Ascension (rough draft)

1. As All Humans Do

I awoke, one fine summer morning, in my house, on the floor of my room, and face to face with my cat. School, I thought, but then realized- school had gotten out two days ago, so I pushed my cat and my untamed blonde hair out of the way and sat up. Freedom. It tasted nice, so I decided to leave the room right then, thunder down the stairs, and make some scrambled eggs, with extra pepper, because that was exactly how I liked it. When the frying pan had been completely heated, I dropped a thick slice of warm butter onto it and watched as it slid around the perimeter. Finally, I poured my freshly beaten eggs into the pan.

After about three minutes, my eggs were completed, so I unceremoniously dumped them onto a simple white plate, grabbed my personal ketchup bottle and a short fork, and plopped myself down on one of the chairs around the dining room table. My stomach growled, so, in turn, I shoveled about eight bites of ketchup-y egg into my mouth and was finished in a matter of moments. As I was getting up from the table, though, the first amiss thing that day happened. 

Get back to the war, I thought. The strange, hot sensation that came with the new thought rippled through my bones, but passed as immediately as it had happened. I disregarded it as a heater problem, and washed off my dirty plate, gazing for one second out of the kitchen window, even though half of it was covered with letters, paintings, unpaid bills, and coupons. Out of the window, the sun was shining high in the sky, seeming to drown the grass and the trees with it's brightness. I blinked, and the sun-drenched grass returned to its normal green state. Must have been the glare on the window. 

Exactly twelve minutes, by my count, passed before my little brother and mother crept down the stairs, peeking into the kitchen to see if I was awake. After their check, my brother perked up and jumped down the stairs, now that everyone their house contained had awoken. He scrambled around the kitchen island and crashed into me, nearly knocking me over with his speed and force. 

"MORE EGGS LYSHA!" He shouted in my ear, jumping up and down excitedly. I shook my head slowly.

"You go make 'm yourself, Len," I told him, scraping burnt egg off of the frying pan. "Just don't take my ketchup!" He giggled and ran off to the fridge, pausing only to pet the underfoot cat, Veronica. I smiled at him, because my seven year-old brother was so cute and innocent, whilst I was mostly an annoyed, grumpy almost-adult, fifteen to be precise, who was about to go exploring the world. It would be lovely, though, if I could bring someone along... I thought, but had given up on the idea of bringing my best, and only, friend Sam with me, because my family could only afford one ticket. I sighed, for I had always longed for a life of adventure, but when it could finally be provided... well, I realized that it wasn't really that great without a friend. If only, if only. I left the kitchen, letting that thought dangle in my brain for a minute, and then letting it fall into the dark and forgotten recesses of my mind. When I entered the living room, though, I was taken by a sudden headache, motives all but forgotten. I collapsed onto the couch, wishing that I had some Advil or something, and started rubbing at my temples furiously. What was going on today? As I struggled not to cry out from all the pain, I found it harder and harder to stay awake, even though I had slept well and normally. 

"Mom?" I said, eyes scrunched tight due to the pain, "You got any pain relievers or something?" When my mother didn't respond, I almost got up, but was shoved back into the forced tiredness before my muscles could react. I groaned, but stopped moving, the pain in my head finally easing up now as I somehow, miraculously, fell into a deep, long sleep, induced only by what I could imagine was an outside force. I struggled to wake back up, but found myself being dragged only deeper as something made me pass out and dream.

I awoke to cold at my back, and realized that I was laying on the ground of some sort of metal thing. When I tried to open my eyes, I realized that I actually could without the headache coming back, and began to assess my surroundings. Darkness and metal were the only things I could see, but a whole new level of seeing assaulted my ears with force. Voices, many voices, were all that I could hear. Though they were dim and overlapped, several stood out in their midst: