The Fates Intertwin

A history to be passed~ 17 empires, 25 kingdoms and 199 countries with uncountable islands. Everything turned into chaos once a mysterious meteorite crashed onto the surface of the Earth, specifically Welford Empire. All were put in confusion, neither the space satellites nor the earth techniques caught a sign or track of it. And therefore, the impact left behind carnages and no dust of life. The empire and the neighbouring countries were thoroughly destroyed, and the rulers were left helpless and broken. *** Wives were left without husbands, children without parents, and sisters without brothers. No matter how much help did they get from outside, the lands still were bald; no greenery, but sand full of blood, grief and tears. *** *** *** "Sun, Moon. Flowers, bloom. Sun, Moon. Flowers bloom. " The three little girls sang along together while playing rope skipping; two holding the either ends of the rope while the third in the middle, hopped in laughters. "Sun, Moon. Flowers, bloom. " "That's unfair! When will my turn come? " whined the youngest of them, trying to resist the tears that now filled her eye sockets. Holding the rope for more than 5 minutes wasn't anymore amusing. "Claire, you just took the same time, or even more, hopping. Give the others a chance to play too, " said the brown haired girl who held the rope. "Yeah, and its not our mistake that you spent the whole time stumbling and falling off, " added the ginger haired girl in sarcasm, while hopping. Claire grew furious, unsatisfied with how they talked to her. She looked at both of them who were eyeing her, expecting the outcome. Her ceased brows and the fury breathe said much. "If you see it in that way, then find someone else to catch this rope. I'm off, " bellowed the taunt sounded Claire, threw the rope from her hands -which caused her friend to stumble and was about to fell on her face- and left them behind, stumping with an impact against the sandy ground, expressing her disappointment and anger. "Ugh, here she goes, " mumbled the ginger haired girl in bummer. "Well, she's a child that Ken has pampered. What she did is nothing new, " the brown haired friend shrugged hopelessly. "How come someone be called pampered in such a world? Where no hope for the red skies to return blue. " "Owwww! Am I hearing someone asking will be pampered? Common, I'll spoil you with love, ma babe, " chimed the other girl from beside, with her arms around her friend's neck. "Ewww! Go to hell! " she grunted under her breath, giving her stinky friend a palm push at the face to which she pouted in dissatisfaction. *** *** *** Looking at the left, and turning the head to the right, Claire ensured her way and with wobbly legs she tiptoed the moment she caught a glimpse of her destination. Once she reached, a small smile was flowered on her lips. Two small sand hills placed next to each other with three inches parting. Claire limped to them and sat on her knees, with glassy sapphire orbs. "Hello, mum. Hello, dad. Hello, dad. How are you? " She greeted with hints of bitterness in her sound. "Do you remember me? I am C-Claire. Well, your only daughter, as you may know. " She stopped to try having a breathe to soothe her paining chest. A little tear sneaked out her eye but she incontinently wiped it, keeping a smile on her face. "Life is going well these days. Thanks to the gunfires that elliptically stopped, I'm alive today and have the chance to visit you. " "I'm sorry mum, dad. You may be angry from me for I haven't visited you in a while, but I just couldn't make it here. Ken is over worried about me. I've already turned six, I'm grown up. But. . Its not his mistake too, as you know, nowhere for safety to be seen. He must look after himself, and not me. " Claire paused, uprooting the grass weeds that has grown on the sand hills with her soft hands. She gripped the grass w**d, but didn't pluck it. Her hands were trembling from the grip, and beads of tears which she hardly withstood, streamed down her dirted pinkish cheeks drawing white lines. The earlier pain in her chest soon burnt, grew and raged, and silent sobs came out of hee red lips. "I am. . enough with this life, aren't I? All the ignominy, and pain, and danger, and . . and . . . . " The dried lump in her throat forced her to silent and couldn't spit out the other words. "I. . I was a good girl, obedient, and always listened with opened ears. Kind and helping. I don't remember any mistake I did to deserve all these! " She sobbed aloud, confessing of everything she wanted to say out loud, but couldn't. Her throat felt itchy from the complaints, but still wanted to continue; to empty all the stress that was a load in her chest. "I- I want so badly to v- visit you, wherever you are. I want, wish, to live with you up there. H- how is the place? I- is it peaceful? Happy? Calm? I- I sometimes. . feel jealous from you two. Ugh, I talked too much, " she trailed off, stood up and dusted her dress from the sand that sticked to its fibre. With small and careful steps, she leapt to the sand hill at the right and bent down on her knees right next to it, and grabbed a handful of sand from that hill, hugged it securely in her embrace, before scattering the sand above the hill. She moved to the other sand hill and did the same thing: hug a handful of sand, scatter it. "I love you, mum. I love you, dad. I hope to see you next time, " she whispered to nothing but the thin air, and moved. Walking away, Claire halted and looked back where she was, -at the graves of her parents- kissed her finger tips and blew the kisses towards them, and waved a farewell before leaving. While on her way, her fist ran up to her chest, clutching the cloth tightly. "Who am I trying to deceive? I even dunno if they're indeed my parents, " she uttered in undertone to her poor self. Claire rubbed her face with her palms to appear as normal as if nothing had happened, so no one could know or worry about her. Acting was something she mastered these days. She could cry and sob as much as her feelings took her, but still appear normal, happy, and cheerful. *** "Claire. Claire, " a panting lady appeared in front of Claire, no one knew from where either. The unpleased look that sticked to her face caused Claire to coldly sweat. "V- Vanessa? " she stammered in anxiety. "Where were you? Ha? Ken is worried about you to death, " Vanessa snapped at her. The young girl darted her gaze away in guilt and her cheeks blushed. "I- I was playing nearby, " she mumbled. Vanessa shot her a sharp glare, scrutinizing her facial expressions. "Playing alone? " Claire's breath hitched in surprise. Did she know? If yes, who is the traitor that gossiped about her? Claire wondered while her being was about to wet her pants. "Come, we have a long talk on our way to home. " Claire did say that she wanted to go see her dead parents, but she never knew that God had heard her wish at that moment, nor did she know that it would be any sooner.