project.utopia

Chapter 1 - The Gardens

Family. Mom, Dad and me. The three of us in the beautiful, lush Arosten Gardens having a picnic in the middle of July, the warmest month of the year. Laid out neatly on a square-designed blanket, there was a basket with bread, fruits which were displayed on a beautiful silver platter and there was, best of all, cookies which Mom had just freshly baked from home. I was sitting in Dad's lap as we all ate our lunch together, chatting and enjoying ourselves greatly, when they came. At first, I thought the soldiers, the Malotas soldiers to be exact, weren't here for us and rather some other person(perhaps a thief or robber), but I was so wrong. They marched in unison right towards our family and destroyed our beautiful picnic set-up. One of the soldiers, who most likely worked for the Malotas family, picked Dad up by his shoulder, while a different soldier nudged a gun right at Mom's back. Both of my parents got up and my Dad held onto me tightly as the soldiers forced them to stand. A soldier, who looked as if he were the general, dragged me out of my Dad's arms and pulled me, by my wrist, behind him into a circle of other soldiers. Mom and Dad cried out for me as the general blocked my view of them. When Dad tried to get me, the soldiers attacked. They pulled Mom's hair, punched Dad in the gut, threatened, yelled, kicked, and almost shot my mom and dad. Almost...

Covered in sweat, the teenage girl opened her bright golden eyes and awoke up from this horrid, recurring dream. Every night for the past several days, Nera had this dreadful nightmare and every morning, she awoke covered in sweat, feeling scared and nervous.

"Everyday, every single damn day, the same dream. Over and over again. Why is this happening to me?" Nera thought to herself, suddenly becoming very pissed off at the world as she pushed her blanket off of her.

"You know what? Whatever! I don't care!" Nera thought. She continued to murmur the words, "I don't care!" over and over again as she got out of bed. Carefully, Nera fixed her small, single bed and, quietly, made her way down the stairs of the orphanage so as to not wake up the rest of the girls, even though every step she took, produced a "creak" from the staircase. While still thinking about her recurring and horrid nightmare, Nera walked into the kitchen, through the bright hallways and past the living room, and was greeted by her two "aunts"/guardians.

"Good morning, honey!" Alani, the sweetheart aunt with bright red hair and crazily painted nails said to Nera as she walked into the kitchen. Alani was busy making pancakes as she said this.

"Good morning, Aunt Alani. Good morning, Aunt Jaddua," Nera mumbled quietly as she looked at both her aunts and sat down on a wooden stool behind them.

"Good morning, Nera," Jaddua, the stricter, more intense aunt, responded, her black hair pulled into the same, usual tight bun.

"What are you doing up so early?" Jaddua asked, turning around to look at Nera whose hair, on the other hand, was a complete and total mess.

"I couldn't sleep very well. I had a really horrible nightmare," Nera responded as she surveyed her aunts to see a reaction from them.

"Oh you poor baby. What was it about, honey?" Alani asked, kindly as she watched Nera sympathetically, still making the pancakes for the other girls.

"It was just a normal bad dream like everyone else has. Not that big of a deal," Nera responded as usual, hiding everything that had to do with her family away from her aunts(or anyone in general).

Alani frowned, sadly at Nera and walked carefully towards her. "Oh c'mon, sugar pie. You know you can tell us. We love you and you can trust us. I swear." She bent down slightly and kissed the top of Nera's head to which Nera wiped off.

The young thirteen year old girl took a deep breath in and, finally, replied. "Okay, fine. I had a dream about..."

She paused and thought for a moment if she really wanted her aunts to know, but then, finally, continued. "I had a dream about my mum and dad when I was younger. I got taken away from them by some people. Malotas Soldiers, I think, but I'm not totally sure. But, it was just a dream, so it couldn't possibly be true, could it?"