Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Just Another Day ❯ Volume Three, Chapter Eighteen: I Won't Back Down ( Chapter 18 )

I Won't Back Down

-New Year's Eve, 2000-

-Soon-

So much sand everywhere. We didn't have a childhood. How could we? We had no home. We had nothing. Just our tribe. We didn't have many kids in our tribe. None my age at least.

Let me back up a bit.

My mother died before the Exile. She was lucky to miss the world going to shit. It was just Dad and me. I remember when everything became lost. Lost? Is that the right word? Yeah, let's go with that.

It was just dad and I. We hadn't planned for much that New Year's Eve. Just staying in and eating. The old man did order a pizza. No, I don't remember what the topping was. The TV was on in the living room. I lived in a small town at the time. It was near the coast too. A fishing town? Maybe…?

I digress.

We were eating pizza and watching TV. The countdown started as I finished my second slice.

Ten! Nine! Eight! Seven!

I grabbed another slice.

Six! Five! Four! Three! Two!

One!

Suddenly, the power went out. My father and I looked around.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I don't know…” his dad said. He stood up and went outside.

“What the…?!” my old man shouted. I looked up and ran outside. My jaw dropped. Where did all of the sand come here? The streets were buried. There was no one in sight either. I turned to my dad.

“What is all of this?” I asked. My father shook his head. He didn't have a clue either.

---------

We couldn't stay anymore. Father and I packed up what we needed. The other neighbors already left. I was fourteen at the time.

For about two years, we had no home. I thought the sand took it over. Where were we supposed to go? The sand was everywhere. We didn't know where it came from. Every day, we wished it would go away. But I gave up hope after… two weeks, maybe? Time didn't exist back then.

My father didn't let it get him down.

“Well, I don't have to go to work anymore,” he said. “Let's think of this like a vacation.” I gave him a strange look. He was always a weird man. Still is, by the way. Through all of that, the crazy old man kept me sane. He many have been annoying, but I would've broken down without him.

Six months later, we joined a tribe. Sure, we became a community, but I still felt lonely. Too young for the adults, too old for the children. I had to watch over the kids during the day. Sure, it took my mind off of my situation. But I was so lonely.

That was until I met Mai-Pai.

Lonely Sand Boy