Lifeless

Kaden Jones

"Just one more net." my father said. Finally we were almost done for the day. I hated being out here today. The air had just recently become cooler, and I hadn't come prepared. I should have worn a jacket. My muscles ached from today. Pulling nets gets hard after a few hours. I was sure I had pulled a muscle in my arm. Finally I gave one last tug and the net was over the side." Kaden your free for the rest of the day." My father said. I knew he would stay behind to sort out what we'd caught.

At least now I could go home and warm up next to a nice fire. I got caught up in thought after that. I thought about how much we'd caught. The Capitol would buy most of it. We'd sell some of what was left. Then we would eat. This was the cycle of fishing."At least we are doing better then some other families. We have enough money to buy food, and we have enough fish to eat during hard times." I said to Myself.

Then my thoughts went to the night of the sinking.
[Flash back]
He saw the rock again. He felt the collision, and saw the glow of a fire coming from the kitchen where the impact had knocked a candle over. He ran to put it out and saw the water pouring in. He warned his friends on board. Four of the brave ones went in to help put out the fire. a few minute later he heard the explosion. The fire had hit where he stored spare gasoline. He grabbed Elizabeth and threw her into the water. Then he jumped in. He grabbed a piece of driftwood for them to float on. He got on and while helping her up the sharks head appeared. It grabbed her and took her under the oceans surface. He was the only survivor.
[End flashback]

I was so caught up in thought that I didn't see the branch jutting out over the road. Wham! I hadn't seen it coming. It felt like having your head taken off by a sword. Now the numbness he was feeling was replaced with pain. He let out a cry of shock. Then he came to his senses. It didn't hurt that badly. He got up just in time to see a girl about three years older then him walking towards him.

[Kaden's a boy.]

Its fine

He started to scramble up. He had just gotten to a sitting position when a second girl came over. She was defiantly younger than him. The other was older than him by probably 3 years. His hand went to where the branch had hit him. There was a small amount of blood, but it would soon scab over. He looked up. There was the branch. The hit really hadn't hurt that badly it had just taken him by surprise.

He stood up careful to avoid the branch. He looked at the two girls again. Just what he needed was two more people to think he was crazy. It was so cold out. It didn't help that he was wearing shot sleeves."Hi I'm Kaden. I'm o.k. It didn't hurt that badly it just took me by surprise." He said. Then he though how could a branch take someone by surprise. Now the probably knew he was crazy.

His mind went back to that nigh for one more second. He struggled to maintain control. He couldn't let this control him." I was deep in thought. What are your names?" He said hoping this would help hi out

Mason

The boy seemed to recover from his little incident. He had a small cut on his head, not to bad. They both introduced themselves. The boy was Kaden and the girl was Aine. The girl, Aine, seemed to ramble on about something, Mason had trouble paying attention. Mason reached into her overlarge bag and pulled out a tissue. "Tissue?"Mason asked the boy.Bye the way I'm Mason. And I ended up here because I thought something interesting was going on, turned out I was right. Mason laughed and tapped the stick she had found on the ground. It seemed to get a bit quiet so, Mason began to talk, she always did, she was very, very talkative. "So... I don't think I have seen either of you at school... or fishing. I live down the rode from the market. In a small house." She paused and looked passed the other two's shoulders. Behind them was a thing, protruding from the tree. What was it?

Something snapped behind Kaden. My eyes widened: something was moving around in the shadows. The shape was undefined, the size impossible to guess. However, it didn't come any closer, but it didn't leave either.

Mason was staring at the shape. Not fear; more curiosity than anything else. Kaden was speaking, his voice slightly higher than it had been before.

"Aine do you know what that thing is. Do you think we should move a little bit?" Kaden was staring at me. He wanted me to decide. Me, Aine Donough. I glanced over into the trees. My god it had moved! What was it!

I was truly fighting my instincts. I wanted to attack it. On the other hand, I couldn't take the risk that it was a person, in which case, it would be murder. I was so confused!

"Just... Just stay where you are. But have something ready. Just in case."

Aine blushed a dark red: a net, just a stupid old net! She was such an idiot, and, feeling her knife in her hand, felt that she would for a while. At least she hasn't screamed though... She supposed it was better than that.

Mason seemed set on making something out of the net. It was old and frayed, probably quite dry and weak too. If Aine has gone with the simple suggestion of "another net" then it would have been dismissed all too quickly. Aine didn't mind much what it became. She had never been that good at art at school. Drama and music, most certainly. Not art. She'd leave that up to Kaden and Mason. She had acquired quite a lot of respect for the two of them. Clever and brave, despite their age. She was a poor comparison to them.

A sudden thought struck Aine. "Oh, hang on, I have some twine... I was using it to mend the creeks. It could bind the netting no problem." She smiled as she handed it over. At least she was contributing in some way...