Chapter One

A Chapter by Nugget of Gold

On a sickeningly sweet summer’s afternoon, Emmaline Blackwell found her feet to be wandering off to the lake down by the house. The soles of her buckled shoes grazed against the path of gravel through the forest, and her hands outstretched to high grasses that hadn’t been nurtured for many years. Bulbul and Myna birds competed for a longer trill in their calls. Wind danced through the forest and left behind the rustling applause of the leaves. The distant sound of trickling waterfalls echoed throughout the body to reach the ears of Emmaline. Noises of nature that surrounded her made her home in the quaint village of Leura.

Emmaline started now as the path sloped down, keeping her dress near in case it laced itself between shrivelled shrubs. The waterfall was close and all she wanted was to dip in the lake until her mother called her for suppertime.

In Emmaline’s words, this was the most beautiful lake one could ever come across. Life seemed tranquil here, and it truly was. The water understood you while the soil was fresh, and the air with it. The bees and bugs went about their business and privacy was utmost.

Much like the lake, Emmaline’s house was teeming with life. Nevertheless, this was to her dismay as the type of life in her house was miserably disruptive. With a mother, a father and three younger brothers, she could hardly ever concentrate on the algebra homework that Mr Peterson set for her especially.

Emmaline’s mother, Marybeth, certainly kept herself busy with multiple jobs: a cashier at the local supermarket, landscape gardening for nearby neighbourhoods, and noting down the fresh gossip she would overhear. This would serve well with her friends at parties she held monthly on the second Sunday. Eventually, Emmaline’s father, Benjamin, was left to take care of their four children, leaving behind his career to do so. When Benjamin had informed his boss at the bank six years ago, little did he know that he would never be returning.

Marybeth had always been upset about his loss of a job, and though he kept quiet, Benjamin was too. And as if the constant clashes between her mother and father weren’t enough, bickering about the silliest of things would be her siblings’ favourite pastime.

Emmaline was different. She knew how to appreciate silence and preserve peace within herself, mostly coming down to the lake to do so. In fact, if guests came over to visit the Blackwell household, they wouldn’t even know that Mr and Mrs Blackwell had a nine-year-old girl with the resemblances of her mother’s nose and her father’s eyes.

As Emmaline rounded the lake now, she noticed a lonely figure sitting upon the water’s edge. Quickly lowering behind an unkempt bush, she observed him. He leaned back with his arms and looked up, sunbathing his face. The way light fell on him was eerily enrapturing, as if she could see through him. His white shirt was soaked slightly at the bottom, his jeans a darker blue now than it must have originally been. Emmaline felt anger trickle up her spine. Who was this boy, to have found Emmaline’s place of privacy?