《Distant Dreams》 1. Postnova The shade of a tree casts a shadow, a woman can be seen sitting beneath and watching a child roam freely across the fields. He runs through the seemingly endless pallets of green enjoying every moment. The child calls out to his mother, waving his arm, "This feels like a really long maze! Will it really end?", his joyful voice commented. He slowed down momentarily staring at a screen held within his palm. "Kel? Kel can you hear me?" a voice asked him, it seemed familiar until his mind clicked. "Is it you Eth? Is it you? It''s been suuuupper long since we last met, right? Where are you?" "That''s a difficult question to answer right now" He chuckled. "How''s your mother doing?" "We''re doing a - okay! She''s under some tree over there, although it''s difficult to see because of the sunlight, maybe I need some sunglasses. Could you bring me some when you come to visit? Pleaseeee Eth." "Kelly, I-" Ethan struggled to form proper words "I will, better behave like a good boy and not bother your mother until then alright?". A smile slowly formed on Ethan''s face but went unnoticed by the Boy who was immersed within his own world. He seemed to be facing upwards, focusing on an object in the sky. "What''s the matter? You look like you lost something again." Ethan remarked. "It''s just that I see some kind of gray thingy in the sky." It moved really fast he thought. What could it have been? But he seemed to already know the answer, "I saw a plane! I always saw them on the TV but they look so...so gray!". Ethan''s calm demeanor began to shift as he stared at the screen, "KEL? WHAT DO YOU MEAN?", he attempted to ask several questions but his nervousness was far too evident. Luckily another person behind him was quick enough to take the device from his hands. A woman unknown to Kelly spoke with a playful yet concerned tone. "Hey, Kel! What did you mean by a plane? You know I always loved planes but never got to see them! Could you tell me what you saw?". The boy was curious about who the other person was, he continued first by asking for her name. The woman was quick to name herself Caia before returning to her question. Find this and other great novels on the author''s preferred platform. Support original creators! The boy described the spectacle in great detail and remarked how he even saw something fall out of it. What could it have been? Some super soldier that dropped to fight some evil guys? Some strange alien? "Why? Why is it turning to this?" Ethan continued to throw harsh questions barely retaining himself. "Get a grip of yourself, we need to do something. We must do something, it cannot end like this." Caia refuted but her words held no significance. She knew her attempt was futile. Caia questioned the boy further as Ethan tried to get a grip of himself, a blank expression on his face, unable to speak or do anything. He stared at the screen, shaking "Eth? Eth? Hey is Eth crying? Why? Is he oka-" The voice stopped. The boy spoke no further, he could not speak any further. He was gone in an instant, vaporized as the screen went blank on Ethan''s side. A bright flash of light appeared in front of the boy like the sun itself had descended on the earth, though it had less to offer in its beauty. The blast vaporized everything in its vast radius. The trees, the fields, the creatures, the house and the family, gone, vanished in an instant. The fallout had reached its climax giving closure to the entire sequence, entire cities gone in an instant. The man on his way to work, a woman dropping her son to school, a child begging on the street, a man drinking away his vitality, a woman grieving for her child. Everything was gone in an instant leaving behind not a single soul to witness the tragedy except the two who were the witnesses of the cataclysmic event. Was Ethan lucky to capture what could be the final moments of someone close to him? He didn''t know. How could he know? Caia''s eyes widened as the realization hit her. There was nothing they could have done except watch the sight unfold before their eyes. She gritted her teeth as she turned to Ethan, his head downcast with panic evident. If only there was something they could do. If only they were stronger. But what could have they done? Wandering around the isolated landscape with unpredictable climatic conditions none of them spoke but only continued forward knowing there was nothing that could be done, for now at least. He felt despair like he never had, yet he felt a strange emotion that was minute but destructive. Somewhere in his heart he felt a sense of relief, relief of burdens that he carried by himself no longer weighing on him and he felt extremely terrible that he felt in such a way. "I''m..sorry for your loss" Caia said in a low voice No reply Ethan wiped the tears off his face as he slowly lifted his head,"I''m fine, just focus on the map. I''ll be back in 10 mins". He went inside the small shack present behind them. He needed some peace, even if it was only momentarily. 