Reaper Pollenburn Campaign: Prelude
#1 of Reaper
Prelude: Where the Wind Blows
"Tragedy starts with but a thought. Not the thought of a man to commit the act that would lead to the tragedy. Not the thought of the victim as they suffer from the tragedy. But rather the thought of those that survive who brand the event a 'tragedy'."
Dr. Azalea Winters
Criminal Minds: Motives and Cause
It was bright, sunny day like any others in my hometown of Bloomcrest. It was always sunny here. Sometimes it rained but it was always one of those bright, sunny rains where you could see the rainbow as the skies trickled their warm tears down upon you.
I loved it here.
I loved it even more because Bloomcrest was simply the best place to live if you loved flowers.
"Come on Danny!" I cried excitedly, leaping through the thin, wire-mesh screen door onto the porch of our home. It was a small house. I heard Mr. Doherty - our landlord - once call it a 'shack'. All I knew is that its where myself, my older brother and my parents lived and we were happy.
Father was off working on the property for Mr. Doherty and mother had just finished up cleaning up after breakfast and was probably on her way to making lunch. I could already smell the potato pie she was making, my stomach rumbling in excitement.
I pushed down my excitement though.
Danny promised to take me to the flower fields today.
"Slow down, Gale," Danny laughed, pulling his lanky but tall frame out of our home and resting a hand on my shoulder. "The flowers aren't going anywhere."
"I know!" I answered brightly, scrambling away from him and hopping down the dirt road. "But I wanna get there soon! The sooner we get there, the more time we get to spend there!"
My big brother laughed, his soft, features breaking into a smile. "Alright, alright. I'll race ya there!"
He ran past me, putting a good few metres between us before I managed to shout, "Hey! Not fair!" and bolted after him. He had longer legs than me so that meant I really was at a disadvantage. Plus, I was only seven years old and he was fifteen. I promised myself that when I grew up, I'd be as tall and as strong as Danny.
He was my role model.
We weren't even halfway to the flower fields when I was already starting to feel the burning sensations in my thighs slow me down. But I wasn't going to give up. One of these days, I told myself I'd catch up with Danny. While I was getting tired, I was laughing all the way. Danny was laughing with me.
It was a beautiful, sunny day and flanking the road was the vast - seemingly endless - plains filled with wildflowers. It's why people called my hometown 'Bloomcrest'. Because there was always flowers blooming.
At about halfway down the road from my house, we took a sharp left, leaping over the fence that was erected beside the road and entering the fields of flowers. Danny had slowed down just for me and I ran right past him, laughing all the way.
"Slowpoke! Slowpoke!" I giggled, leaping around happily as I hurried to my favourite spot.
It was a large, black rock in the middle of the flower fields. There was a little indentation on the side of the rock that was perfect for just sitting inside and staring at the skies as the clouds rolled by. I could do that for ages... just sitting there...
I climbed the rock, my small, chimpanzee's frame nimble enough for the task as both my hands and feet found easy handholds on the otherwise smooth surface. I crawled into my favourite spot and gazed up at the sky. There was a jump in his heart when I saw a particular cloud drift by shaped like a rabbit.
"Hey! Danny! Look at that one!"
...
I got not reply.
"Danny...?"
I turned around, looking back to where I had last seen my older brother. Danny was probably crawling on his belly trying to sneak up on me. He did that often. It really scared me.
"Come on, Danny... Not again... Please?"
...
Still no reply.
I braced myself... I knew he'd come out soon... Probably pop up from behind me with a loud 'boo' and scare the living daylights out of me.
I waited... and waited...
Nothing...
Worry crept into me.
"Danny...?" I jumped from my rock... and slowly made my way through the sea of wildflowers. "Danny! Stop playing games! This isn't funny anymore!"
Was he lost...?
Did he accidentally take a wrong turn?
It wasn't hard to miss my rock...
"Danny! Where are -"
He left foot bumped into something and I glanced down...
My eyes widened... and my heart nearly stopped.
"Danny!"