Fledgling Wings: Chapters 1 & 2

Chapter 1

The Visitor From Afar

Beyond planet Earth’s orbit, beyond the range of its satellites, a large spaceship appeared in space, slowly moving towards the planet. It was about fifty miles long, thirty miles wide and twenty miles in breadth. The colour of the ship was that of a dark crimson, too dark a type of crimson to be found on Earth. It was more of a type of crimson from another world. The ship resembled a bulky arrow, or more that a wide harpoon. The very front of the ship was pointed, hence its projectile-like shape.

The inside was dark and dirty. There was barely any light in the ship, although small aspects of light could be seen in several rooms. In the centre of the ship, there were multiple screens showing parts of space and the Earth. Watching the screens was a shadowy man with a deadly gauntlet on his left arm. His body could not be seen in the dark, with the exception of blue lights showing his face.

   He had an angry expression on his face, his eyes never leaving the screen. He wore tough looking armour that was completely dark blue. His hair was messy and quite long. The pupils of his eyes were dark red, disrupting the pattern of regular eyes.

   ‘I’m coming for you. You will finally see me after all these years.’ A wicked smile was etched onto his face.

   ‘Computer, how long will it take to reach Earth now?’

   The ship’s computer calculated the time at a fast paced, not making a single fault in its program. An electronic female voice spoke clearly through speaker-like machines throughout the ship.

   ‘Approximately sixteen hours at current speed, sir.’

   ‘Perfect. Just perfect.’

   The man let out a cruel snigger as he walked his way down to a room that was where his most powerful items lay in store.

    He filled the room with light as he switched on the power switch. Various strange items appeared in many opened metal crates. He carefully looked at several crates as he made his way into the room. After deciding, he put his hand in one crate and took out a small pistol with two settings; tranquilise and kill. The gun had two rounds, with one round bigger than the other. He then took out from another crate a pack of white grenades labelled ‘Light Grenades’ in a strap-on holder. Finally, he took out a series of syringes and placed several tubes of different coloured liquid. He then left the room, but not before turning off the light.

Chapter 2

The History of John Axe

The alarm clock rang like a school bell; it was loud, clear and annoying. John, in a hazy, sleepy mood, tried several times to get up and turn the damn annoying thing off, but it was seven o’clock in the morning, and he had a terrible hangover. Finally, he got up, and checked the time.

   ‘Huh. This is new: it’s seven in the morning, I’m sleepy, I’ve had a hell of a lot to drink last night, and I’ve got plenty of time to get ready.’

John got out of bed, rubbing his eyes as he did. He was wearing a white cotton vest and some red boxers. His feet touched the cold wooden floor, making him feel uncomfortable and giving the room a long, quiet sigh.

    John went to his wardrobe and picked out the clothes he wanted to wear for this rather special day. Today was the three year anniversary of John going out with Cassandra Rose. The clothes he had picked out were a pair of soft socks that made it feel like his feet were in heaven; black trousers that he would wear at parties or funerals; a white cotton T-shirt and a grey jacket that he had had for two months. Putting on his clothes, John knew that today, he would take Cassandra to a very special place; Hatten Forest. When John was two months old, he was found by a young couple, Matthew and Anne Axe, in the forest, crying out for someone to look after him. Matthew and Anne found him in some sort of crash site and looked after him from then on. John never found out who his real parents were, so he would take Cassandra to Hatten Forest because she, although having known John most of her life, never knew this.

    John first met Cassandra at a nursery when they were little. At first they liked each other, but as the years went by, the two became attracted to one another. They both went to the same schools, and in their late teens, they were in love with each other. Cassandra’s parents did not like the concept of Cassandra falling in love with John. Their views on John were that a man who has known their daughter for a long time shouldn’t love her. It didn’t matter to Cassandra or John; all they wanted to do was to be with each other for the rest of their lives. 

    John had now put on all of his clothes. He took a mobile phone out of his grey jacket and turned it on. He then checked the time once again. It was 7:02. John decided to get breakfast. Going downstairs to the kitchen, John thought about going back for some more sleep. However, he countered his own suggestion by reminding himself that he was to meet Cassandra at nine o’clock. He had planned it all out - a nice stroll in the forest, have a picnic, would tell her about his past, and finally take some pictures of the forest. Nothing, absolutely nothing, could go wrong, thought John. He took out a bowl and filled it with cornflakes. After filling it with milk, he just sat on a sofa and watched TV. Later on he started to become bored, and with only an hour and a half left, (it was half seven at this point) John decided how he could tell Cassandra about how he was found.

He first thought about showing her the ‘site’ - that is, if it was still recognizable - and then tell her about his early life. However, he thought about telling Cassandra the latter, then showing her the site. Either way, he knew that she may or may not buy it, but he wanted to tell her anyway, to let her know about his past, and to get it off his chest.

    John didn’t know what to do, so he decided to relax to clear his mind. He lay down on the sofa and closed his eyes. He got into a comfortable position with a smile on his face. In his mind, John tried to sort out a puzzle in his memories that he never completed.

   Every time he went to sleep, every time he daydreamed, he saw visions of a man in his thirties cradling John as an infant. The man had spiky black hair and a look on his face that made him look like a good man. He also had a cut on his right cheek, bandaged up. The man wore a white coat that covered black bandage like clothing. The man giggled at the child he held in his arms. Then there was an explosion, and ten men in silver-black armour burst in, wielding large guns. There was yelling and gunfire, with the spiky haired man fighting the armoured men off.

   John woke up. Sweat covered his face. He looked at his watch. It was 8:30am. John went into the kitchen and grabbed his car keys and picnic basket. He wiped the sweat off his face with a handkerchief in his jacket pocket. Getting into his car, John didn’t start the vehicle for a few seconds because he needed to recover. Eventually, he did, then he rushed off to Cassandra’s house.