Fantasy Is For Kids (part 1 of 2)

This is the first chapter to my new sci-fi novel. I really hope you will enjoy it, the story will get increasingly better. The action has only begun.

Chapter 1

    Imagination. Something that everyone has. There are those who understand it, and those that don't. There are those who use it, and others who won't. It is something applied to create what isn't really there. Imaginary, yet very real to the creator. Imagination, is what we use to bring fantasy into the reality. Though it will never manifest itself into something real....or will it? The mind, I've been told, Is more powerful than we think.

*5 years since prologue*

    It was dark, I could barely see anything, yet still I could hear the pounding of it's footsteps behind me. I didn't have anything left in me, though I still pushed on. His roars echoed through the forest, as they cut through me. It was terrifying. My heart seemed to beat at twice the speed of normal, it felt like it would rip through my chest at any moment. I could feel the tremor of falling trees behind me, as it grew closer. It seemed like I could almost sense it's warm, putrid breath running down my shoulder.
    I hurdled every log that was in my way, scraping my legs along the sharp edges of them. I could feel the blood coming down my calves, but I dared not look for I feared what may come If I was to do so. My focus was on one thing and one thing only, and that was forward. Whatever got me farthest away from the evil that was proceeding me. It seemed like I would never escape though, like I would never reach that goal.
    It's screams broke through the silence of the dark, only enhancing my fear. As I thought it was all over, I was only brought closer to it still. Pain shot through my ankle, as a root caught my foot. It brought me crashing to the ground. I could feel the instant texture of soil and grass on my chest. It was a feeling that I had hoped not to feel for a little while longer. The ambiance around me seemed to shift synchronously, like the woods were telling me to wake up from this dream.
    The pulse of it's movement seemed to all at once stop, the night once again was quiet. Was it over? Was it gone? My hopes were foiled when it's relentless panting came over my body. The red from it's eyes seemed to glow, as I could see it's light embedding itself in the ground before me. as it's face neared my position, the shivers down my spine all but ceased. I didn't want to look, but I knew it was over. I knew I couldn't run for it would catch me. What was I to do, was this really how it was going to end for me.....Then it was as if time halted itself within a moment.
    "Casey, your going to be late. Wake up!" The voice seemed distant, yet close. His mind wandered for a while as it tried to find it's place back in the real world. The boy opened his eyes to the sun beating down on his face. He squinted them before instinctively turning over to face the opposite direction of the sun.
    "Cmon, why do we have to go through this every morning." Came a woman's voice. The male could feel as a hand grabbed the edge of the cover. Within an instant it was yanked off. The boy still laid on the bed, seeming to be unaffected by his now less warm accommodation. He continued to snore away, while the woman angrily placed her hand on her hip.
    "Huh, your gonna make me do it aren't you?" The woman asked the boy, of course without a response. The woman interlocked her fingers, as she bent them back. A loud crack could be heard from her palm.
    "Alright, you asked for it." The female grabbed the side of the mattress that laid on the bed frame. She grunted as she flung it up into the air. The comforter was accelerated to almost a 40 degree angle. The boy was rudely awoken to his face making contact with the hard wood floor.
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    "Mom, where's the peanut butter." Came a little girl's voice. She couldn't be more than 8 years old. She had long blonde hair that went down past her shoulders. She also had bright green eyes to match. She stood at the end of a counter with two slices of bread in front of her.
    "It's in the turnaround Oli, where it always is." The woman said as she rushed into the kitchen. She reached up to a indent in the wall. In it there were a stack of letters. Each one was of a different size, but was for the same things, taxes.
    "Oh yea, I forgot." The little girl said as she jumped off of her little stool that she stood on. Casey walked in when the young girl had opened the turnaround door. He was buttoning up the last button on his shirt. The woman was flipping through the letters as he walked in, so she didn't notice him. He walked up to her and kissed her forehead.
