1 Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Lucas went out of his room and directed himself to the kitchen as discreetly as he could. It was early in the morning and his parents had to work later today, he didn't want to wake them up. Looking around, he could see the luggage and the backpack he prepared yesterday next to the entrance, he couldn't help but feeling more and more excited about this trip. In the kitchen, he saw a little box on the table near a letter :

"Happy birthday sweetheart,

I hope you enjoy your trip with your friends, I am sorry that neither me nor your dad will be able to see you off, but we bought you some croissants from a bakery we found yesterday, they are excellent, and when you come back we can try one of their cakes.

Don't forget to call us when you arrive, we love you."

After reading the letter, Lucas couldn't help but smile at how doting his parent were. He quickly ate his breakfast, and went back to the entrance making as little noise as he could. He took his luggage and went out of the house, looked around to see if the taxi he called yesterday arrived. Seeing that the streets were empty, he decided to take out his laptop from his bag and finish the program he was working on. He was starting to learn a new programming language so he wanted to train as much as he could, he even stayed up late last night because of it. The taxi arrived 10 minutes later, after a quick greeting the driver helped Lucas to put his luggage in the trunk and started the car. Lucas lack of sleep from last night kicked in as he looked at the city moving around him. By the time the taxi went out the city, he was already in a deep slumber.

Suddenly, Lucas was kicked out of his dreams, the car stopped moving abruptly. Then, he started feeling something touching him from ahead, before he could ask himself what was that, the object started crushing him. The pain became unbearable, not being able to support the pain, Lucas mind became blank, and his consciousness went back into slumber.

Childrens were packed together in a cave, the storm was raging outside and the furs that blocked the entrance couldn't prevent the cold entering the cave. Every time the sound of lightning was heard some of the children would start shaking unintentionally. Separated from the other kids, there was a young girl, who had approximately 8 years old, standing in front of the barrier of fur that protected them from the storm. While biting her lips, her gaze fixed at the furs as if wanting them to move. A flash of light illuminated the cave, and a loud sound resonated around the cave. Another round of children started shaking and only the sound of rain and some whipping could be heard. The young girl left out a murmur that faded away, as if it had never existed.

"Please come back safely"

Outside the village, there was a young boy walking towards the cave. His name was Merced, a young orphan like many others. When the storm began, he and the other gatherers went to the forest to gather some food. They knew they wouldn't be able to look for any food while the tempest was raging, and even after it passed, they may not be able to find anything. They had to be quick and gather as much as they could in the least amount of time. Merced was almost forced to help the others to pick food. If he didn't help, the other kids in the cave would probably not have enough to eat. It wasn't that the other villagers didn't want to help them, but they could barely feed themselves and the little they gave to the kids leaved both of the villagers and the kids undernourished. So in a crisis situation like this one, the children would be forgotten and many may die.

What the gatherers didn't expect was that the storm would appear earlier than they thought. The storm struck when they were in the forest, while most gatherers decided to go back early, Merced didn't find enough food for the childrens so he stayed behind.

The wind and the rain made it complicated to move around the forest, Merced stayed in the forest until the sun was almost down, trying his best to pick more food without losing everything he had. It was a tedious task but at least none of his friends would die from hunger this time. He was lucky to find a path back to the village, it was way too easy to get lost in the forest, even more if your vision was further reduced by the constant rain. After finding the path, it was only a matter of time until Merced arrived at the village.

When the night took place, only the occasional lighting helped Merced finding the cave. He could finally see it, he fastened up his pace, trying hard to not let his hard work fall. The door of fur was visible, he could almost touch it, Merced stopped and shouted for them to let him pass. It was at this moment (Jackson knew…) that without prior notice, a bolt of lightning struck Merced. The basket full of Merced harvest was sent right into the cave by as violent spasm. The basket landed right next to the girl that opened the furs, her face petrified. She quickly regained her composure and turned to ask some help before running to see if Merced was alright :

"Someone help me bring Merced back inside and take the basket too."

2 kids reacted immediately, both of them directed themselves outside to grab Merced.

"We will take him inside, Alicia check the basket."

The young girl named Alicia was already drenched by the rain, looking at the kids that came to help Merced, even if she was worried she still nodded to them knowing that they would carry him faster than she would be able to.

After taking Merced inside and letting him lie on fur, they closed the cave and stranded next to the unconscious youth.

A long time passed, while some of the kids started crying, most of them were just looking at Merced with a long face. They still had some hope, his breathing was stable and he looked more asleep than dead.

Little by little, he was regained consciousness, but before he could even reassure the kids worrying around him, he felt like he was crushed from in front of him, it was so intense that he couldn't help but starting screaming, his loud cry startled every person next to him. As the kids watched him suffering, Merced started to remember, remembering pieces after pieces the memories of a young man, a young man who died in a car accident.