2. Intrinsic Rendezvous The sun shined upon the landscape as both Ethan and Caia continued without halting. It had been a few months since they last met and since they witnessed what was a climatic final blast dropped as an attempt to not be wiped without retaliation. Truly a souvenir of war itself. Ethan opened the map attempting to pinpoint their exact location. "You''re holding it the wrong way." Caia harshly remarked "Did you really need to point that out?" "Yes, I do not like the idea of walking another 3 miles only for it to be in the wrong direction again" "C''mon, Why are you still clinging onto that it was just a newbie mistake. I''m not some kind of expert yet. If you feel so confident why don''t you do it?" "You know what? Gladly" she commented as she snatched the map from his hands. They traveled for another 20 minutes before they reached some building, just as their legs were about to give out. The house made of concrete was situated in a peculiar area, almost in the middle of nowhere. They scouted the surroundings to find empty barren fields and decided to enter the building. "It doesn''t make sense," Caia thought aloud. Ethan asked what she meant in a sardonic tone. "Finally reached the brink of your sanity?" "I''m talking about the location of this building dumb-ass. It can''t be sustained without the presence of a town nearby." Caia further questioned why the building looked like it had been recently abandoned with the minimal amounts of accumulated debris and dust. The presence of minute belongings implied that the owners were driven out rather than abandoning them. Ethan''s eyes lit up with intrigue at this revelation, "What are we waiting for then? It''s been over a goddamn week since I last saw someone else" He hurriedly said as he rushed to the roof of the house. "Ironic coming from you, maybe this wouldn''t have happened IF SOMEONE hadn''t barraged into the town at their top speed." "How can you blame me? I was relieved that we finally found a place to settle down. C''mon, it''s not my fault that they were so unwelcoming." "UNWELCOMING? YOU BARGED INTO THE TOWN HALL, SAW A RANDOM FUCKING CHURCH BELL AND STRUCK IT WITH YOUR BARE ARMS." Ethan had indeed run into a random town he discovered and whilst immersed in his enthusiasm, saw a church bell and struck it with his bare arms. He had not noticed the Board next to it that stated the bell''s intention. One ring: Time for supper. Two rings: Town meeting. If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Three rings: The town is being invaded. Ethan had rung the bell 8 times without hesitation. This resulted in his immediate expulsion. Subsequently, Caia who had been watching the whole event was suspected of being his accomplice and thus was also kicked out. "Well, I would call that a little harsh as I only expressed my happiness upon finding such a place. What else could I have done." Caia gawked at Ethan''s reply, shortly afterward her eyes followed the unexplored walls of the building. Her gaze stopped at a large painting on the adjacent wall and noticing this Ethan decided to stand in front of her. "This looks like a cool painting," He said. Caia''s eyes brimmed with annoyance as she sighed and said "Your very presence depletes the artwork of its beauty". Not taking such statements lightly, Ethan gradually approached the artwork and whilst shaking it said "Really now? Something like this is worth mor-" Ethan stopped mid-sentence as he felt the painting fall to the ground only to reveal a small passageway barely enough for a human. Caia''s tone grew uncertain as she attempted to find an answer to this. What could something like this be doing here and more importantly for what purpose? Her mind was gauged at the sight. Her curiosity peaked and her mind was flooded with different thoughts until she unexpectedly shot the idea down, afraid that it would only cause problems again. She didn''t believe it was worth it and quite frankly was afraid to continue. "We don''t have enough resources to do this Ethan, instead of exploring some abandoned building that could be a death trap it would be better to try finding something more worthwhile." "You are thinking too deeply into this", Ethan looked at Caia with annoyance but ultimately gave in and they made their way to the roof in silence. Ethan''s mind wandered to the passageway, even after accepting Caia''s advice he was eager to know its contents and kept it at the back of his mind. Could it have been treasures or something completely irrelevant? Feeling unsure, he decided to follow Caia''s decision. They headed to the roof where their eyes scourged the vast distances in an attempt to discover anything of value. Caia unloaded her bag, searching it for anything that could quench her hunger but only discovered a small can of fruit. As Caia attempted to pry open the can, Ethan''s eyes continued searching, searching for anything in the vast distance until he noticed a shadow walking in the opposite direction to them. Without hesitation, he called out for it. As he shouted, the figure grew faster, and Ethan grew apprehensive. Unwilling to let go of such an opportunity, he headed in the same direction. "Ethan! Where are you going?" Caia shouted as he ran without any explanation, she packed up reluctantly as she tried to stop him questioning why he rushed without knowing anything. "Let go of me, we need to hurry this may be the last opportunity to do something other than roaming around like nomads in this wasteland." Ethan proclaimed in a frustrated voice as he ran. Ethan ran frantically to catch up with the figure which had already vanished from his field of view. His mind was raised with multiple thoughts, where was he going? Why was he doing this? Will this finally achieve something commendable? Devoid of concrete rationale he pressed forward without stopping until