리틀팍스

Chapter 1

The cold wind from the North had brought a serious damage and terrible news to the people living in the wild. These “people”, referring to the Indians living in that isolated land, received a short telegram saying that the train to Canada has crashed, and all the passengers aboard, which almost added up to a thousand, had not been able to survive the crash.

That very same night the telegram arrived, Lucas found his dad sobbing quietly in the Tragic Bella Hut. He wanted to go over and comfort him, whatever was making him sad, but he also did not dare to approach him when they were alone. Being the deputy chief of the tribe, Lucas didn’t want to embarrass his dad by catching him crying.

  All of an instant, the chief came in with his normal limping. He spotted Lucas’ dad crying in the corner, but he didn’t seem surprised by it, which, Lucas found it very odd. The chief was a grumpy, elder, and sometimes picky man, as well as being a little bit smart. Lucas refused to acknowledge that the chief was wise, especially since blaming Lucas for his mother’s sudden departure.

“It’s a hard time, eh?” said the chief. “We can’t go to Canada, a disease is making its way through our tribe, and some of the people are doubting about our leadership... which would lead to going bankrupt.”

Lucas’ dad didn’t object to the chief’s comment, but he’d stopped crying. Now he stood up and wiped his face with a patch. “Norma, no, I mean, Jennifer was a good woman.”

Lucas’ ears pricked at the mention of his mother. Her city-name was Jennifer, and her Tribe-Name was Norma. The chief had given the name to her when she'd arrived at camp. She’d taken a train to Canada, in order to meet her mother, whom she had left eleven years ago to marry Lucas’ dad, Burnett. She was supposed to arrive tonight, so he was confused why his dad was not at the train station for his mother’s return, instead of crying off-guard.

Then the chief started talking again. “I know,” he said, standing up as well. “I know how you feel. Norma was a good girl, even when you first brought her over to this camp and when she freaked out at the sight of us. But our tribe needs us right now. More than ever.”

Lucas heard the chief talking silently to his dad as they walked toward the door Lucas was making a hideout for himself. He looked around for somewhere to hide. The footsteps came nearer. Lucas knew that he would be punished if the two men found that he was listening to their private talk.

Chapter 2

Lucas looked around for an escape route. He’d be sent right to the Women’s Hut where little children aged three to eleven were kept, if he was caught. The only children there were ten years old himself, seven years old Tana, four years old Annemarie, and three years old Pierre, which was one reason he hated the Women’s Hut, and why he sneaked out from there this night The only other “children” in the tribe were eighteen years old Pete, who had three brothers and two sisters, whom were already given their Tribe Name. Pete longed to receive the Tribe Name because his siblings always looked down on him just because he still didn’t have a Tribe Name.

Lucas had barely run out of the spare room in the hut when the two men entered the room a moment later. They spoke in hushed tones, like when they hunted for live animals. Lucas felt cold sweat dripping from his forehead. His heart pounded. The clearing outside the hut was empty, making it impossible to sneak away. His ears caught the sound of footsteps coming nearer and nearer. When the footsteps reached the door, a hand popped out from the bushes near the door and pulled him under. Lucas struggled for only a moment. The two men was out. They looked around the clearing, and the chief scratched his head. “Maybe it was the squirrel,” he told Lucas’ dad. “Or maybe it was a rabbit.”

Lucas hold his breath as the two men passed the bush. He had made it! As soon as the men were out of sight, Lucas turned to see his rescuer. To his surprise, there was no one, only a small crooked branch. Lucas looked around in confusion. Where was the person who saved him – or was it even a person? he thought. He searched for some footprints. Nothing. He looked for broken branches. Still nothing. There was no sign that there was, or had been a person there. “Strange,” Lucas murmured. “Strange.”

Chapter 3

Lucas wandered around the Baum Forest, which was named after his faraway ancestor, Baum. He wandered around it for some hours before returning to the Women’s Hut. He hated living there. It was meant for babies, even the name of his, or their, hut sounded stupid; Under Twelve Hut.

After snooping around the Men’s Hut, Lucas slowly made his way to the Women’s Hut, where the Under Eleven Hut was located. On his way, he visited the Tragic Path, got it’s name because Baum died there. As his father always said, “A ridiculous name deserves a ridiculous death.” The Tragic Path led to Eathut, where he ate breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He had no intention of going there. Pete always told him during lunch that Baum’s ghost haunted the Eathut. One could see the ghost when he go to the Eathut at midnight. Lucas wasn’t scared of Baum’s ghost, but it gave him a chill looking at the Tragic Path. It was red, like it had been smeared with Baum’s blood.

 Lucas walked away. He wanted to stay far from the Tragic Path as possible. As he walked in the clearing between the Men’s Hut, located on the right, and the Women’s hut, located on the left, he came upon the Animal Hut. Behind the Animal Hut stood a massive pond, named Luca.T Pond, named after Baum’s dead first son, Luca, who fell into the pond and died. It was originally called Luca Tragic Pond, but after time, people shrank the name to Luca.T Pond. Lucas was named after Luca, so it gave him the creeps walking near the pond. He thought that any moment, Luca’s ghost would pop out of the pond and yell, “Ahh!”, just as Pete told him.

He shuddered and continued to walk until he reached the Women’s Hut. He tiptoed pass the sleeping women. Where are you, Mom, Lucas thought sadly. He missed her so much. Then he assured himself that he would see his mom tomorrow at dawn when she returned from the train trip. He tiptoed pass Pierre and snuck into bed. He looked around. Tana and Annemarie was asleep. Lucas too, fell into a deep slumber, thinking about his mom and the strange hand, and smelling Pierre’s smelly feet odor.

-P.S. It was now or never-