Chapter 2: My Name is Solona

The House of Time is beautiful. It's made of marble and gold. Near the back, at the top, were the servant's quarters. If I squinted I could see my old room. I walked through a garden of roses, and past elegant houses where the Old Ones lived. I tried not to look at them, knowing my anger towards that Old Ones was still fresh. I turned and started walking on the main road, North. I made a mental map in my mind, knowing that East and North were where the Old Ones, Awarded, and some of the Pleased live. But, I was not going to be living there. I traveled to The Center, where all of the schools and shops were. The four roads connected to The Center; North, South, East, and West. It takes about 3 days to walk from the end of North to the end of South. It would take much of my day to walk through The Center. And, seeing that it was getting dark, I camped out under one of the restaurants. It was going to be a long night. 

I woke up around seven, feeling very stiff, with a kink in my neck. I quickly left all signs I had been there, knowing my stay would not be appreciated. After taking a shower in one of the stores, I heard a loud voice yell, "Solona!" I recognized that voice. "Mace!" I yelled back. Across the road was my one and only friend, Mace. She had fair skin and red hair with freckles. Mace was a guard at The House of Time, but I don't know how she got that position. She's kind of an oddball. But, Mace loves her job. She was, and I quote, "important and needed for the safety of all mankind!" She met me one day while she was on break, and followed me while I bustled around doing my job. "What are you doing here? You're supposed to stay at The House of Time. Why is your hair all wet? It looks pretty and long and dark. Hey! Your shirt is red, like your name! Did you do that on purpose or was that an accident?" I loved it when Mace ran out of breath because then I got a chance to talk. "Well, I got kicked out of The House of Time. And, I took a shower. And, yes, I did plan on wearing a red shirt." I tried to stick to a short answer, one, for comical relief on my part, and two, because I didn't want to talk about The Old Ones, or The Oldest, or their stupid rules. 

"That stinks," Mace said. "Where are you staying?" "Probably in West," I said. "There are other Orphan Children there." I would ask Mace if I could stay with her, but she has seven siblings, and I couldn't do that to her parents. "Oh, I live in West! We can be neighbors!" Mace said, clapping her hands. "Yeah!" I replied, "It'll be fun!" Mace looked over at the town clock. "Oh, I got to go now," Mace said, then started walking backward. "I'll see you soon!" I said. "Oh, I'm leaving for training camp next week," Mace said. "Well, I'll see you then," I said. "Yeah," Mace said, "bye!" Then Mace looked back at the clock, yelled "Shoot!" and took off running. I laughed, wondering how in the world she stays quiet while guarding. Then I took off walking. 

Near the end of the day, I arrived at the edge of West. I was sweaty and sunburnt. I looked around and saw abandoned buildings and crumbling houses. I walked up to the closest building that had a blue "OP" spraypainted on the wall, signaling that Orphan Children lived there. I sucked in a sharp breath, expecting to have to fight for space. I walked in... straight into Posme. Great, I thought. My first time coming in and I walk into someone. "Hey," Posme said, a bit surprised. "Posme" means "weird" in the Language of Old, but Posme wasn't so bad. Every time I see him, I get this sort of deja vu, so I try and steer clear of him. Posme was my age, with light brown skin and curly brown hair. Posme smiled when he recognized me. "Movin' in?" he asked. "Yeah," I said with a sigh. "C'mon, I'll show you around." I nodded, shrugging, and we started walking towards the back of the building, with dripping corners and a bathroom that hadn't worked properly in a long time. I saw some chairs with the legs missing. We climbed up a set of stairs as I prepared myself for... I don't know what, but I knew something bad was going to happen. I saw a light at the top of the stairs. I stepped into the light and voila! We were in another world. 

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This is a book I am writing.