Chapter 1

In this first chapter, we are introduced to Alex Newton. He is a 12 year old boy who lives on his own and can do absolutely anything we wants. Literally and figuratively.

Lush trees surrounded Alex Newton in a beautiful array of vibrant orange, soft green, crisp brown, and very soft red leaves. The sound playful birds chit-chatting in his ears sent a warm happiness throughout his body like sliding under a blanket on a cold winter night. He could hear their wings flap in the soft chilly air as they soared above him. This was Alex's escape, his sanctuary. This was Almer and it was the place he truly called home.

"Alex, are you paying attention?" screamed Mrs. Treller from behind her desk. Her eagle eyes piercing a hole through Alex like a magnifying glass burning through paper. Alex snapped back into reality and jumped a little in his seat, gazing around at the rest of his classmates. They all shared the same annoyed expression upon their faces that seemed to say, "Are you really daydreaming AGAIN?" Alex was embarrassed at first, then quickly recovered by looking out the window once more and screaming, "There's a plane," and frantically pointed to a flaming jet plane that was headed straight for a nearby field. Everyone, including Mrs. Treller, immediately shot toward the window in panic and curiosity. No one had ever seen anything like this before and they were all quite shocked that only Alex had noticed it.

In almost the blink of an eye, everyone and their mother was rushing to the site of the downed aircraft. Many spectators were gathered at a safe distance from the wreckage asking questions like, "Did you see that?" or "How in god's name did this happen?" Soon the fire department, police, and paramedics had arrived on the scene looking for any sign of survivors, calming down the terrified and inquisitive citizens and informing them to keep their distance, and fighting the small fires caused by the flaming wreckage. Luckily, only two passengers were on the plane and both had managed to parachute out of the plane and landed safely a few miles from the crash site. Despite the fact that both passengers escaped unscathed, no one on the ground had been hit, killed, or injured even slightly by the falling debris, those weren't even the greatest of miracles that happened over that short period of time. The true miracle was the fact that two minutes before the accident happened, both the plane and the two passengers on board had not existed. They were just an excuse that 10 year old Alex Newton had for staring blankly out the window.

During all the commotion, obviously, school was let out early. All the students telling parents and friends their account off what had just ensued. The walk home for Alex was a rather calming time and allowed the young boy to think and be alone for a while. Well, seeing as how he lived alone, every minute he was home was quiet. There seemed to be something different and unique about his daily 10 minute walk to and from school everyday, however. He didn't need to go to Almer to feel at piece with himself. Soon, though, his walk would be over and little Alex would walk through the front door to his two story, two bedroom home and begin the fun part of his day.

Shrugging his backpack off his shoulders and tossing it across the room and onto his red leather couch, he close the door behind him, locked it, and ran upstairs. A smile came across his face as his entire being filled with joy. You have never seen true happiness until you have witnessed a 10 year old boy open the door to a seemingly normal room, in a seemingly normal house, on a seemingly normal Wednesday. Alex gleefully turned the knob on the first door he came to and thrust it open. A beautiful array of colored trees, flowers, and exotic birds filled the not so normal room. In fact, it wasn't even a room at all anymore. This was Almer, the real Almer. The Almer that Alex was free to do as he pleased, go where he pleased, and live as he pleased. He ran as fast as his little feet could move him toward a stunning palace surrounded by the most beautiful trees you could imagine. Fountains, flowers, perfectly trimmed hedges, and a beautiful pool sprawled at the feet of the massive temple. It's domed roof towered over all the surrounding foliage. It wasn't a huge building, but it was big enough. Despite its impressive beauty and perfectly white marble build, this was not Alex's destination.

The gleeful little boy quickly passed the structure without a second thought and hurried off a path that went to the right of the pristine structure. Passing by more beautiful gazebos, pools, ponds, lakes, and huts, Alex kept on running to whatever it was he was so excited about. As he came to a clearing Alex came to a light jog, then to a walk, and finally to a complete stop. He stared in absolute awe at the massive tree house that appeared before him. The enormous tree towered over everything in the forest and must've been hundreds of feet tall. A series of ladders, stairs, and ropes could be seen spiraling their way up the tree leading up to many different levels, all with different purposes. Alex walked a few more steps toward the gargantuan structure and looked straight up at one of its levels. He squinted his eyes ever so slightly and lifted off the ground slowly and gracefully toward one of the trees many high up levels. This seemingly normal 10 year old boy was flying alongside an enormous treehouse, and treated it like just any normal day. Welcome to the life of Alex Newton.

Reviews

[Zakk Keller]

please note that i did make a mistake. throughout the chapter i tell you that Alex is 10, while in reality he is suppose to 12. i apologize for the mistake but please enjoy!

-Zakk