Iggy

We reached a dense forest that was used as a fourth wall in our defenses, (the river was the other three) and grinded to a halt. The clubhouse we built eight years ago was located just inside the trees, close enough to the village that we couldn’t get lost, yet far enough away that no one could find us. It was awesome planning for two eight-year-olds. We made our way through the bushes in front, cutting my leg several times as well as tripping, (for boots with large heels were not the best hiking shoes), and disappeared from the villager’s view behind the trees. The makeshift clubhouse had many renovations throughout its history, thus it looked like two idiots pieced it together with random bits of wood. I smiled. It wasn’t much but it was ours and we put years of effort into making it perfect. Vex released my wrist and motioned for me to follow. We entered the door and I lounged on the old couch that was in the corner while he fiddled with one of the makeshift cabinets on the wall. He opened it a little too hard and pulled off the door. I took this golden opportunity to point and laugh at his failure. “Nice goin’ dummy,” I said. “You know who’s going to fix that right?” I looked him in the eyes and smiled. “Kel?” He suggested. (I'm really tired, so I'll post the rest of chapter 1 later on)

I tore myself from his gaze and stared at my feet. A bit of dried mud covered the buckle, but it blended with the black of the boot. “Love is much too complicated,” I stated, remembering what my mother had said six years ago before she left the kingdom with my unborn baby sister. I wondered if she was alright, and if I would ever see my sister. I heard a snap in my face and I jumped, bringing me back to reality. “Hey, Uthonna, you zoned out on me,” Vex said, a hint of worry in his eyes. He was such a good friend, besides the fact that he was infatuated with me. I shook my head, trying to clear my thoughts. “Sorry.” “That’s okay. Hey! Want to see something awesome?” His face lit up, like a young child when he receives presents on his birthday. I laughed. “My definition of awesome? Or your definition of awesome?” He laughed with me. “I think this would be awesome enough to classify as your definition,” he said in a confident tone, puffing out his chest to look more impressive. It’s not like he needed to anyway. I raised an eyebrow and looked at him. My definition of awesome would’ve been witnessing a little mouse take town a horse just by tackling it, which was impossible by the way. Could it really have topped that? This spiked major curiosity in me. I stood up and placed my hands on my hips and raised an eyebrow in disbelief. “Well? What are we waiting for? Show me this awesome thing!” I ordered a bit too excitedly. He chuckled and stood up. “To the clubhouse! Away!” He grabbed my wrist and pulled my back through the village, where curious strangers stared as we ran by. All the villagers must’ve thought we were “together” because that’s what the palace servants all gossiped about.