Chapter One: Occurence

Rough-Draft of Chapter One of my first novel.

 

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Scene:  One

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Several years ago, the unthinkable occured. I entered a new world, so to speak. Now, this didn't happen when I found a secret portal, or cast a magic wand. It was much simpler than that. Yet, it was completely unexplainable at the same time. At the age of thirteen my entire life was turned around in a single moment. Everything I knew was lost, but something else seemed to take its place. A new type of knowledge that I hadn't contained before. My story is long, but it has to be told.

    It all began when I was seven years of age. I was diagnosed with a rare disorder in my heart that left me in risk of my heart stopping at any given second of the day. Doctors were never sure why it appeared so late or what caused it. They were unable to treat it permanetley. So, in an attempt to protect me, I was put on extensive medications and a strict diet consisting of a variety of green vegetables, small quantities of chicken, and too many apples to keep track of. It was a hard life, but I learned to adapt to it.

    A few years after the defect in my heart was discovered, I became extremely interested in soccer. However, my heart could not pump blood as quickly as those with healthy hearts, so I did not have enough stamina and I was unable to join a regular team. Instead, I was recruited on a team of kids that had similar problems as me. They varied from the kids that had severe asthma problems, to those who carried serious diseases such as Arotic Valvar Stenosis, which is a defect in the heart similar to mine but more complex and well-known.

    Over the course of a few years I was one of the best players on my soccer team. Soccer became the only thing I dreamt about and the only thing I did. Every afternoon I played in soccer games and every morning before school I practices shooting goals, passing, and running up and down the field. You would have never have guessed that I had a defect in my heart when I played soccer. I had built up my stamina and was now sure of myself that I was ready enough to be on an actual soccer team.

    That upcoming spring I decided to tryout for the regular soccer team instead of that of the special teams.My mother, as always, was fully supportive. And although quite worried, she came to the tryouts to cheer me on the whole way through. I could always count one her.

    Despite the great heap of confidence I had about these tryouts and having enough stamina to make it on to a regular team this year, I found that it was incredibly difficult compared to what I had imagined. As soon as I took off running I noticed that I had a hard time keeping up with the other girls on my team. Sweat ran down my forehead as I pumped my legs harder. I kept telling myself that I could do it.

    My heart began to cramp. Random pains blasted through my chest and I began to cry as I ran. I didn't want to give up. I just ignored it. But my mother didn't. She could see the pure agony upon my face as I ran after the other girls . She could see the salty tears pouring don my face and my hands frantically pulling at my chest. Her first instinct was to run into the field. She chased after me with one arm reaching toward me. However, she was much to far behind to get ahold of me.

    "Stop," she yelled ",Stop!"

    At the time all I though about was how much she was embarrassing me. So embarassed that I wished I could die. I know now that I should have been more careful about what I had wished for. You never truly know when your wish will come true. Unfortunatley, this one did.

    My mom stopped in the middle of the field, out of breath she gasped out a few more phrases that I cannot remember. That was the last time I heard my mothers voice. I glanced back to see her bent over, sobbing. That was the last time I ever saw her face. The last memory I have of my mother is that of her trying to save my life. I was just too stubborn to listen so I ended up paying for it.

    With the sun shining down on my sweat soaked face, my eyes blacked out. I stumbled around for several moments before falling down upon the lucious green grass of the soccer field. My arms stretched out beside of my body and I held on to a few strands of grass as torturing pains passed through my chest. I could hear nothing but distant screams and the chirping of several birds flying above the field. After several moments I heard nothing but my hearts beat slowing down. And a few moments after that, it seemed to stop completely.

    I couldn't have been dead as I could feel several people lifting my body and placing me onto a bed. They then rolled me down a small hill and proceeded to place me on yet another soft surface. I wasn't sure what was happening after that. I didn't need to breath, I couldn't hear, and I had lost the ability to see. I must have been dead, for there was no ther explanation. My heart had stopped but my mind continued to work.

