New chapter to World Upside Down.

My horse stumbled on a branch that had been covered with ash. Jolting me back to the present. I was crying and felt cold even though it was hot with all the ash. My muscles felt terribly cramped. Looking around I realized that I was lost every thing looked so different. The trees had been in full bloom and there had been yellow and pick and blue flowers every way you turned. But it had all been turned a smoky black and gray

Smoke, i could smell it thick in the air. And i could see it rising about the hills drifting into the morning sky. i didn't move. i couldn't think. My horses started tugging on the rains, then pulling the smell of smoke was strong and making him nervice. I snaped into servival mode and pulled myself onto Sky's back. Carefully i turned him tward a small canyon the lead away from town and away from the fire. I told my self to relax and started him out on the dim game trail. I had to keep calm if i didn't the He would sense it and then we would be in trouble. Horses are amazing at sensing ones emotions and if i was scared he would be too. I kicked sky into a trot, pulling on the rains to keep him from taking off at a run. Then i heard something. It was a pittiful sound coming from somewhere behind me and to my right. Where the fire was. I couldn't really tell what it was cause it was to far to hear clearly. but something inside told me i needed to turn around. I faught it as long as i could then i pulled on the reins to get my horses to turn around. Was i crazy? i should be going away from the fire not toward it! but as i ran my horse closer to the flames i heard it again. Looking up i saw the strangest sight. A man was in one of the tallest trees cling there and wimpering like a hurt puppy as he stared in horror at the fire roaring toward him with frightening speed. I screamed at him. Yelling as loud as i could. His heard swong around and a look of compleate disbelief came over his face. I yelled again as he just sat there and he started to half climb half fall from the tree. i was having a time keeping my horses from running when the man ran from me spooking my horse and making him rear. I yelled agian at the man telling him to stop. Which luckley he did. Finaly i got him on the horses and then i let the reins loose and leaned over my horses neck and he high tailed it for the game trail we had been on. The fire was right behind us so close that i could feel it's heat on the back. 

         Smoke, I could smell it thick in the air. I had been conscious of the smell of smoke but now it was strong. My horse shifted slightly and tried to turn away. But I wanted to see where the smoke was coming from. Gently I kicked my horse into a trot and went forward carefully. Smoke was drifting up from behind a little hill so I lead my horse carefully up the hill ready to turn and run incase the fire was heading my way. It was. But I didn’t let my horse run cause there running before the fire was a man. He hadn’t seen me yet but I could tell he was scared cause the fire was literally licking his feet. i had never under stood that phrase until now. I kicked my horse into a run and headed strait for the fire my horse thought I was crazy but very reluctantly he went ahead. It was a very good thing that I was riding a horse that was well trained, cause at that moment the man fell, and he was in the fire. I thought for sure that I was about to watch someone burn to death. But he was on his feet again and now he saw me. I reached for him and as he grabbed my arm I was praying hard, hard as I could, he almost pulled me out of the saddle but right then my horse turned so he wouldn’t go into the flame. The man was behind me in the saddle and my horse was running for his life. The man was tiered and I’m afraid that he’s gonna faint. I did the most praying I ever did right then. I couldn’t see much but what I did see was usually a tree branch or my horse’s ears behind all the ash that was coming up off the ground. I don’t now how long we ran but I think I fell asleep because when I woke it was by water in the face. Jerking up I realized that the man had been holding me so I wouldn’t fall off. We were splashing through a river. But one problem, there’s no rivers anywhere near my place. How far had we come? I couldn’t believe that my horse had carried us so far. My horse pulled himself out of the river and stopped as I slid off and almost collapsed, I had been ridding all day or longer for all I know. Looking up I see that the man’s shirt’s torn and his back is black with ash and who knows what els but so is his face. I helped him down and then once he was sitting and the bank of the river, which was just a river of black sludge. I unsaddled the horse and dropped it right where I stood, then I went to the man; he was kneeling over next to the river splashing his face. He had pushed back the sludge from the side of the bank so that he could get somewhat fresh water, even though it only left murky blackness it was clear enough to wash some of the ash from his face. When he was done he looked up at me and I was surprised to see that he wasn’t any older then me maybe 17 or so. He smiled and tried to stand but grimaced and sagged back down as he said, “ thanks for saving me.” He wasn't the fittest man I had seen and actually looked kind of babyish with his baby fat still stubbornly hanging onto his cheeks. he wasn't tall ether probably my same hight if not shorter.

