• Chapter 1
    I darted over the barren land, praying to make it back to the dome before I was pelted with rain, holding tightly to my precious bundle. I could see the dome in the distance, coming closer. I noticed an entrance and began nervously typing in the combo. The door opened and, right as I slipped in, I felt a drop of rain crash down on my leg, sending a dart of pain through me.
    The country where I lived was not exactly your average comfy, cozy type of place. Apparently, at one point in time, the rain wasn’t so… dangerous. Here the rain fell like large rocks, plunging to the ground, making it bumpy and uneven long ago. The rain had destroyed all the cities, leaving few survivors. Those survivors had taken refuge in the mountains, slowly constructing a place suitable for living. And here it stood today, over a hundred years later, the dome they’d ended up with, built slightly into the mountain. Few people had ever drifted out of the dome, me being one of the few. I traveled to the ruins of the old cities, rummaging through the ruble, praying to find something important. The ruins I was currently exploring were around a half an hour jog from the dome, which caused difficulties because I only had about two hours between each expedition.
    My stopwatch dinged after I had made it safely through the tunnel leading up to the city area of the dome, while I leaned against a small tree. I had set the watch to ring around the time I should be coming home but today the rain started early and the only way I’d managed to come home was because I’d noticed the rain in the distance, drawing near.
    Limping through the town I glanced around to see where exactly I ended up. I was in a familiar part of town, not to far from my home, thankfully.
    “Heylow DoeMi!” JasLinAh shouted across her shop, sitting at the front desk. My name and JasLinAh’s weren’t uncommon, though I’d never actually met two people with the same name. We got another syllable added to our names each time we aged another decade. When I was born my mother had named me Doe. Then, when I turned ten, my mother added Mi. And in just five more years I’d have another syllable added.
    I gave a small smile, limping over to the spacey shop-keeper. “Hi,” I sighed, coming over to the desk.
    “Tripped or rain?” JasLinAh asked, noting towards my injured leg. She was 23 and had been one of the few people to have gone out of the dome, back when she was younger than me, and had even taught me the combos to get in and out.
    “Rain,” I said, and quickly continued, “But please don’t worry, I’m fine. It’s probably just a small bruise.”
    “Okay. Just try to take it easy,” and then she paused, remembering the reason I had probably came in. “So what’ll you have?”
    “A loaf of bread and two cans of soup.” I responded.
    She smiled at me and strolled into the back room which held all the merchandise from the store. Afterwards she came out holding a paper bag. I reached for the bag to see if she remembered everything when she quickly snatched it back. “Hey, hey now. No food until you pay up.” There were two things JasLinAh took care of and loved in this world. Her store and me. And her store came before me.
    I sighed and pulled an ancient gold bracelet out of my bag. “Does this work?” She smiled, snatching the bracelet from my hand and handing me the bag.
    “Take it easy!” She called, not glancing from the gold bracelet, trying to guess the price, while I limped out into the streets.
    “Mother, I’m home.” I said to the couch. My mother crawled out from underneath, looking up at me. Years ago, my father and brother had died. Right after guards had come and taken her away. When she’d come back, my mother hadn’t been the same. She immediately hid under the couch and refused to come out, even for food. I found out later that she only came out when I was gone, went to the bathroom, and then would immediately zoom back to her sanctuary. She seemed to be healing, and would finally come out to see me, and report to me what was going on under the couch.
    “Hello DoeMi! You’ll never guess what tomorrow is! CoRei’s birthday! He’s turning 20 and you know what that means. Another syllable!” by CoRei she meant my deceased brother. This wasn’t the first time she’d told me CoRei’s birthday was coming up, but each day it would change. Yesterday mom had said CoRei was turning 18 in two weeks.
    “That’s nice mother. Here’s food for you, dad, and CoRei.” I said, handing her a piece of bread. Bread was all my mother would eat. I wasn’t sure why, but whenever she saw any other food she’d start screaming and crying, and begging for mercy. JasLinAh always put special vitamins and minerals in the bread, but it still wasn’t enough. I’d noticed my mother growing thinner. I worried about her, but wasn’t sure how to help.
    Just then someone busted through the window. “Hallo! Your door was lock so I figured come in through the window! Hope you don’t mind!” Standing there was my best friend, AddLin. She was only 13 but she looked older than me. She had long, sparkling, blond hair that floated gracefully with every move she made. Unlike my light brown hair which was thin and short. She also had beautiful green eyes and a warm smile.
    “It’s nice to see you AddLin! CoRei’s turning 20 tomorrow! You’ll come to his party won’t you? He’d be happy if you did, I’m sure!” AddLin understood my mother’s insanity almost more than I did. She and JasLinAh had both helped me deal with it too.
    “I’d love to! In fact I’ll go invite Jazzy in a minute! But first I gotta talk with your daughter, okay?” and with that she pulled me away from my mother. “She’s looking worse Doe. I think you should call a doctor.” Underneath AddLin’s bubbly exterior was a serious, thoughtful person. Though AddLin was only 13 she was mature.
    “The doctor’s won’t see her. They say it’s too dangerous. Besides, doctors scare her.”
    “Still! Those sissies should get over their little ‘She got taken away by guards. She must be dangerous’ thought process and come help her! I mean, look at her! She’s going to die if she doesn’t get help! God! Those jerks are…” she stopped, noticing the tears glittering in my hazel eyes. “I’m sorry Doe. I didn’t mean your mother’s going to die. It’s just, there’s only so much one girl can do.”
    I gave a small smile. “It’s okay. I know mom’s sick. It’s just the thought of her dieing…” I paused, the tears overflowing.
    “That’s alright Doe. Your taking such good care of her, I’m sure she’ll get better!” And with that AddLin hugged me tightly. She was so much taller than me.
    “It’s okay AddLin, I’m fine.” I sighed and pulled away. “See you,” I said, halfheartedly.
    “ ’Kay, but take it easy.” She told me, just like JasLinAh, her older sister, had. She gave a small wave and crawled back out the window.
    I emptied out my bag and dug through the contents. I hadn’t been able to find much because the rain had come so soon and I’d been to those ruins too many times. Sorting through I sighed not find what I’d really been looking for all this time. “Maybe next time,” I muttered, looking at the picture in my book. The picture of an orb, which was what’d been searching for.