Chapter 1: Father…...
'Family means no one gets left behind or forgotten.'
I awoke at 5:00a.m, made breakfast, like I always did, and then I took a shower, then I waited for the rest of my family, to awake. As I waited, I turned on the TV, I flipped through the channels, and found myself on one of my favorite shows, My Little Pony. I know that’s weird for a 23 year old man to watch, but I took an interest in it, after my little sister, Jean showed me it (being only 7). She told me that these ponies live in complete harmony, I liked the idea of the place. I occasionally watched it with Jean, enjoying every moment with her. She reminded me of, AppleJack, my sister never really lied, and did her best to tell the truth.
After my family had awoken, I greeted my mother, as she ate breakfast. Later that day, I found that she had little blackened bruises on her face. Jim then came marching down the stairs. I looked at him, and then, I gave him a murderous glare.
“What the Fuck is this." I yelled, clenching my fist.
“She fell.” He said, simple.
I looked at my mother once more, to see that she was looking, at the ground playing with her thumbs. I looked at Jim one last time, and began to grumble something.. “Now you have fucked up Jim, now you have fucked up. “ He looked at me, with a smile on his face. I hated him, so I brought slamming against his face. He wasn't expecting me to strike him, so my punch landed right in his jaw, making one of his teeth fly out.
After he regained himself, and got up, I saw that he had a foldable knife in his hand, I looked at him, then he smiled. My mother was trying to keep him at bay, he just pushing her, he was getting upset, and that's when he slapped her. I suddenly felt anger, and hate fill my body. I was so mad, that I had a small breakdown, rage overwhelming me.
He wasn’t expecting me to charge him, as he didn’t put up any kind of resistant's. When I tackled him to the ground, and got myself on top of him, I couldn’t stop myself from striking him, I hit him until I knew he was bloody, and wouldn't get back up, I bend down to his ear.
“If you ever lay a hand on my mother again, I will kill you.” I whispered into his ear. “Do you understand!” I Said, kicking him, all he did was nod his head, and grumble something inaudible.
I turned around to see my mother, and sister just staring at me. My sister was the first to speak, “I didn’t know you had it in you, Hunter” Jean said, turning back around in the couch.
After she was done talking, I heard my little brother Zac coming down the stairs. When he arrived in the kitchen, I saw that he had a smile on his face. “You finally kicked his ass.” Zac said, kicking Jim, and patting me on the back. He then proceeded to kick Jim which made him grumble a little bit, I smiled at Zac.
Then suddenly my mother gave me a hug, she looked at me then gave me a kiss on the cheek. She then proceeded to slap me, then gave me a hug. I was very confused at that moment
My mother looked at me, and a smile crept on her face. She then proceeded to bury her face into my chest crying. I could feel her tears drenching my shirt, but I didn't care.
“You’re looking, and acting more like your father every day.” She cried. My father was a Sergeant in the marines, he took his job seriously, but he always made time for us.
My father was one of those men, that cared about his family, his country, and his neighbors, he would help anyone that asked. Then one day he told us, that he had to go back and fight the baddies. I was only a kid back then, he gave Zac and me a hugs, and kissed our mother goodbye. Several months passed before we heard from him, the last time we talked was when he video chatted us, and told us he missed us, and then proceeded to tell my mother something. I was so happy to see him, that I didn’t listen to what he told mom. After he was done talking, I saw that mom was crying, and that she was hugging us.
I looked at my father and saw that tears were streaming down his face too, that was the first time I saw my father cry, but I had no idea why thou. My father told us one last goodbye then the screen went black. Another month later we got a call, I answer and asked who was calling. The man on the phone then began to speak.
“Hello, Mrs. Wellington?” The man asked. I didn’t answer at first, but then got the nerve to speak, I didn't know who was calling, but I had a bad feeling about it.
“No, this is Hunter.” I said simple, moving the phone to my other ear.
The man on the phone, sounded far away, all I could hear was “Who is Hunter?” Then I heard another man reply, “That’s Sergeant Wellington’s oldest son.” The man on the phone’s voice cracked, and he then said.
“Son, may you please put your mother on the phone.” He said, coughing a little.
