Dreamtopia - THE FIRST CHAPTER

RUN

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          “Humph!... where is it?”he repeatedly yelled out, “where is it?”, while he looked here and there, going to and fro searching relentlessly. Up close he didn't look like anything I heard others describe about him. He was tall and lanky but not as tall as a lamp-post or as thin as a bone as he was described as. I never believed it much but the outrageous exaggerations didn't end there . Some said he looked really ugly and old but that wasn't how I saw him. He just looked rugged and unkept. But one rumour about him that I could firmly say was true is that he did look quite scary.

           He wore a saddlebag on one shoulder and had a rusty old shotgun straped to the other shoulder. Hidden underneath his untucked shirt was something that resembled an old leather dagger sheath. It  was still bright and early that morning but the canopy of trees restricted some light from reaching the forest floor. I'm guessing that's why he had to use a torchlight to look for whatever it was he wanted to find. As he approached closer to the bush I was hiding behind, I was startled when the ray of light from his torch caught me by surprise. Luckily, I slipped deeper into the bush, allowing the leaves to conceal my figure trying my best to be as silent as possible. I watched as he wandered deeper into the woods before I got up and ran over to warn the others.
      
       From the other side of the lake I could see that that they had already left. ‘Well that's strange, I told Brian to ask the others to wait till I got back’ I said to myself. I hope they don't ran into Mr. Kings; I thought.

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        I checked my wristwatch, 6:30 I was going to be late for school if I stayed any longer. They might still be in here, I have to warn them before they get in trouble, I thought. As I stared at my watch wondering what to do next something caught my eye. A bright sparkle, I looked over to see it coming from the lake. I was rather amazed at how much brighter it had gotten. It was almost getting impossible to look at. I sprang my head up and saw the canopy was just as thick here as every other part of the forest. The light reaching was too minimum to reflect and illuminate such a bright allure. Mysterious, indeed.

      As I reached the spot where I'd left the others, I noticed that all our bikes were right where we'd left them, leaning against a tree. I wondered if they were hiding somewhere close by trying to pull a prank on me or whether Kings had already found them. I grabbed my bike and peddled it forward very slowly searching around. I was about a metre away from the tree, that's when he walked in. He saw the bikes and I could tell he was really furious. But this his mood changed when he turned to look at the lake, he stood still staring at it for a while, then he began mumbling to himself, “Those rotten dumb kids when will they ever learn. You drive them out and they still come back for more. Let's just hope this time won't be their last in here”. He spoke in anger and with a hoarse tone in his voice. Yet I could sense fear in his last statement, the same expression evident on his face. As if he feared we were going to be hurt, unprepared for something disastrous, as though our very lives were in danger.

      “Hey...”, “...you there...” I snapped out of my thoughts, my silent deep thoughts, back to the hectic atmosphere I was in. Kings had spotted me and was heading my way. Busted!, nope not today I told myself. I turned my bike and peddled as fast as I could. The terrain was rough and bumpy , and yet he was gaining on me. Incidentally, I was heading deeper into the woods. I looked back and to my relief id lost him. I decided to change route in order not to bump into him coincidentally. A shrill shriek broke through the air, then a gunshot, then another. I ducked behind a ditch wondering what was going on, hands over my head, covering my ears.