         “Any one would have done that same” I replied surprised at how dry my throat was, it hurt to talk. “ Let I look at your back” He tried to protest but a stern look from me made his retort die before it had been heard.

         His reply was to lean forward. His back looked terrible. Carefully I touched part of the blackened skin. It was cold and hard. Dead.

          “How is it?” he asks hesitantly.

         “It's... fine, it's fine” I was sort of revolted at the sight and sick with the thought of what I would have to do. Cutting that off would promise not be fun, and I was pretty sure it was gonna hurt.

         I changed the subject to cover up my nerviness by saying “What do you think made that explosion and all this ash?”

          He didn’t answer for a moment then he said hesitantly “I think that it was a super volcano.”

         “But super volcanoes are supposed to like block out the sun and blow every thing up and be really bad, right?” I say, as I carefully cut off the pieces of his shirt that isn’t burnt on to him. Using a knife that I had made at a skills camp a few years back.

         He winced, as I pulled a little to hard. “Sorry” I apologized cringing at the sight of a bit of blood that started to ooze out of the tear that I had made. Just to keep his mind off of the pain I kept talking. “But I don’t know much about super volcanoes so what exactly can they do? Do you know?”

          “Well” he hesitated, “some super volcanoes are just pockets of lava here and there, and usually they are in little plains in between the mountains, and since most of the towns around here are in little plains it makes sense that they would all some how be connected and all blow up at the same time.”

         “No it doesn't,” I countered. “That doesn’t make any sense cause all the towns are to far apart to be connected by lava underneath the ground and why would only the towns blow up and not all the plains like the one we are in right now?” I say trying to figure it all out in my head. His back looked terrible and I decided that I would just wash it as best I could then rap it with the rest of his shirt and leave the parts of the shirt that wouldn’t come off on as extra protection. But washing it was going to be difficult cause the water was black sludge that reminded my of some kind of tar used to pave the roads or something. So how are we going to get water?


Chapter 2

That was two weeks ago. Now I'm stuck with this blubbering idiot about to be shot for something I didn't know I did. So long story short. Wait that won't work. Guess I'm gonna have to tell you the whole story. 
i was crouching by the bank on the river when I heard Cason calling. We had been here for two days, trying to get oriented and we didn't have any food. So I was a bit grouchy and his constant need of supervision was getting on my nerves. 
Casey! Casey! come quick!" i didn't answer instead i sat there and watched as he came barreling into the clearing like a tame bull who'd just been stung. 
Casey! i didn't move just watch. I was hunched down on the edge of the river right were the little spring we had found drained into it. I had my knife in one hand and piece of wood in the other. i had been attempting to carve out some sort of bowl, but Casons calling had halted me in my attempts. 
"Casey, where are you? " come look what i....." i was about to stand when out of nowhere two men grabbed Cason from behind. Covering his mouth so his scream couldn't be heard. I couldn't tell what the men were saying but whatever it was it seamed to scare the kid. They couldn't see me from where i was hunkered down in the grass. but i could see them. I was about twenty yards away from them and on the other side of the river.  Well it wasn't exactly a river more like on over sized crick. 
I was shocked. We hadn't seen any sign of people the whole time we had been up here, and i had been looking. We didn't know where we where though we guessed we were somewhere to the north-east area of Preston, Idaho. My home town. I Just sat there starring my first impulse was jump up and down and shout "i'm over here!" But i didn't. And it's a good thing cause something about those men didn't add up. But i couldn't figure it out. So i stayed huddled down in the grass and watched trying to sort it out in my brain. i tried to do what my uncle had always taught me. 'in a crisis, always step back at look at the surroundings, make sure everything around you is safe. Then asses the damage, then call for help and then do everything you can to secure everything and keep everyone safe.' Well i did just that. I took a step back from myself. not literally of course but mentally. I looked around. For the most part everything looked fine. Except for some very small details. There was no sound, the birds had gone quiet. It was early in the morning and they should be still singing. And there was a light, a little green light was blinking on and off over to the right of me just a few feet back from the clearing in the trees. It was a camera, mounted up on a tree right were one of the game tails were that we had been using to come and go from the clearing. On the other side, to my left, i could see the men pulling Cason back into the trees. They had tried him up and gaged him, the poor kid was petrified. As i watched a plan began to form. 