he finally came to a stop. His eyes widened with glamor as he stared forward, he had not felt such excitement for ages. Caia soon catched up to him upbraiding him coldly for his instinctive reaction as her eyes too drew towards the large town that lay ahead, after traveling for multiple days they had finally reached here. "Well let''s sta-" "You are not running into the damn town. Not again" 3. Fragile Conviction The duo moved warily toward the small town. As they entered, they were greeted by an atmosphere greatly contrasting to their imagination. It wasn''t lively, but regardless, many people walked through the streets, several old shops, and vendors trying to make ends meet. Ethan noticed the larger store that sold meat. The price was exorbitantly high, and he had only dreamt of indulging in fresh meat, just like he once callously consumed. "Finally." Said Ethan as began to count using his fingers, "Alright, we need..uhh. Someplace to stay, food, water.Oh come on! Where are we supposed to get all of this after we just entered into the damn town." Ethan thought for a second before suggesting, "Maybe we should ask around, someone should offer us something." "No shit Sherlock, there is nothing we can do right now without anyone''s help and I''m sure you wouldn''t enjoy doing manual labor the second we get in the town for some money, do you?", came the harsh reply from Caia. Ethan grimaced as he moved forward. They were running short on supplies and needed resources in any way, they did not have any money that they could use and without finding some work it would be well before they could buy anything. He frowned at their lack of food to satiate his hunger, and he kept on moving. The center of town was certainly functioning, it had a few shops and vendors with a small group of people thrown in for good measure. On the surface, it seemed like a normal town until he started to notice the minor details, barely standing and rusty stands, makeshift sets up that provided services for running errands asking for extremely low sums of money in exchange, the old and ragged clothes the people wore along with their faces that were stuck in a state of gloom and hope. They knew their situation was not favorable, but it could be worse, that was the only thing keeping the townsfolk moving forward. Maybe it was out of spite, desperation, hope, or love for the people they cared about, many people kept on living their lives hoping it would get better even if just a little the next day. The life of hope that drove them forward or was it just a way of convincing themselves that their suffering will amount to something greater, something greater than just an endless trial that confines them to their lives of uncertain faith and optimism. Whatever it maybe be, it was their reason to live on. Stolen story; please report. Ethan''s gaze was lingering on the people outside their homes working in any way they can to survive. He looked at the vendors who despite being not adequate with their supplies tried to make a profit in any way they could, he passed by a man clutching a handful of coins, turning them over in his palm as if debating whether they were worth spending at all. While continuing onwards, Ethan notices Caia''s slower pace as if she was not very comfortable by her surroundings. "What the hell happened to you? Frozen in fear now? I don''t recall cowardice ever being useful." Caia''s eyes narrowed as she replied in a low voice and apologetic tone, "I''m sorry" Ethan''s face expressed slight surprise as he raised his eyebrows, he decided not to press further. Both of them moved through the town still searching for anything that could be of use to them. Ethan suggested to split up so that they could discover anything useful, and they agreed to meet up at a checkpoint near a relay station in a prominent area of the town. Initially unaware of the name of town, they also discovered that it was called, "Kriheira". "Do you think splitting up is a good option?" Caia voiced her concern and hesitance. "Do ya think we can achieve anything otherwise??" Caia agreed albeit reluctantly. Ethan departed with Caia as he pressed on towards the centre of the town. Bothered by the lack of anything edible he was searching for anything that could be of use to him. He saw a number of people looking pale yet still working, hearing the townsfolk talking about their vexation regarding the gradual hike in prices and how fever was affecting a large part of them. "This Place really lacks clean water huh?" Ethan thought to himself. As he was about to continue, he felt a ball land on his feet. He saw a small flock of children rush to him. He flinched at the sight but returned their possession to them whilst hiding his subtle feeling of uneasiness upon seeing them. They resembled someone he had known and it always served as a reminder of his failures. Ethan continued as he finally stumbled upon a spacious clearing, a small market with some shops at its corners. Approaching one of them he commented internally about its lack of customers, almost as if people were avoiding it. Ethan couldn''t do anything even if he went to the shop as he was broke beyond compare. He looked around the shop noticing the inconsistency of the landscape that was afflicted with some small depressions. Some were filled with water that had appeared murky, almost as if it had been sitting for multiple weeks on end. "I suppose that could work".