Orange-Haired Boy Part 4

A boy sets out in adventure to find a way to change his hair color, but discovers what is really important in life.

#4. It was a few hours later that the orange-haired boy decided to try and get back up after his rough sprint. Besides, he thought, the ground began to grow cold as the light faded from the sky bringing the evening closer and he knew he must find shelter. As he placed his hands on the ground in preparation to push himself up, he felt the ground shudder beneath his fingertips and looking up he saw he had been lying all this time right next to a winding dirt road, and that now, coming up the way was a long line of people marching fiercely towards him. As they began to draw closer he noticed that the people were all boys about his age with their eyes straight ahead of them marching to the command of a large gruff man who wore a pack the size of house on his back that clanked loudly as his feet fell in unison with the boys stiff march. When the gruff man reached the place where the orange-haired boy lay near the road, he called out loudly at his company in the loudest voice the boy had ever heard, "HALT!".

"What are you doing lying there on the ground, boy?" The gruff leader spoke harshly in the tone of a statement more than any question he had heard before.

"Up with you and march with us! Don't you know there's a war coming?" Again the man only seemed to have statements to say.

Not wishing to be trodden on or forgotten at all, the orange-haired boy rose and took a place among the other people in line.

"RESUME MARCH!" The gruff man said and they were off again marching louder than ever.

It was at this moment that our boy looked up to see a sight that interested him greatly.

None of the boy's hair was bright orange like his. Some had wiry black hair and some had unkempt black hair and some even had curly black hair, and none had hair bright or orange as his own. He was in fact so pleased and busy looking at all their different hair that he did not notice the single peacekeeper at the top of the steep hill watching them march away.

(To Be Continued...)

Author's Note

And now things are beginning to happen and the story has begun to take form in my mind.