Part 0. (Prologue)
Chapter 1, Tuning Instruments
The sun rose over the suburban houses in its customary fashion. A pleasing beam of light shone through Jade Harley's window, tinting her bedroom walls in a salmon color. Her eyes unsealed slowly, absorbing the morning sun. Groaning, she pulled up her duvet, attempting to fall asleep again. After a couple of hours sleep she was interrupted again, this time by a voice calling her. Shuffling around the bedside table for her glasses, with one hand; she dried a filament of drool off her chin with the other. It was Sunday, the shrill motherly voice had announced. Jade knew very well what her mother was implying; they should prepare for mass.
Jade was born in Tranquility Lane in 2071. Her parents had moved to the suburbs from Washington D.C. when Jade's mother became pregnant, and had never left since. Jade's room was modest, filled with cherished toys from her fleeting childhood. She had kept her toys in her room because she was believed it would preserve the Zen state of mind she had as a child. At the same time, this effectively cloaked her tomboy interests, such as firearms and nuclear physics. She couldn't go around acting like a boy, what would people think? After having put her clothes on, she gazed at the floor, walking towards her mirror; she fondly regarded her felt octopi tangling together. Looking up at the mirror, she smiled, correcting her hair a bit.
Jade had long, unruly charcoal hair, and prominent buck teeth; she wore her Sunday clothes which consisted of an elegant emerald spring dress and scarlet patent shoes. She spun around, causing the dress to meander through the air.
Walking to the door, her red shoes clacked awkwardly on the wooden floor. Jade looked into her room from the entrance, yearning for the BB gun she had hidden in the wardrobe. The voice called again, persistently; she closed the door abruptly and hurried down to the kitchen, clacking away. Entering the kitchen she was engulfed by the sound of a radio emitting an upbeat jazzy tune, and a mouthwatering scent of eggs and bacon. Jade's mother was making breakfast while she hummed along to the tune coming from the spheric robot that floated around in the living room. Mister Harley stood by the kitchen table, fastening a pair of suspenders to his pants, then proceeded to sit down. Jade sat in front of her father, looking back and forth between her appetizing plate, and her father.
He had been handed the newspaper by the trusted family dog, Becquerel. Mister Harley sat with his iconic pipe impaled between his thin lips while Becquerel rested its ashen head on his lap.
Jade's parents, she thought, were born to be parents; they did all the things parents should do, and more with joy. Even their personality perfectly reflected what one would expect from a parent. Her father went to work from nine to six, and came home at night tired but satisfied. Jade had never understood what his work was, but she knew he worked in an office out of town. He seemed to like fatherly stuff like listening to sport events on the radio and napping in his recliner. When it was summer he'd sit and read in the backyard, wearing a silly hat mother had forced him to wear, to protect him from the sun.
Jade's mother was a housewife and enjoyed baking and socializing with the select few people living in Tranquility Lane, she left all the cleaning et cetera to the household robot Mister Handy. Missus Harley also had a knack for art and spent a lot of her spare time painting still life. She had succeeded in filling their walls with paintings of mountainside cabins, sunlit forests, and peaceful meadows.
The church was located a bit outside the neighborhood and could only be reached with a car. Come to think of it, she had only ever left Tranquility Lane to go to church on Sundays, since she was homeschooled. After a specific amount of time the car stopped in front of the familiar church. Inside the church was the usual congregation. Except for a fashionably clothed gentleman who was about Jade's age, he wore a pair of shades which increased the mystery about him. A skeletal pastor standing on his holy pedestal began preaching, with a majestic sort of tone. Jades eyes were still fixated on the young man who looked a tad bored, sitting a few rows in front of her. She could only see him when the people in front of her reclined in a certain fashion that only happened every now and then. After the mass had ended Jade hadn't absorbed a single thing that the pastor had said, instead she sat and speculated about the boy; she even managed to squeeze in a short nap. She had never seen anybody new; there had always been the same handful of people in her lives, the mysterious boy's presence was enticing in itself. After the mass had ended, the congregation had gathered in front of the white, wooden church. The young man stood in the utmost periphery of the group, when Jade reached him.
She introduced herself; in return he told her his name was Dave Strider and that he had just moved into town. She figured he had moved into the abandoned house right across her own. That house had been empty for as long as she could remember, she had never evem noticed a "for sale" sign. This whole thing struck her as odd.
"Where are you from anyway?" Jade inquired.
He furrowed his brows in response, making them disappear behind his shades "I'm from the city; I moved here to get some fresh air." He paused for a bit, releasing the tension in his face "Mind if I hitch a ride with y'all?" He asked, fidgeting slightly with his tie. He was wearing a conspicuous red tweed jacket and matching pants. Jade had deemed his attire looked like that of an alluring stranger; she had, of course refrained from saying this aloud. Hesitating slightly, lost in her own thoughts for a second, she answered "I'll ask daddy if you can come with. You know how it is with dads." She smirked slightly as she rotated, family bound. Mister Harley accepted the request; jokingly he added that he didn't want to see any kissing in his car. The trip was unsurprisingly awkward for all parties.
Arrived at Tranquility, Dave strolled to the playground in the middle of the circular neighborhood, while Jade's parents went into their own house. Jade followed him and they both sat down at the swings. This whole thing seemed weirdly organic to Jade, she had never seen the boy before in her life but somehow there was a mutual understanding between them.
Breaking the silence, Dave spoke. "Don't you get bored, being here all day?" He stared straight forward, swaying back and forth. "What?" she replied, confused at his strangely bold statement. "Don't get me wrong. It's nice and calm." He turned his head slightly towards her, with a bland expression. Evading his gaze, she looked down at the grass under her feet. "And it's dangerous outside." She added. The immaculately dressed youngster straightened his legs, increasing his momentum. "You have no idea." He spoke in a distant tone. "I could show you." He added. She laughed in response "You sound like a darn radio drama!" He didn't react to the comment, but kept swinging.
That night Jade hardly got any sleep. She lay and pondered upon what Dave had told her. Maybe she did need an adventure, after 17 years of suburbia.