   

 

 

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Scene: Two

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Suddenly, blackness appeared in front of me, as if I was staring at the inside of my eyelid. The blackness was shaking and swirling. Almost like dancing, but not quite. I was utterly confused as I continued to stare at the moving blackness. Then, the color began to shift from yellow to orange and from orange to blue. They transitioned for several minutes in short flashes that caused me to get a torturous migrane.

    Then slowly a ground began to appear between the flashes of color. And soon to follow was the sky, clouds, flowers, trees, and a variety of insects. Soon an entire world appeared directly before me. Like magic. The ground was blanketed in thick, milky white snow and the flowers were more like iciles than anything. They were covered in a thin sheet of clear ice. The flowers themselves seemed to be very much alive although frozen in ice. In the distance I saw a tall white church. The size of a castle. Its extravagent painted windows and fifteen foot high doors led me to believe that this was no ordinary church.

    Slowly I began to feel as if my body itself was appearing upon the world of which I was just previously studying ever so carefully. I could feel the snow beneath my feet which seemed to be consumed in large snow boots. Icy wind blew on my face, my hair blowing in waves wildly behind my head. A few curls whipped across the front of my face as the direction of the wind continued to change from time to time. It took several minutes for my body to fully regather in this new world and several more for me to regain my balance and sense of walking.

    The temperature must have been far below zero as my skin was already burning from the cold and my lips were dried and peeling. I could feel a small trickle of blood dripping out the corner of my nose, and I then knew I needed to find somewhere warm where I could rest and warm my body so I wouldn't potentially freeze to death in the unknow world I was sucked into. As I trudged forward through the storm, I took a while to think about what this mysterious world may be called. It couldn't have been heaven. At least I didn't think it was.

    "For if it was heaven I would have wings,correct?" I thought silently to myself.

    Of course one didn't truly know what heaven was to be like. Or even if a place such as heaven even existed. Either way, I was sure that this was not heaven. This was somewhere else. The place where those who have not completely died may go. Those whose hearts have stopped but minds continue to live on. Those people like I who deserve a second chance.

    "Perhaps this is what it is" I decided ",a second chance."

    By now I was halfway to the church I had seen before. And with no hope of finding any other form of shelter, I decided that the church would be the best way to get out of the storm. Finally, after fourty or so minutes of walking, I finally reached the large wooden church doors. The white paint that seemed to cover the wood was chipped a bit but seemed to have upheld well considering the storm that was currently in place. Glancing up, I saw two large black handles hanging off of the door. Standing on the top of my toes, I was eventually able to reach one of the handles and use it to knock on the doors of the church.

    Knock! Knock! Loud echoes flew among the walls of the church. Minutes passed and nobody seemed to be around to let me in. Hoping that someone would eventually come, I proceeded to wait another ten minutes or so. Just as I had began to give up on entering the castle-like church, a small man shorter than I swung one of the gigantic, white, church doors open. With wind and snow blowing upon his face, I could barely make out his appearance. And after a few moments of carefully studying his face, he eventually began to speak in a low bass town.

   

 

 

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Scene: Three

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When the small man shut the large door behind me, I was able to make out the appearance of his face much more clearly. And to my surprise he looked much differently than I had imagined before allowing myself to study his features in a clearer environment.

    His cheeks were of a bright rosy pink and laying directly above his mouth was a large, furry, brown caterpillar that some may consider a moustache, but honestly it looked as if an animal had died on his face. However, he seemed to be a rather cheerful man, with a bright, perfect smile and thin peach-colored lips.

    He didn't even seem to notice that I had been watching his every movement, or that I was studying his features as closely as I was. Even if he had noticed I don't think that he minded.

    Finally, with a wave of his small, pudgy, hand, he showed me down a long stretch of ground through the church, until we came upon an enormous, elegant, staircase that seemed to rise up at least fifty-feet.
 

Author's Note

Rough-Draft