A Life Worth Living - Chapter 1 - The Fourth Letter
#1 of A Life Worth Living
A Life Worth Living - Chapter 1 - The Fourth Letter
My first story series I have attempted.
These characters belong to me and the names were made with some help from my friend. Feedback would be greatly appreciated as well as spreading this story. Enjoy...
Fire, ice cream, chocolate, hash browns, yellow balloons, and...
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP...
"Ughhhhhh, dang it. Forgot to turn off the alarm" I incomprehensibly mumbled to myself. I rolled over to the right, forgetting that my alarm was to my left.
Thunk as I hit the ground.
"Damn it not again! Too early to be falling on my face."
I pushed off the ground and got to my feet. There was a pain somewhere in my back, but my nerves hadn't yet woken up. As I stumbled down the hallway I discovered the source of pain.
"Aww crap, I've been sleeping on my wing wrong again." I sputtered out, still not really knowing whom I'm supposed to be mumbling to. The hallway ended as I turned to the stairs down to the bottom floor. Eyes still only half open and fighting to stay awake, I nearly tripped over a box I left on the stairs with god knows what in it. Maybe I'll check it out later today. Well, probably not.
Somehow I made it to the kitchen without bleeding and found the mail had already been delivered. "Hmm, that's odd, normally the mail doesn't come till later..." Putting off breakfast to satisfy my curiosity, I shuffled over to the envelope when I recognized the style of the envelope.
"Awww no, not another one." Wow, this day went from bad to worse before I even had my wheeties. I popped open the letter and see what has happened now. "no, no, no no no. Not uncle Balrex too!!!" Great, now the wolf that taught me to fly, run, and drive is now dead. Just like aunt Sherrie, Cousin Rios, and my father, all dead.
"Fourth damn letter this year, and its only April" I mutter with a tear running down my muzzle. I tried to swallow down my tears as I rushed to the back door. Somewhere I heard a phone ringing but I really didn't care about any phone right now as I threw open the door and took to the sky. Clouds had blocked my vision but I knew where I was heading, for I've gone there many times before.
I took a dive down where I had many times before. The ridge of the mountain became visible as I slowed my descent, landing just short of the small stream that flowed to many small waterfalls down the mountain. This is the only place I can be where I can focus on my thoughts and regain my sanity. Slumping against the side of the rocks I heard a rustling above me. A shadow appeared and a German Shepard landed a little off to my side. The second I saw the blue stripes contrasting his black fur I knew that it us none other than...
"William, how'd you know I'd be here?" I choked out between gasps of breath.
"Well" He said, " You always forget to turn off you alarm and the first place you go is off to the kitchen, and when you didn't answer my call, I figured you'd be here."
Well, he's got that right. "I don't suppose you've heard the news yet" I asked, knowing the answer.
"Well, what happened?" He asked with a sincere look in his eyes.
"Uncle Balrex is dead. That makes four. Four." Before I could say anything else the pain came back and took over my control. Tears streamed down my face again and William opened up his arms.
"Not him too, he's the one that taught you too..." He stopped as he saw the pain it caused me to fully realize who was now dead. He took a step closer and I hugged him tightly and let the pain seep through my eyes. Through my tear clouded eyes I could see him letting loose a few tears of his own.
"Why does this keep happening? All of a sudden they're just gone, dead, just..." I couldn't think straight so I just closed my eyes tightly and waited till I could clear my thoughts. Soon after, I loosened my arms and went back to slumping against the rock wall again. William slid next to me and we sat there in silence. Sometimes all you need is someone you trust that you can just be near to reclaim sanity.
William turned to me and said, "Just remember, life isn't fair, in fact, life's a bitch. You just have to wake up every day and remember there's still people who still care about you, and with each new day there are more opportunities to enjoy life and another reason to live."
I leaned my head back, cleared the tears from my eyes, and looked upwards.
Through the clouds I saw the sun breaking through. Even through today had already been laced with tragedy; I could still seize the day. The warmth of the sun hit my fur and dried the tears from my muzzle. I closed my eyes, not to shut out the world, but to think. I focused on the sounds that I could make peace with. I heard the rustling of the leaves, the trickle of the stream, and even the slow, deep breathing of William, Anything that I could use to calm myself down. Slowly my breaths became more and more controlled. I opened my eyes and breathed out. Yea, bad things happen in the world. People starve, children die, wars rage on, but as long you remember those who have cared about you, you can make peace with yourself in world of terrible, terrible things. I rose to my feet, and William followed suit. We looked into each other's eyes and knew what the other was thinking.
"Come on Alurx, I know you haven't had breakfast and I'm gonna make waffles." He smiled because he knew I was hungry. Very hungry now I thought of it. As we worked out way down the mountain I could've sworn I heard him humming 'It's waffle time it's waffle time, won't you have some waffles of mine.' All I could do is smirk and hum along.