Dododex

ARK: Survival Evolved & Ascended Companion

Ascendant

- HGA ttg The Nazgûl

Book 1: Concergence

Chapter 6

It was a sunny day on the beach. The sky was deep blue. Thin, wispy clouds scattered the sky. Waves, capped with foam broke on the shore. Alex lay on her back in the sand, staring up into the sky. Her world was calm and peaceful. She wondered why her family didn’t find it so amazing; the beautiful skies, the roaring waves, the trees swaying in the breeze. And the dinosaurs! So many kinds. So many colors. Some of them so big that they could squash her in one step, yet so calm they she could touch them. What a world she lived in.

“Alex! Come inside! You’ve been out there all morning and there’s work to be done!” Alex heard her mother shout from inside their hut on the beach. She rolled her eyes as she got up, giving a small sigh. Chores. Sometimes she wondered if any other twelve year old girls had to do chores. As she walked over to the hut, she brushed the sand out of her dark brown mahogany hair. It wasn’t that she disliked helping her parents, but between her and Jennifer, her older sister, she felt like she did most of the work, not to mention she had always been a little rebellious.

She stepped in the all too familiar hut. It had the same old wood floors, with the same old chairs and table, with the same old doors to the same old bedrooms. Nothing in the house ever changed. Not like the skies. Jennifer was sitting on a chair reading a book. Dad had got it for her on one of his trips to the city of Solace.

“Alex, wash your hands and come help get things ready for dinner.”

“Do I have too? Why can’t Jennifer do it?”

“Because you haven’t done anything today. Besides, you know you do better in the kitchen.”

“Fiiine.” Alex groaned. She slowly walked over to the smaller table in the kitchen to get to work.

“You know what you don’t do better in?” Her mom said with a slight giggle. “Clean your room.” She answered with a smile on her face. Although Alex was a little annoyed that she had to clean her room, she couldn’t help but smile back.

———————————————————————————————

The girls all waited at the table. Dad would be home any minute. Alex thought she heard something. Silence. Then, suddenly, a large figure burst through the door. He held a sack which seemed fairly full, as well as a dead sheep on his back. His beard, nearly black, but still a little brown, neatly outline his beaming smile. He had been gone for a few days now, and they were all glad to see he had returned. After hugging them all, he set his things down and began butchering the sheep. Alex glanced over at the bag.

“What did you bring home this time?” She asked. She already knew he wouldn’t tell her now, but she asked anyways.

“You’ll have to wait until after dinner. After all, everything is better on a full stomach.”

When dinner was over, they cleaned up and lit the fire. Dinner had been quiet, as the girls ate as quickly as they could so they could see what was in the bag. Alex watched her father dump the sack out onto the table. A few trinkets fell out. One was a crystal, bright white and perfectly clear. Although Alex wanted it, she figured it was for Mom. Everything else, was papers. “Are you girls ready for a story?” Their father asked. He grabbed the stack of papers off of the table. Without hesitation, the girls ran over and sat by the fire as their father pulled up a chair. Alex loved when their father told them stories. She sat quietly and listened as he began. There was no title, but it did not need one, as the adventures that took place made up for it a hundred-fold. She listened intently to the tale. She heard of an Australian lady, a fierce warrior, a mad scientist, and an evil tyrant. Her thoughts and emotions swirled within her as she heard of them fighting massive beasts, traversing a metal fortress in the sky, and traveling the galaxy. Each new land they came to was different than the last. She felt sad as she heard of many people dying as the scientist turned on his friends. She felt triumphant when the friends survived being killed by the scientist themselves. Finally, she felt a little fear as the friends traversed their final planet, Earth, filled with towering beasts. The story ended as the warrior lady scared off the giants. They sat there quietly for a moment, thinking about all they had just heard. The only sound was the sound of the crackling fire. After a moment or two, their mother broke the silence. “Alright you girls, time for bed.” Alex and Jennifer got up and headed off to their rooms. As Alex laid down in her bed, she drifted off into thought. She would have to wait until her parents went to bed to see the stars. As she waited, she dreamt of Earth. She dreamt of the towering giants roaming the lands. She pictured herself fighting them off, like the warrior lady in the story. She wished it could all happen, but it was only a story after all. She quieted her thoughts, and listened. Finally, she heard her parents head to their room. Alex laid quietly on her bed. She wanted to make sure that they were going to stay in there. Upon waiting a few moments, she climbed out and crept over to the window. She slowly opened it, being careful to make as little noise as possible. She climbed through and dropped onto the sand. She ran a few yards from the house and gazed up into the night sky. The stars glimmered like jewels in the deep black shroud that surrounded them. She took a deep breath. It was wonderful. The dazzling sky. The crisp breeze that blew from the ocean, lightly spraying her face with water. She didn’t want to breathe out, as if the moment she exhaled it would all be gone. She wanted this feeling to last forever.

———————————————————————————————

Alex looked up at those same stars from two years ago. The same stars and constellations. The same feeling. She hoped that this feeling would never fade. She wished she could sit in this feeling of peace and serenity for the rest of her life. However, she knew it was not possible. In a few years, it would be gone. It would dissipate into the past, as with the rest of her childhood. After all she was fourteen now. Soon she would have to start thinking about life as an adult. Jennifer was already twenty two. What would life be like when she was that age? Would she still have the same sense of freedom? A she thought, a meteor zipped across the sky. As it passed from view, the wonder of the moment faded. It was time to move on. Time to step into the future. She looked up at the sky one more time, watched for a few seconds, closed her eyes for a brief moment, and exhaled.