New Eden-World's Near End

Chapter One

Day 1

6:45am

  Bradley Hummet jolted awake in an instant. At first he wasn't entirely sure where he was, or why he had woken up all of a sudden like he did. The room was dark, but enough sunlight filtered through the gaps in the curtain for him to make out the tangled sheets, the chest of drawers across the room and the Star Wars posters decorating the walls. Bradley relaxed and sighed. He was in his bed. In his own room. So why had he woken up in a panic? Bradley got the answer to that a second later when he tried to get back the breath he had just let out.

  He couldn't.

  Bradley groaned within himself. His hand searched the tangled sheets for his medication. Not finding it there, he dipped below his pillows and felt around. His hand found the familiar L shaped object and he pulled it out. He always kept it close for instances like this.

  Bradley had asthma. His parents had discovered this when he was one year old and nearly asphyxiated after eating something with dairy listed in the ingredients. The pediatrician had said that his condition was chronic and that the slightest hint of an allergen would land him on a ventilator, or worst case scenario, force his airways shut and kill him. Usually this wouldn't have been relatively easy. He just had to avoid anything that would trigger him into having an attack. But the list of such triggers was frustratingly long. Starting with anything dairy; that meant none of the usual fun foods that came with growing up. No ice cream. No cake. No cheese, which meant no pizza. No peanuts. No eggs. Nothing too high in protein and so on.

  With the list of allergens limiting his diet, this also limited his growth. Bradley was always small and people often thought that he was three of four years younger than his actual age. What also added to that list was the other physical triggers that affected him as well. Dust, pollen, bee stings were on the list. Physical exertion would give him shortness of breath, tightening his airways, leaving him weak and the feeling as though he had just been punched in the diaphragm.

  All of this compiled left Bradley's parent more than a bit paranoid and over protective of his health. No fun snacks. No sports. No going outside to play in the dirt. Not only that, but being the only kid that didn't have cake and ice cream at his birthday party impacted heavily on his ability to have many friends.

  Bradley hated it all. He hated that he couldn't enjoy the same foods that everyone else did. He hated that his condition made him so different from everyone else his age. He hated that he got teased and picked on because of his height or inability with sports. Above all, more than anything else, he hated the way people pitied him. The way his mom always wanted to keep him close to check up on him, to make sure he was eating right, or that he didn't fall down and get a boo-boo, or to lasso him in hug to keep him safe from the world. It irritated him to the point of lashing out, which he did more than once, but it didn't change anything. His father never went as far as his mother did to baby him, neither did his few friends, but he always noticed the sideways looks they'd give him and the way they moved with caution about him. They were always looking out for him. It was touching that the people he knew cared so much about him, he knew. But he still hated it.

  All of that was in the past though. Bradley was seventeen now and a lot had changed from when he was a little kid. His asthma, which was chronic in the beginning, eased up over the years. The list of stuff that he couldn't eat before had shrunk, allowing him some freedom to indulge himself on the foods he had missed out growing up. He had gotten taller, not by a lot, but definitely taller. And he had started sports. Basketball and running. With practice and time, he had gained some control over his breathing. He knew how to pace himself to minimize his exertion. Still, there were times when his body felt too weak and he needed his inhaler. It wasn't often, but he still needed it.