Oceans of Time

Chapter 1

Walking through the massive field with my head tilted towards the sun and my eyes closed, I can smell the rain in the air. As I’m moving, I can feel the moist dirt below my feet with the lavender and cattails under my hands and between my fingers. The beautiful scent and the roughness of the blades remind me of how almost everything beautiful comes with some kind of pain. Continuing along my path, I began to tilt my head as I can hear the thunder not far off.

As my eyes begin to open, I slow my pace as I see something just beyond the trees…the place I’ve never been. Where no one in my clan has ventured and came back alive. As I turn to go, I see movement out of the corner of my eye, almost imperceptible. As the mist begins to fall, l I pick up my pace knowing that my mother will be worried. By the time I make it back the sun is setting with the most beautiful ombre of reds and violets…melting together like watercolors that even Monet would be jealous of.

When I get close to my home, I see the lights on and my father sitting on the porch in his chair. My mother rocks on the swing that has been there from the day I was born 17 ½ years ago. My birthday is coming up quickly and this is the year my life will change forever…

I wake up to the sounds of voices talking and the smell of pancakes, bacon and eggs with a hint of coffee. I smile as I roll over and remember the joy of my walk yesterday. As I lay there contemplating food or more sleep, I hear footsteps coming up the stairs. I pretend to be asleep as my father comes in and he says, “You can quit faking, I can hear your breathing and you can’t even keep a straight face.” I open my eyes to see him sitting in my desk chair looking at me expectantly. “Yes?” I ask him. “Anything you’d like to share about your venture yesterday?” I shake my head with a light smile. He gets up from his perch and pulls my blanket off and takes it with him as he runs back out to the kitchen. “HEY!” I yelled at him. (He knows I’ll just pick my covers up and just go back to sleep.) I get up and go to the bathroom and do my business before I hear my mother holler up the stairs, “I’m not responsible if there’s no food left after your brothers come back from training!”. I guess there’s no shower now and I’m rushing down the stairs.

As I’m rounding the corner my father is grinning at me over his paper. He has this way of looking at me over his glasses and a twinkle in his eye that always looks like he’s got something ornery planned. When I take my place at the table, momma already has plates sat and is filling mine with food. “So, is there anything you would like to plan for your birthday in October?” my mother asked me. “I don’t have anything right off; I’ll think about it OK?” I informed her. She nods and takes a sip of her coffee. I hear the pounding of boots on the porch and know that I got here just in time. As my 4 brothers start filing into the kitchen through the back door, I smile and mumble my good mornings around the food I have already stuffed in my mouth. “Not very lady like there sis!” my oldest brother Dustin teases me with a wink.

Dustin is the oldest of our sibling crew being 27. Next, is Sean at 25, then the twins Wayne and Levi at 23. We all have similar features but the boys have different shades and mixes of brown and black with crystal blue eyes and me (the oddball) with my red hair and emerald green eyes. Pops says I look more like my grandmother. All of our facial features look like our father with our square faces and dimples. Our eyes are shaped like our mothers which are a soft almond with a lift on the outside. The boys all have a jaw that can cut glass and mine is just a tad softer. I have mothers button nose while the boys have that Greek thing going on.

As everyone eats a pleasant quietness falls over the kitchen. Light conversation sprinkles in as my brothers talk about their training and how maybe they need to up what they do when they work out. As they lead the community workouts and training, this is often a topic of discussion. “I’m telling you guys that we need to start splitting the people up more and start evaluating them into more specific areas.” Wayne says looking over at Levi and Dustin. “If we can continue to work with everyone and find their strengths, we can become more efficient.” I start leaning towards them trying to hear more. I’ve always wanted to train, but ‘officially’, I’m not allowed to because everyone thinks I’m too delicate. I scoffed just thinking if they only knew…heck, if I only knew what was to come.