Chapter One (TEASER; Not complete)

- Here is a short teaser for chapter one of my upcoming story. Please let me know what you think.

A strong chill blew in from the East bringing with it the scent of late autumn. I sat with my back firmly pressed against the trunk of an Oak tree. It was nearing midnight and my ears could barely make out the sound of chirping crickets over my own breathing. I shivered as another gust of wind blew in to our small camp site. I outstretched my hands towards the fire in front of me and rubbed them back and forth in some pathetic attempt to get warm. 

“We’ll have to get you a sweater.” 

I looked up from the flames of the fire and on to my older brother Jonah was tending to our dinner. “You don’t have one.” I said plainly before turning my attention towards the mass of dead leaves that surrounded me. In the custom of older brothers, Jonah was always looking out for me. He made sure I was fed, clothed, and often gave me a firm talking to. There were times when I loved it, craved it, but most of the time it made me sick. I was nearing fifteen now and I was concerned I could take care of myself. 

“It will keep you warm. The winters coming you now.” 

Jonah tossed me a red apple as he sat down to take a break from cooking. I caught it in one hand and took a big bite before talking. 

“We’ll get you one too then. I know you’re old one is all tattered.” I tossed the apple back and landed in Jonah’s grasp with more force than I had intended. Our eyes held each other’s gaze for a moment and I could tell that he was a bit hurt. He nodded once before heading back to the chicken. 

“We can go to the market.”

 I felt my stomach start to twist in knots as if any moment I would vomit right on the forest floor. Wanting to ease the tension a little bit a picked up our two brown bowls. We had picked them up in the market in exchange for two balls of wool. I stood beside my brother as he dipped a long wooden ladle into the black kettle tat rested above the fire. With careful hands, he scooped out equal portions of rice broth. I closed my eyes and inhaled it’s warm scent. It was certainly one of the more plentiful meals that we had in a long time. The broth was topped off with a single piece of chicken and a hunk of wheat bread. 

After the bowls were full I walked over to our knapsack and rummaged around for a while until I found two small spoons. I handed Jonah his bowl before moving to sit down inches away from the fire.

 “Do you like it?” Jonah asked after I had taken my first sip of the broth. 

“It’s good. I thought the peppers would make it hotter.” I took a bite of chicken.

 “No, Mrs. Greevy was out of hot peppers. So I got some yellow ones and used mushroom to balance it out.” 

I nodded between bites of bread dipped in broth. 

“It tastes a little better. Do we have water?” 

“We have what left in the canteen and I got a barrel from the lake today.” 

“Is it boiled?” 

“Not yet.” 

Dinner continued without conversation and only sounds to break out silence were the rustle of the wind, crackle, of the fire and sounds of our thick slurps. When we were finished, we backed our dishes back into our knapsack and put out the fire with a bit of water from our canteen. We would be up early in the morning to travel to the market fore waiting until the afternoon only leave us with little options. The goal for the morning, was to get new fabrics for our bedding, three bags of potatoes, and anything else that would be valuable to our survival. 

 We packed our knapsack into our small camper’s tent before crawling in ourselves. Our bed was a mass of fabric that we had collected over the years and shown together. The center of what served as out mattress was filled with our old clothes that had gotten too large to wear. Our blanket, was a blue fleece garment that we had only recently acquired. It wasn’t anything spectacular, but it kept us separated from the cold ground and that was enough to be thankful for. 

“Make sure not to sleep too hard.” 

Jonah said as he took off his shirt and climb into bed. “We have to get to the market before afternoon sunrise.”

 I nodded in understanding as I moved to lay in bed beside him. The temperature was starting to drop well below freezing and in our typical fashion, Jonah took me into his arms to keep me warm.

 “Jonah.” I said after a few minutes had past. 

“Yes Morgan?”

 “I think I will get a coat after all.” Jonah let out a hearty chuckle and I could feel his chest rise and fall against my back. 

“Goodnight little brother.” He said with ruffle of my hair. 

Author's Note

**Don't forget to comment and let me know what you think so far!

Reviews

[Brittanie Bardwell]

I'm very curious to see where this book is going. Other then a few (and I mean a small few grammar issues) it's a really good read,and I would like to read the rest whenever you get it done or published. I just wish I had more of an idea on what the story is about other then two boys with nothing trying to survive. Though that would probably be more understandable if the full first chapter was here. :)