I was confused, at why he wanted mommy, but I did as I was told. I went outside to where mommy was, and called her name. She arrived minutes later, and I saw that her eyes were puffy. She headed inside, and grabbed the phone. She talked for a little bit, then she suddenly collapsed to the floor. I ran to her, when I reached her, she just hugged me for what seemed like hours. I could hear the man on the phone still talking, but only in muffles.
My mother held me tight, not letting me go. When she finally regained herself, she looked into my eyes. I could see the sadness in those eyes.
"Hunter." My mother said, hugging me tighter. "Your....your father he's..." She began, but then falling into another crying spell, she sniffed, then looked at me. "Hunter, your......your father isn't coming home."
I looked at her, I was confused. "Why is he not coming home?" I asked.
My mother then leaned down and kissed my forehead. I was still confused "Why won't he come home!" I said, jumping up from her grip. My mother was still crying, she looked at me, then at the floor.
"Hunter." She sniffed. "He won't be coming home because.....He...he's.....he's dead. "She yelped, then began to cry again.
I looked at her, I didn't fully understand death, but I had a feeling it was bad. After thinking about it for a minute, I ran to my mother and fell into her chest, my tears streaming down my face freely now.
After spending the whole rest of the night crying, my mother had grabbed me and carried me off to her bed. Then she placed my down on her bed, I felt warm, like someone other than my mom was holding me. After about another twenty-minutes of crying we both fell into a deep slumber.
I looked at my mother, and wondered how our family would be if my father was still alive. I would bring the subject up with my mother sometimes, but she would just wave me away, and she would start crying sometimes. I thought about it sometimes, and realized that Jean would not be alive, if my father had not died. Jean was someone I loved dearly, and couldn’t think of how life would be without her.
“Hunter…...Hunter…..hunter.” I heard a male voice say faintly. I looked around the room to see where the voice was coming from, I saw no one that matched the voice, nor anyone calling my name.
My mother looked at me, like I was going crazy. ‘Maybe I was’
“Hunter, are you alright?” My mother asked, bring me to the couch. After my mother brought me to the couch, she made me sit down. I didn’t know why, but I had tears streaming down my face. I looked at my sister, who was too busy watching her show. I looked at the TV and noticed that, My Little Pony was on. I looked at my sister, and she looked back at me.
“What I enjoy the show.” She said, giggling a bit.
I laughed a bit, and so did my family. I was tired, so I laid down on the couch, I laid there for a bit, and minutes later I fell into a deep slumber. I awoke hours later to a crashing noise, I got up from my lying position. As I got up, I could see that my sister was in the kitchen, getting something to eat. She looked at me, and a smile crept on her face, as she grabbed an apple from the fridge.
She giggled, as I began to fall back into the couch. She came over, and plopped herself next to me on the couch. She grabbed the remote, and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels, sighing as she did. Jean looked at me, a pleading expression on her face. I looked at her, then back at the TV.
"Jean, I know what you should watch." I told her, placing my hand on her shoulder.
"What?" Jean asked.
"Jean, turn to that one colorful pony show." I suggested.
A smile crept onto her face, she then began to flip through the channels even faster now. I couldn't hold back a giggle, just the determination I could see, on her face made me feel happy. The way she flipped through seemed to be unnatural thou, I then looked into my sister's eyes, to see that they were pure white, and that they were not their normal beautiful green. She had no emotion's on her face at all, the longer she had the remote, the whiter her eye's got.
My sister was half way to the channel by now, and that's when I noticed a weird glow started to envelope her. I grabbed my sister's shoulder, but was forced to let go, because the weird glow started to envelope me too. I was freaking out by that point I screamed a little bit, that's when my mother came running down the stairs, with my brother, and Jim.
They saw my sister floating five feet in the air, my mother, and my brother, both grabbed her and tried to pull her down. The glow puts them both inside it's green, almost tantalizing glow. As soon as Jean, got to the channel she wanted, she fell with a thud. Then there was nothing, no glow, no light, nothing. I looked around, and saw nothing, not the couch the TV, or the beautiful carpet.
Two Hours Later
For what felt like an entirety, I laid there, with no sounds nor any of my family to talk to. I was alone, I hated it, I needed my family. I felt like I was going insane, the loneliness was something, I was not used to. Soon the darkness started to look like trees, yes trees, these trees were not like anything I was used to. These trees had a faint cartoon looking effect to them, I was really confused. Then I remembered the last place I was in, the memory's started to filter in. I looked around to see if I could see my family, but to no prevail. I started to panic, My family and I, were in a strange unknown forest.
