Chapter One-part one

Whoop, First chapter.

 

Chapter One: Dreams

“Home.”

 

                The word echoed through her mind like chiming bells, offering the safety zone she could retreat to on bad days. By the time Alexandria had begun to see the silhouette of her house the sun had already set and dusk was nearing its end. There wasn’t much vividness to her home and the darkening light only seemed to make it all the plainer. A small fire of embarrassment flared though her cheeks before being extinguished by a pang of guilt arising in her stomach.

                Her parents never had much time to remodel any part of the house after the day their family had finished moving in. The paint was still a forest green mixed in with blotches of white where the pain continued to chip off. Though, it was a fairly large house compared to its petite neighbors, looming over the street lamp near the driveway. Alix never invited her friends over or let anyone know where she lived, ashamed for the lack of beauty in her home.

She climbed the pail white steps and found comfort in their familiar groans as she added her weight. A small square paper was taped to the dented screen door.

----Alexandria,

            Your father and I will be out late. Take care of Bell. Money for pizza is on the counter. Don’t stay up late again.

                                    ------Love Mom

Alix released a sigh, trying to shove off all the frustrations of the day, and stuffed the note into her back pocket. She hadn’t even shut the door when she heard Bell’s pathetic whimpers, pleads for freedom, echo from the basement. She continued to whine until Alix released her from the unbreakable bars of her cage.

The white Labrador wagged her tail for a brief moment and then rushed up the stairs to begin bashing her food dish around the tiled kitchen floor. It was the end of the week and Bell knew she would get special dog food today. It wasn’t much, a small bag of wet dog food that would never amount to satisfying her hunger, but it was enough to make Bell happy.

As Bell began to clear her bowl, Alix thought about how she found the poor puppy in her front yard a few months ago. It took a week of begging and a decrease in allowance to afford the small pup and there wasn’t a day she had regretted it. Bell had developed a strange attachment to Alix and only her; constantly pawing at her legs, wagging her tail at the sight or sound of her, sleeping in her bed even thought she took up too much room and walking by her at every possible moment. It puzzled her parents but was merely a sign of affection to Alix.

She glanced at the counter and took the wad of cash her father had left and wandered to her room. It was washed with crimson walls that supported her art work among them and the light carpet was as soft and squishy as it looked. This was where she spent most of her time, usually painting, sketching or doing other “girly things” such as dancing in her underwear. It was where she could do anything she wished without anyone’s say so or interference.

                The sky was being swallowed up by the mass of moving storm clouds, their rims glowing in the purple light. The soft noises Bell made as she ate where the only sounds in the empty house. Alix couldn’t help but concentrate on them as she ran the comb she picked up from the vanity through her hair. Through the mirror she glanced at the photo of her parents framed on the wall behind her. Her eyes fixed on it.

                Time had taken its advantage on both her parents. In that captured moment they were young and happy newlyweds; her father’s hair wasn’t gray but the stunning blond she had inherited. Both of them had lost the elastic in their faces and wrinkles were beginning to form, her dad had lost his muscular form to replace it with a beer belly and her mother had never lost the baby weight she gained before Alexandria’s birth, though she was still beautiful in the gowns she wore for the balls. They weren’t as free anymore, constantly on business ventures and never having a moment for themselves; it made them bitter towards each other at times and put them under a lot of stress. Alix tried to stay away from home as much as possible, even if she had to spend the whole day alone. It was easier than watching her parents tear their marriage apart.

                Alix pulled the comb through her hair one last time and tossed it onto the vanity, breaking off another of its black teeth. She could feel the bills crumple in her back pocket as she lay on her bed. Her eyes traced the familiar shapes in the flaking white paint on the ceiling, searching for one she hadn’t found yet. There were none. The open window brought in the smell of rain and flower pollen as the wind blew the curtains into an arch around the frame.

               

Thoughts of time churned though her mind. How it works, how it’s measured, its uses and creation, even its very existence. Her thoughts went like this:

                “Do we just live to die? At sometime in life we stop growing and stop becoming, only to start dyeing and disappearing. When does this change start…..and what if you could stop it?  Would that anger God……make him curse you for eternity? Time is just so simple that its complex. Retreating to the past is impossible but what about stopping the future…..”

                Lost in her thought she slowly fell into a solitary sleep. She didn’t notice when her eyes had closed or when she had trailed off from an intriguing thought. Bell had later started whimpering, trying to locate her master, and eventually joined Alix in her bed, where she wasn’t normally allowed. Alix had stirred at the added weight of the still small dog but never woke.

                They were both unaware of the anonymous presence nearby, just outside the window. It was enough of a barricade to keep the strangers smell away from Bell’s heightened and untrained sense of smell.

Author's Note

Comments =D

Reviews

[Str8jacket]

I love both names, Phire and Ember. They are so unique. The story is so intriguing and I cannot wait to read more :) Your writing is good.

[Yaooooooo]

I like how you did that, it gives a schitzo sound to the story. I like how you ended the chapter also, it gives room the reader to think and wonder whats next. I see you finally got back into writting and you are doing great, you have a lot of talent, very creative....
Keep it up and keep them coming, i dont be logging on that much on to this site so shoot me a IM and ill get to read your work quicker...
One!

[Heidi]

im still not satisfied with it......

[SM Davis]

I understand that you are planning on explaining the link between Phire and Ember however, it's very confusing for their introduction to be made in the first chapter without any character development. Just a personal view.

[Riverdance]

This has a great beginning! I'm loving your vivid use of imagery. Paints a great image for me to almost watch as I'm reading.

I actually have a good friend my age whose name is Ember. She's married now and her last name is White. Ember white...kinda like White Fire. I always liked how that worked out. ^^

But this looks like a great story is coming in the near future!
Can't wait for more.
I wonder what that presence is...^^

~Rd

[smiggle wiggle]

I love the name Ember!! ^_^ I like how her mind works, it's so unusal and different!! Great job!