The Beginning

For most of my life, I grew up here in this village. People know me mostly because of my white hair and bright yellow eyes. It's funny really. No one else has white hair like mine beside my Uncle who also has white hair like me but has grey eyes instead. When I turned 10 my Uncle made one thing very clear to me.

"You are the Prince of Gripan," he would say sternly. "You must never tell anyone who you really are."

"What about my friends?"

"Not even your friends."

I'm not sure why Uncle wanted that to be a secret. If it were me I would tell everyone that I was the Prince of Gripan. But I respected my Uncle's wishes and never said a word.

I stop writing and stretch.

"Foster!" shouts my uncle downstairs. "Go get some lumber for the fireplace. We are running out!"

"Alright!" I shout back. "Let me finish writing my journal!"

I finish the last sentence and hurry downstairs. I put on my coat and rushed past my uncle. I open the front door to feel the cold bite into my skin. It's snowing heavily.

"I have to hurry," I thought to myself.

I run down the street. Kids of all ages are playing in the snow making snow angels and snowmen. I reach the store at the very end of the street.

I walk in shouting, "I need some wood, sir!"

The owner appears from behind the counter.

He looks down, "Oh it's you. Don't worry I'll get it for you."

As soon as the owner left I hear someone open the front door.

"Well look who it is," says a familiar voice from behind.

I turn around to see my best friend Ralf. Ya, Ralf with an "f", not a "ph". I met him at a young age and have been inseparable. He's the same age as me, his orange hair covers his brown eyes so I don't see his eyes as often. He never got to know his parents since he was left at the doorsteps of the lumber store. Once he was old enough, he was put to work here for the owner. Since he's an orphan, the other kids have always picked on him which resulted in him not speaking with anyone at all. I'm his only friend, he's really open with me.

"Looks like you put on some weight if you know what I'm saying," he says winking.

Which results in me having to hear his jokes as well.

"Was that supposed to be a joke?" I said, smiling as we fist bump. Terrible jokes but it's ok.

"Anyways, why are you here?"

"I'm just here to get some wood," I said as I'm given the wood and paid the owner. "Want to come and play?"

"Sure, I just finished my work." He puts on a coat and leaves with me. The owner waves goodbye.

As we walked to my home, we caught up on some things, laughing and smiling since the snow has prevented us from seeing each other too much.

"What are you guys up to now?" says a female voice.

We turn our heads to the left to see a girl with brown hair and blue eyes smiling and waving at us. Her name is Glenn. She is also a friend of ours we met at a very young age. She lives with her parents although I've never seen them and is a year younger than me. Ever since then, we three have stuck together and have been called "the trio" by the town.

"I got wood," I said smiling while fist-bumping her as well. "I ran out of wood back home and my uncle sent me to get some."

"Cool, cool," says Glenn. "You guys seem cold. I'll go with you two." Just as she got near us, the cold went away. This was a weird thing about Glenn. Whenever we stood near her, the cold always went away.

"You really don't have to," I said.

"Well I want to and you ain't changing my mind."

"Whatever you say."

We arrived at my house. Uncle notices us immediately and gets us blankets. I don't know what I would do without my Uncle. He's always there for me. The closest thing to being a father for me. Glenn, Ralf, and I stand near the fireplace and talk like there's no tomorrow. With Ralf's awful jokes and Glenn's cheerful personality, there was no other place I would rather be. We run out of things to say and slowly go to sleep. Yep, definitely no place I would rather be in.