• Chapter 1 - Jakob

    The time was about three and a half minutes past noon. As I realized this, I broke into a run. I had to get to the train station now or I’d miss the train back to Abyx and have to walk the whole way. If that happened, Mom would kill me. I thought the road was perfectly safe, but then what are moms for if not to worry about their kids?
    tab Soon the station was in sight. I already had my pass, so I heading straight for the platform, still running. When I got there the train was just about to leave. I managed to get on in time, handing my pass to the conductor as I went through. Thankfully, I hadn’t brought any luggage – I’d only been there for the day – if I had, I know I would have missed the train that day, and then where would we be?
    tab This train was one that had separate rooms for the passengers. I found one that was empty and made myself comfortable, putting up my feet on the seat across from me. I was soon asleep.
    tab I woke up when the train stopped. Having just been asleep, I was a bit disoriented, but managed to comprehend that this was in fact my stop and that I should get off before the train started moving again. I didn’t even want to think about what would happen then. As I stood up to leave, though, I saw something move in the corner. My natural curiosity overriding my fear of being late getting home, I leaned in for a closer look.
    tab To my surprise, it was a girl, curled up asleep on the seat. I hadn’t seen her when I came in, but from her clothes it looked like she was from Bernel, where the train would have stopped shortly before reaching Corra, the city I had just left. As I was contemplating whether to wake her up or not, she suddenly rolled over and fell off the seat.
    tab This definitely woke her up. She sat up and rubbed her head, which she had hit on the floor. Then she saw me. She immediately jumped up and looked like she was about to run, but stopped, and said, “Where am I?”
    tab “On a train.”
    tab “A train where, stupid?”
    tab “We’re in Abyx. I was just getting off. If you want to-”
    tab “Abyx?!” she shouted. “Abyx? How on earth did I get to Abyx?” And then she started talking more to herself: “Argh! They made me promise I wouldn’t come. I can’t believe this! Abyx. Abyx! They’re going to kill me when they find out about this! I am so dead.”
    tab By this point I was completely confused, but I did the only thing I could think of:
    “Well, while you’re here, you could come stay with me - with my family, I mean. You’ll be safe there, until you can go back to, uh, wherever.” I was sure she would refuse – why trust a complete stranger, after all? So I was completely surprised when she agreed.
    tab “All right, lead the way.”

    Fortunately, the train had not started moving yet. The girl and I were soon on the street, making our way home, to The Square, in the heart of Abyx city.
    tab As we started walking, I noticed she seemed to be having trouble with her bag. It did look pretty heavy, I thought. “Here, let me help you with that,” I offered.
    tab She looked at me like I was crazy. “No way, stupid. I’m not going to give you my stuff just so you can go run off with it.” She drew herself up to her full height, even though it still left her several inched short of being at my eye level. “The only reason I’m trusting you this much is because I really, really need to lay low until I can get out of this place. So don’t go getting any ideas.”
    tab That was rather unexpected. I could feel my muscles tightening, and a part of me wanted to punch her in the face for saying that. So, before I could cause her any bodily damage I said, “Alright, alright. I just wanted to help. I’m not going to take your stuff.”
    tab She didn’t seem very convinced, and from that point on she walked slightly farther away from me than she had been.
    tab After a few blocks, though, it was really started to weigh her down, she was walking much slower now, and was obviously having trouble keeping up. I offered to take her bag again, but, just like before, she refused.
    tab We had been walking for about ten minutes in silence when she stopped and said, “How much farther is it?”
    tab “Only a few more blocks now.” I pointed to a tall structure that was visible from where we stood. “That’s the Clock Tower. My house is right across The Square from it.”
    tab She swung her bag off her shoulder, letting it land with a thud on the ground. “Well, I need to take a break. I don’t know about you, but I’m not used to walking this much. If you don’t want me to pass out, you’d better wait with me.”
    tab If you weren’t carrying around that huge thing, I said to myself, you wouldn’t be so tired. Out loud I just said, “Okay.” She dragged her bag over to the side of the street, where there was a bench. She sat down, and I sat next to her. I leaned back, putting one arm on the back of the bench. She leaned forward, putting her head in her hands. For the first time I noticed that she had some kind of bruise on the left side of her face. “How did you get that?’
    tab She didn’t respond. I tried again. “Where did you come from?”
    tab This time she sat up and turned to face me. “Well, I’m not from around here, if that’s what you want to know.” She sighed. “I’m just from some place called Merekra.”
    tab “Merekra? Isn’t that way south of here?” I gestured at her clothes. “What were you doing in Bernel?”
    tab She snarled. "That's my business. Stay out of it."
    tab Suddenly, the Clock Tower started to chime. The girl jumped, as if she’d never heard a loud bell before. After the sixth chime died away, I said, “We’d better get going if we want to make it in time for dinner.” And, I added to myself, before Mom gets too worried. She gets angry when she gets worried.

    Still unable to convince her to relinquish her heavy load, I walked with her until, at last, we reached the house. There was smoke coming from the chimney. “Looks like we made it in time for dinner,” I noted. I held the door open, and entered after her.