Chapter 1
An earthquake, a siren, I jolt up and bang down. My hips moan and a horrible stench reeks my nostrils.
Meow
I drag my head up and stirr right, my eyes blurred with sleep. A tiny white creature jumps out the window and disappears into the garden. The alarm clock shrieks on the bed for attention and I stagger up to bang it shut.Letting out a breath, I stumble my way to the bathroom.
Swoosh
What the !
My spine trembles as ice-cold water dawns upon me and slaps the daze off my eyes. I scramble for the shower tap and force it shut. Noticing the towel by the bathtub, I lunge for it and try to soak out the coldness. I strip down my clothes and wrap the towel around my hips.
Knock. Knock.
I head for the wardrobe.
“Come in !”
Uncle Cake eyes me from head to toe and raises an eyebrow.
“Forget it,” I say, my lips quivering.
He nods.
“Well, breakfast’s ready !”
He gives me his signature smile and wends his way into the kitchen.
I stare at the poop by my bed as I pull on my trousers and groan at the thought of cleaning it. Naughty creatures pooping in your room is what you get when you live in the woods. None of the them are afraid of us. They come by my window sometimes to say hi. I used to impersonate them and get looks from them telling me I’m lame, so now I just wave at them like a human.
A soft smell fills my nostrils - the fragrance of uncle Cake’s pancakes. I shamelessly drop four from the basket onto my plate and devour them. Man am I hungry.
“Thanks for the help today,” he says, adding some milk to our teacups, “I haven’t seen a storm like that in ages.”
I gulp down the pancakes with a glass of cold orange juice and nod, staring at the garden. It was a mess earlier today with the small tree on the side uprooted by the storm. I helped him drag it to to the side to salvage his roses which miraculously survived.
“The lumberjacks should be here soon.”
Uncle Cake pours some tea.
“Here.”
He takes the seat opposite mine and speaks softly, “ Your mother loved storms.”
I turn a deaf ear and gulp too much tea scalding my throat in the process.
“I’m sorry.”
I shake my head.
“She loved everything but me.”
“Adam-”
“Forget it.”
A cold draught floods in through the window and bites us. Uncle Cake ambles to the counter and draws in the panes. He puts on his sweater and walks to the fridge.
“Adam, could you please bring me some eggs?”
I glance at the sky, glad the topic shifted.
“Sure.”
It’s grey, but doesn’t sound like rain any time soon. He hands me a few dollars and smiles before picking up the watering pot heading for the garden.
We have to walk quite a bit before we can get into the city. That’s where we get our stuff from. That’s also where Uncle Cake sells his flowers. Every weekday, he sets up a flower stall in his minivan and drives to the city. People around here have a great fondness for flowers, particularly his flowers, because they tend to glimmer under the sun and shimmer under moonlight and send off the best of fragrances. Today’s Saturday, so he’s staying home and preparing his white roses for tomorrow. I bet all’s going to sell out. They’re gorgeous.
A few water droplets hit my head. Staring up at the leafy domes, wet from the storm today, I walk on. The vastness of the forest roof makes me dizzy.
Squash
Eww! My feet are sunk in a puddle of mud. Tiptoeing, I salvage myself out and reach my pockets for a tissue.
Something snaps behind. I jerk around. It’s just a cat. A white cat.
“Hey! You’re the one who pooped in my room today aren’t you?”
Meow
A smile breaks my lips and I crouch to lift the cute little thing. It doesn’t resist. Caressing it’s silky fur, I amble for a few minutes half forgetting the mud on my feet before the river comes into view. Within the next few seconds, I am dipping my feet in the alluring blue water.
God!
My feet shoot back at me and I bang to the river bank. I press my feet to get the blood flowing and take out the wet socks. Small fishes plop by the bank and swim with smooth movements. A tickling sensation creeps up my hips. A scratching sound ... the cat! I heave it away and probe the dollar notes. A few scratches, but they’ll work. The creature flees into some bushes nearby. Letting out a breath, I gaze at the gently flowing river. A few sparrows chirp from some direction followed by a few cuckoos and soon, the forest comes alive. I spread myself on the wet grass and close my eyes feeling the daylight penetrating my eyelids.
Meow
My cheek feel wet. I scrape open my eyes. It’s the white cat again.
God!
The sky is a deep blue and a couple of stars are blinking in the distance. I spring up and dash for home. It’s too late to get anything now, let alone eggs. The city stores close just before evening. Uncle Cake must be so worried.
Cold air shoots at me as I glide along the path to our cottage. I dodge a branch or two and jump over a rock in the way.
Thump
Oww. The mud puddle again.
Panting, I lift myself up and scrape what mud I can off me. The rest can be dealt with in the bathtub.
Our cottage is not too far from here now, so I slow down my pace. I’m half expecting him to be out with a torch looking for me in the woods. I’ll call his cellphone as soon as I reach home.
The air is getting colder than usual as I walk up the front porch. As I creak open the door and step into our dim lit living room, the floor slips beneath my feet and I lodge onto the door knob. The floor’s ... frozen?
SAM!
It’s from our garden. I half slip half run for the back door. It’s slightly open and I push it out the rest of the way through.
A blast of coldness freezes my jaws and my eyes are turned rock solid. Some invisible force squeezes me like a rope and levitates me into the garden.
All the white roses have turned black and the soil is blanketed with a river of snow. The force loosens and I fall on my knees.
Oww
I pull my hands up from the snow. It’s freezing here. I’m pretty sure it shouldn’t be snowing now. Am I suffocating? Why am I suffocating? What just happened?
Something pushes me on the back. Something big. I fall on my face. My face freezes and the next moment, the force grips me by my neck and drags me up. I’m strangling!
A girl in a white gown approaches me from nowhere. She stares at me with cold blue eyes as I wiggle in the air trying to remove the invisible rope from my neck. She smirks and sways her palms in the air. I fall on my knees.
“So, you’re Adam?”
I’m gasping for breath. Is this a nightmare? Please alarm clock, now’s a good time to start buzzing?
“Let’s see what you can do.”
A cold wind heaves me to the side and I crash into Uncle Cake’s roses. Uncle Cake!
I dart my head around, but he’s nowhere in sight. Then, out of the store house, a frozen figure levitates into the middle of the garden. I freeze in my spot.
“Looking for him?”
The white haired girl smirks.
“Too bad you’ll never see him again.”
Within the next few seconds, I find myself infront of the girl punching her molars out.
While she lies on the snow moaning in pain, I rush to Uncle Cake. Nothing comes out of my mouth. My lips tremble as I touch his frozen body and try to make sense of whatever’s happening.
Just then, a stinging pain grabs my skull and I fall on my knees pressing my head, trying to force the pain out.
“You’ll regret doing that Greens.”
Another surge of pain. Then another. My skull is squeezing the juice out of my brain. Water fills my eyes. Silence deafens my ears. The girl is looming above me. I’m sinking in the snow. My legs go numb, then my arms, and the numbness scrapes up my torso. I recite my final prayers.
A bright flash. Then darkness.