    "Morning mom." The boy said as his unannounced presence caused her to flinch a little bit at his forceful contact. The woman placed her hand on her heart while slamming her hand on the counter. She almost started to hyperventilate."Oh, Casey don't scare me like that." The female said with distress. The boy smiled before placing his hand on the woman;s shoulder."Ya know for someone that can throw me off my bed with such ease, you sure get intimidated easily." Casey said in the most derisive voice he could muster up. The woman just gave an acerbic grin back in response.
    "Oh shut up!" The woman said, punching the boy's shoulder. Casey chuckled slightly at this before walking to the back counter. He grabbed two slices of bread that were lying on a wooden cutting board, as if they were for him. He deposited the bread onto a paper plate, before grabbing a butter knife that was by it. The little girl that was also there, stuck her knife into the peanut butter. She pushed the end of the silverware down like a teeter totter, while a huge clump of the substance came out. Casey did a double take as he noticed the girl's excessive amount of the stuff.
    "Woooww there Oli, don't take so much." Casey said as he reached over and took the dull blade from the girl. Oli smiled as she gave the boy a grateful look.
    "Thanks Casey." The girl said in a please tone. Casey nodded in response while spreading the peanut butter on the girl's sandwich.  The woman that was there continued to flip through the letters. It seemed like every one she looked at her face just continued to sink.
    "Uhh, bills bills bills. I feel like a duck at these times." The woman said completely serious, not realizing how dumb her pun really was. She was to focused to notice it though. Casey and Oli did however, they had to cover there mouths to stop from cracking up.
    The sound of a vehicle could be heard outside the door while the two were still lathering the substances on their bread. Oli was the first to notice, as for the fact that he was the one that were making both of them sandwiches, so he was distracted. The little girl leaped off of her stool again before running to the screen door. She placed her face on it so she could see out of it better, indeed their was a large bus coming towards them. It was kicking up so much dust that it was hard to see what was behind them.
    "Casey, the bus is almost here." The girl said as she removed her face from the door to look at the boy. Casey turned to look out the entrance as to clarify. Indeed he to did now here it.
    "Oh, shoot your right." Casey quickly threw a glob of grape jelly on his sandwich, he didn't take the time to smear it he just smashed the other slice of bread on top of it. He pulled out two paper, and two plastic bags from a cabinet under the counter. He opened up the plastic bags first, while separately placing each sandwich in one. He then transferred them over to the separate paper bags. He grabbed two apples from a bowl, throwing those in as well. He crumpled the bag closed as fast as he could. The bus sounded really close now, he could hear it's tires starting to slow down as it reached the entrance to their house. The girl stared out at the yellow vehicle. She jumped up intensely as she looked from the vehicle back to Casey.
    "Mmmmm, Casey it's here!" The little girl said in a panic. Casey threw his backpack on, while grabbing a little pink one. He ran back to the door in almost a dead sprint. He handed the little pink backpack to Oli. She slipped it on her back with ease.
    "Ok, lets go." Casey said as he threw the screen open. He held it out with his hand to let the girl go first. Oli smiled brightly as she rushed out, with Casey following close behind. He yelled back to his mother who was to distracted to notice that they had left.
    "Bye mom, see you later." Casey yelled, the woman looked up from her mail in surprise. She could just catch a glimpse of the two of them before they were out of view. She yelled out a 'Bye' as loud as she could, hoping that they could hear. She folded her arms as she sat back on her right foot, shaking her head back and forth with a smile on her face. She went back to her reading after she assumed they were gone.
    Oli jumped on the bus, with a victory stance. She threw her hands up in the air as she yelled out in triumph."We made it! Thanks for waiting Mr. Wagner" The girl said turning to the bus driver. He was a very old man, had to be in his late 60's. His hair was snow white and short, on his head and his face. The man gave a pleasant smile that went along with a wink."Anything for you Miss Riles." He said giving a mock salute with his two pointer fingers. The little girl bent down in a curtsey before running to her seat.
    Casey stepped onto the bus as the driver put his hands back on the wheel. He looked to see the boy as he took a step onto the bus floor. He shot a grin at the kid. The boy didn't notice because his eyes were scanning along the seats, as if he was trying to find someone. "Beautiful day Casey, isn't it." The man said with a sort of suspicious tone. Casey turned to the old man with a surprise. He looked at the man awkwardly before actually taking in his question. "Oh, yes sir. It's gorgeous." Casey said not wanting to get to into the question.
