be anything. You can even dream about having a dragon flying over you and become your soul mate." I defended hotly.

Still shaking his head, Jake muttered: "Man, you just don't have the right fantasy. Dude, you and I both know that humans aren't born to fly."

I slumped onto the ground, angry at just how uncooperative Jake Towin could be. He jeered at me. Me! As if my life wasn't screwed enough already...

When he saw that the atmosphere had darkened, Jake quickly tried to loosen the tension between us. "Listen, man, sorry about laughing at you. It's just that... well, I expect more practical dreams coming from you, you know? I never expect that your dream is to have wings so that you can fly."

I grunted a reply. Then I got up and brushed the dirt away from my faded jean. Looking at Jake, I sighed and said: "Never mind. Forget what I said. I have to go now."

He too, got up with an expression that said: Why leaving so early? Are you mad at me?

"But it's still two o'clock! Tobieaz, don't tell you are pissed off because I don't take your reverie seriously?"

"Nah. I really have to go," I lied to him. I didn't feel like talking to him anymore. Heading downhill, I grabbed a fallen leaf off my head. Looking back, I said a good-bye to Jake. Life was not fun at all.

When I got home, Mom and Dad weren't home as predicted. I groaned out loud, shouting curses as I stomped upstairs and into my room. I slammed the door shut behind me with a bang. Flopping down onto my bed, I cried. I felt as if this was a punishment for my doings, but what had I done wrong? Weren't I always getting B¡¦s and A¡¦s in school? Weren't I always being responsible? Weren't I always tried to become a good boy? I didn't fight. I didn't steal, and I certainly didn't ignore other people.

"Stupid Mom! Stupid Dad! Why do you guys have to be so ignorant about my feelings? Why do you guys have to leave me alone when I need you guys the most? Why? Why?" I shouted into my pillow as I pounded it with rage.

I wailed in my room for a long time, until it was evening when the sun had gone down. Opening the door, I expected to hear footsteps in the kitchen with my Mom and Dad talking to each other. Nothing. The whole place was so quiet that it looked as if no one was occupying the house.

I got down to the first floor and went into the living room. Leaving the lights out, I turned on the television and raised up the volume, I decided to skip dinner for tonight.

While I was watching the Simpsons, I felt an odd sensation on my back. It was throbbing with an interval. I shifted my position hoping to lose the strange, dull pain. It was still there. Slowly, I turned my head and used my right hand to touch the left shoulder blade. It hurts. I grimaced as I explored the area that was sore. Nothing out of ordinary; only my smooth skin and my back muscle were there. Though, I felt as if the muscles on my back were getting hard. This was very puzzling...

~End Chapter 1~