I got up, and started to look around, fear was clear in my eyes. I started to run, having no idea where I was running. I could feel bruises starting to form on the soles of my feet, but I didn't care. I ran until, I heard growling behind me. I could hear, growling, and the pattering and the breaking of sticks behind me. I was even more scared by this point. I soon find myself outside the forest, I turned around, and saw green glowing eyes. Those green eyes, I don't think I will ever forget them. Soon after I left the forest I just started to walk. Then after about a twenty-minute walk, I came upon a strange looking town, the town looked familiar, but I could place my finger on it. I walked into the town, and looked in 'ah' at the many buildings scattered around. The many colors hurt my eyes, the buildings looked kind of medieval. I was looking around, and saw to my right that there was a cart just standing there, so I walked up to it. When I looked inside, I saw that the cart was filled with, Apples. At that exact moment, my stomach growled, I chuckled a bit, and proceeded to pick an apple up.
The Apple was the most amazing thing I had ever tasted, If I was to explain the experience, I would say it was as sweet as pouring a pound of sugar in my mouth, then proceeding to add some juice to that mix. I savored the taste, then a thought came to my head. 'Where is everyone? Who would just leave out these fresh apple's, someone must be nearby.'
I heard rustling of some bushes behind me, and that's when I started to panic again, my horror movie self becoming aware of the situation. I walked over to the bush, I was scared, but I didn't care. I needed to know what was making that noise. As I approached the bush, the rustling becomes even more frantic. As I opened the bush, I was surprised, to see three small colorful ponies wresting. I was even more confused, these ponies were very familiar, but that only made me even more confused.
The ponies looked up at me, and made the most death filled screech, I have ever heard. The ponies, then proceeded to huddle together, at this point I stop thinking, and moved even closer to them. The ponies on the far right, had a pure white mane, and a pink mane. the pony in the middle was orange, with a pink mane. The last pony, was a yellow horse, with a red mane.
"What the Fuck?" I asked, to no one in particular.
The ponies continued to scream, It was getting pretty annoying by now. Before I could do anything else or say anything, I found that I was lying on the ground, with a very sharp pain, coming from my side. In the distance I could hear an old ladies voice, saying.
"Get him AppleJack."
I was confused even more by now, I knew that name. I sat up, and saw what hit me, a orange pony with a blonde mane. The pony gave me a glare, that said 'Make a move, I dare you' , she turn around, for a half second, letting the younger ponies out of the bush. That's when I started to laugh, I remembered where I knew these ponies, I remembered this ponies name, AppleJack. My laughter made the mare unsettling, but I continued to laugh. The mare looked at me with the utmost confusion, when I tried to get up, that's when I felt a sharp pain in my leg. At this point, I was laughing hysterical, the mare didn't like it. She looked down at me, and then raised her hoof. I knew AppleJack was getting annoyed, but I didn't care. 'I am in a world of magical ponies' I thought to myself.
"AppleBloom, get your friends back home." AppleJack demanded to AppleBloom.
The yellow filly, looked at her sister, and knotted. She then took her two friends, and took them away. I could feel that something, had gripped the back of my shirt. After about an hour of me being dragged, I could see that she had brought me to a tree house, looing house. I then proceeded to laugh again, AppleJack just looked at me. When we got to the door, AppleJack just calmly started to knock on the door. 'I knew I could escape, something told me running would not be a good idea.'
Minutes later, a pony that I remember as Twilight Sparkle came trotting out. She then gasped, when she saw me, all I did was laugh even louder.
Twilight looked at AppleJack, then proceeded to ask a question, but was instantly interrupted by AppleJack. "Twi, he's been like this, ever since I caught him, trying to eat AppleBloom and her friends."
Twilight gasped at this, and then glared at me. At that, I began to laugh again, after my laughing spree, AppleJack just kicked me in the leg, which made a tear stream down my face. I was in pain, which made it hard to understand anything Twilight and Applejack were saying. Then soon, I found myself not able to keep my eyes open, minutes later I fell into a deep sleep, for the second time that day.