1 Chapter 1- Hope

Tic tic tic….

RIIIIIIIIIING

The sound of obnoxious ringing echoes throughout the quiet room as a ginger-haired boy stirs awake. The 18 year old lays upon the side of his bed and shifts uncomfortably, his sun-kissed skin glowing in the early morning sun. Soon emerald eyes start to flutter open and gaze upon his room lazily, although he couldn't see that far.

The sound of discomfort soon erupts from Eli's body as he drowsily sits up and shuts off the alarm. He yawns and stretches before getting up and reaches for his glasses. After he puts them on, he makes his way to the closet and puts on a random T-shirt and jeans before leaving his room to start with his daily routine. He goes to the restroom and quickly brushes his teeth before noticing his glasses had fogged up and cleaned them before he left the room.

He exits the bathroom to a room across his bedroom, and finds his younger brother and sister, both only 9, sleeping. His brother had clearly taken his dad's genes with umber-colored hair and emerald green eyes; his sister however, took his mom's genes, bright orange hair and chocolate brown eyes, they both had a tan skin tone due to amount of time out in the sun. Eli goes to wake up his brother, Caleb, first since he's easier to manage and doesn't complain much.

"Mmm…. Eli?" Caleb says, rubbing his eyes. Caleb stirs awake after a few gentle shakes and he sits up and stretches before letting out a loud yawn.

"Yeah it's me, do me a favor and wake up Lizzy over there." Eli responds as he makes a motion towards his sister, still sleeping soundly. Caleb nods before laying back down to get more sleep. Eli sighs quietly and leaves the room, closing the door on his way out. 'Two down… one to go,' the young adult thinks as he walks through the hallway and stops at a different door, this one embellished with the usual 'don't come in' signs.

He turns the doorknob and pushes in the door to see his older brother draped across his bed. His older brother, or "Idiot" as Eli preferred to call him, had reddish-brown hair along with green and brown eyes, and a figure that resembled a tank because of his broad shoulders and muscular build, he had darker skin than Eli since he spent more hours in the sun than he did.

Eli liked his older brother and his older brother liked him, but they always fought over the smallest of problems. Eli smiled before he remembered something, Daniel, his brother's name, had decked his head with a pillow the other day, so he decided to act his revenge. Eli grabbed a stray pillow, which was laying on the ground, and reeled back his arm. He composed himself to stop him from making noise that would wake his brother up and then hurled the pillow towards Daniel's face.

The impact woke Daniel up and he shot up from surprise. His eyes darted around the room to find the perpetrator and his eyes landed on Eli. A tick mark appeared and he grabs the nearest pillow and throws it at Eli whilst yelling, "You damn weasel!" Eli dodges the pillow and makes a run for it down the stairs whilst exploding with laughter. Daniel goes to follow but gets tangled in his bed sheets and falls over. An audible thud can be heard as a slew of curses erupt from Daniel's room. Eli continues to laugh before his laughter dies down when he sees his parents at the dinner table. His mother had bright orange hair and chocolate brown eyes, like his sister. His father had umber colored hair with emerald green eyes, like his younger brother. His mother looked at him with a warm smile," Glad to see you're awake Eli," She says as she puts down her mug on the table, "A morning person indeed." Meanwhile, his father only glanced at him before looking back down at his paperwork. "Charles Chris Evergreen, look at your son!" His mother scolded which caused his father to look up from his paperwork and look at Eli,"...You should stop being holed up into your room and start working." That was all he said before looking back down to his paperwork. His mother sighed before apologizing on his father's behalf. Eli mumbled a response before he went to the front door and put on his shoes," I'm going to go to the field-" He says and opens the door,"-I'll be back before dinner." He then exits his house. "That darn boy, why can't he be more like his uncle!" His father grumbled," He should be helping the family business not dreaming about some 'outside world'!" "Oh shush! Let the boy imagine, at least he's not always hanging around the pubs!" His mother sneered, venom laced in her voice.

As the two argued Eli was standing next to the door, listening quietly before he frowned and left for the field.

The space was completely quiet, minus the occasional call of a blue jay, or the rhythmic pecking of a woodpecker. Eli was at peace, away from the yelling of his parents and the nagging of his younger siblings. Everything was peaceful. That was until, he heard the sound of something cut through the air and a thud sounding right after. Eli immediately sat up and looked in the direction he thought the sound came from. He hesitantly got up and began walking into the forest, curious as to what was object made that sound. He walked through the forest, his eyes locked on his surroundings. After about a minute of walking, he sees something sticking out of a bush. He goes over to inspect it and picks it up to see that it's an arrow. Eli then gained an uneasy feeling, and he stood up. He makes an inference of where the arrow came from, and starts walking in that direction. After a few minutes of walking, he knew he was coming towards the edge of the dome. Soon he starts to give up and is just about to begin walking back, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw something he couldn't believe.

What Eli saw was beyond beautiful. He saw the remains of what once was a grand gate sealed in nature, vines wrapping around it. The steps leading up to it were heavily eroded, but not enough to know it wasn't a stairway, but that wasn't what he was looking at. He was looking at the magnificent array of colors that appeared in the gateway. He walked closer to the gate and stopped just a few feet away from it. He reaches out slowly out of curiosity. The array of colors gleefully surrounding his fingertips. The sensation was pleasant, like a soft mist surrounding him. So after he mustered up enough courage, he put his whole hand in. It felt breezy on the other side, but at the same time very warm. He retracted his hand back quickly when he felt something touch it and saw some sort of leaf. He studied it for a moment but does not know what plant this is. He looked at the welcoming colors and slowly walked forward into what he believed was a gate. He kept his eyes closed for a few seconds before slowly opening them, and what he saw was truly amazing. So amazing he couldn't even begin to describe it. The colors were all so vibrant and welcoming. Hundreds of different plants he had not seen before littered the ground. The trees surrounding him were as tall as a mountain! "What magnificent fauna…" Eli muttered under his breath as he continued to stare, amazed at his surroundings. His eyes settled in the middle of the clearing. There was a crystal clear lake, so clearly he didn't even realize it was full of water until he saw a type of fish like creature inside. He then gasped, stunned at the creature in front of him, it had antlers bigger than the deer he saw back home and had glowing blue orbs surrounding it. It's form was similar to that of an elk, but larger it seemed like. He stumbled back and fell causing the elk-like creature to run off.

Then it dawned on him. This was the outside world. This is what he has been looking for. This is his chance, his hope.