If I let them take the kid without interruption they may not know that I existed. Though the thoughtless male may blabber about it. But if i was lucky they wouldn't believe him. They must have a home base cause there was no way that they have been sneaking around here without me noticing. though they did manage to get the cam up with out my notice. My plan was simply to follow them. Which may not be my brightest idea, but its the only on i've got. 

In a low crouch I sprinted through the tall grass into the near by woods, being sure to stay far away from the cam that was in the tree. 


As the sun sank lower in the horizen i didn't move from my position by the river. I sat in the dust. 



What wrong?" He asked. His voice was tense as if he was afraid of what i was gonna say. So i didn't say anything. I just looked at the ground and then out at the field. "Casey, tell me whats wrong. What happened out there?" The tension was building. "it's nothing." the sarcasm in my voice was evident and Tristen didn't buy it. "Casey. Stop, just tell me what wrong? what did i do? Is it me? What happened?"
I looked back at him and hoped that my eyes were burning a hole into his. "How dare you ask me whats wrong! How dare you ask my to tell you what happened. To be honest! Your a hypocrite and your a lier! how could lead my on like this.

Curse or Blessing?

She had a curse. Well, not a curse it was more like a mark, on her left hand. Why did she have this mark? I’ll tell you but first you must hear her tale. Her tale is a fairy tale you might say, and it starts out how all fairy tales do:

“Once upon a time in a land far away a little village was tucked into a valley that was surrounded by majestic mountains. Spring was just beginning to bring blossoms to the valley floor and melt what snow had been in the little valley. But the peaks of each of the mountains round about still had their winter capes on even though the land around was shedding their coats of white for the color of spring. 
Under the shade of the pines and evergreens it was paradise. The light was soft and the air and ground was damp. Flowers were poking their heads out of the earth and little creatures were scurrying about. Creatures of every kind, hedgehogs, fairies, brownies, and many, many more were getting ready for the festivities of May Day and the coming warmth.

            Mean wile the village was bustling to. The people were exited, for the king was traveling as he did every year though their small village from his winter fortress to his summer domain in Simplariya. The king would be spending the night there for it was to far to travel through the pass to the next town though it would be more suitable for a king to rest in a wealthy town then a lowly village.

           The whole town was excited and bustling for the arrival of the king. But there was one though who was not exited to see the king, this person was usually the most joyful, though not outgoing, she was one who always seemed to find a friend in every one she met in the small village. She was happy because she thought she had every thing even though those who saw her took pity on the pitiful sight she made of a thin girl in rags trying to make her hair the prettier by putting flowers in it like a crown. Those who happened to catch a glimpse of this girl might of thought her homely or poor but she knew otherwise, to herself she was a queen crowned in gold and in a dress of the finest silk and indeed in her enchanted forest near the unicorn’s layer she was a queen. This girl had always lived in the town and nobody new where she had come from, and to say it quite plainly, nobody cared. She survived quite easily in the woods by eating the berries and various fruits and vegetables that grew in the forest. This girl was about the age 13 but no one really new. She never had liked the king because every time she saw him she had this terrible feeling that she knew him very well and that she did not like him. She felt that in some way he was evil. She knew that she should not judge him so for he was kind when in the village and made many a good law. Well at least that is what she had heard when travelers came by. There was another reason that she was not happy that the king would be arriving. Well it was her birthday and nobody would care they would all be paying attention to the king and his royal family and nobody would even notice the small girl that would slip away into the woods as soon as she had done her part in the preparations.

Slipping out of the tree, where she had been safely perched till she had seen the messenger run by, she turned to make her escape into the woods. "Girl! What are you doing come here their are preparations to be made!" The call was like the crack of a whip bringing the girl to a sudden halt. Turning she put on her best con artist smile saying, "I was just coming in" Grumbling under her breath as she walked the wound her way to the kitchen.
And it was no normal kitchen. Cookie liked her kitchen to be in the perfect state of "organized chaos" as she called it. There were pans pilled all around the small space and flour covering everything. If one walked in who didn't know cookie they might think that a small tornado had just gone through the place.