    "Casey! Casey, over here." Came a female voice that Casey knew all to well. His eyes averted from Mr. Wagner to a girl that was waving her hands in the back seat. The boy's expression changed drastically to Joy. He waved back to the girl in excitement, as he started to walk towards her. "Hey Jennie." Casey said in a strangely chipper manner. The girl had on a teal zippup sweatshirt, along with a pair of blue skinny flare jeans, her brown hair came down to just her shoulders and it was dead straight. Casey threw his backpack off before laying it under the seat next to the girl. The female noticed the unusual aura that the boy was giving off.
    "You seem pretty out of it today." The girl said as she laid her head on her hands. Casey gave a confused look in response. He lifted his eyebrow like she was talking crazy. "I do, how so." Casey said while folding his arms. The girl lifted her right arm up as she laid it on the window sill. She brought her hand to her chin in a thinking sort of way. "Well, let see. You were late for the bus, which you never are. You looked around trying to find me when you know this is where I always sit. Plus, you called Mr. Wagner Sir, what are you in the military now." Jennie said, almost implying that this was not even Casey she was talking to.
    Casey curved his mouth, as he went over through his mind all the things that the girl had mentioned. He laughed at all the things. "I guess your right, I do seem pretty out of it today. It's probably because I had the dream again last night." Jennie face went from questioning to concerned. She cupped her hands in her lap as if she felt sympathy. "Again, Casey this is like the 6th time you've had that dream." The girl prodded. A smile made it's way across the boy's face. "Actually, it's the 7th." Casey said, not reassuring the matter that was at hand. "Is it the same thing every time?" Jennie wondered. Casey grabbed his thumb with two fingers as he began to bend it back and forth. "No, not exactly anyway. Every time I have it it seems to progress further than when I had it last time." Casey said causing the girl to roll her eyes. "And you haven't thought that maybe these dreams are telling you something." The girl stressed. Casey shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think so, I mean all the dream is of, is me being chased by a giant monster. Not sure what the meaning in that is." Casey said in a pessimistic sort of way.
    Jennie sighed. "Huh, your no fun anymore." The girl said in a pouty sort of way. She folded her arms angrily as threw herself back into her seat. Casey eyed her mysteriously. "What do you mean?" Casey wondered.
    Jennie's face sank slightly at the question. "I mean, you have got to have the most amazing imagination of anyone I've ever known. You used to draw these incredible pictures of fantasy creatures, from your own world." Jennie said seriously. "Are you talking about 'Monster Island'. Jennie I'm 18, I'm over that. Fantasy is for little kids. I need to grow up one of these days if I'm ever going to make it in this world." Casey said pleading for approval, all he got back was a 'Hmph'. "Why does it matter what age you are. Imagination doesn't go away with age, people throw it away. It's such a waste, why would you give up something so magical." Jennie exclaimed through her disappointment. Casey plopped his head back on the seat in frustration. "Jennie, magic isn't real. I was confused about that when I was younger, but I understand now." Casey said as if he was trying to plead his case in court.
    Jennie turned over on her side to face the boy, she looked like she was about to ring his neck. "Why isn't it real, because no one has ever seen it done! Well no one has ever seen how the world was made but they still say we came from apes. Just because we don't know how to use it today doesn't mean magic doesn't exist." Jennie said before flipping back over to her previous position. Casey's eyes widened as Jennie's words went through his mind.
    "I suppose you do have a-". Casey said before seeing a figure running through the trees out of the corner of his eye. He thrust his eyes outside the window, but as quick as he saw it, the thing was gone.
    Jennie noticed the boy's unfinished sentence, she looked over her shoulder to see his eyes fixed outside of the window. It looked like he was dazed, like he had seen a ghost or something. "What's wrong?" Jennie asked curiously. Casey eye's seemed to refuse to move themselves away from the window, he shook his head. "I don't know....It's nothing, just thought I saw something." He said as he teared his eyes away from the transparent object. He sat back on the chair while folding his arms. Jennie looked suspiciously at the boy, arching her eyebrow up.

Author's Note

Please tell me what you think, I love constructive criticism but people just won't review my story. Is it just really that bad. I want to know so I can improve it. Plus, I will review anyone who reviews me back