The Innocent of the War – Chapter 3 – Endurance
My town never attracted much attention. Carterwoods was never on any map, and the only way to get to it was to travel thirty miles down a rickety road full of holes. But for the people who lived and worked there, it was beautiful. In the north lay a dense wood, where bright sunlight fragmented through the slits in the canopy of the lush trees. The plant life was famous for being both edible and very easy to grow, it even grew in a nook of the kitchen near the back door. I called it Summerblossom. I always picked some in June and decorated the elegance of the memorial fountain that laid the foundations of the town's first settlers. I remember seeing tiny fish racing around in that warm clear water one evening last year. I would imagine that from above the town looks very much like a circle, because most of our housing estates had curved roads that all joined up somewhere or other. But my most treasured place to go was to the Mountain of the Whispers: scorched by the sun and eroded by the rain, it left a perfect smooth surface that was perfect to sit down and admire the breathtaking views of the Valley. I think it was called the Valley of the Sighs… vast expanses of red sand and rock glazed over the top by an almost clear pale blue sky. I went there every year as a child. Even though we were a good twenty miles from the coast, the sea was still visible, reflected by the light. And that was the same sight I got after running for three days. I was thinner than I thought possible. My lungs felt like they were disintegrating with each breath. My throat was coarse and my stomach was churning with acid. It was only when I careered down the sandy shore of Crimson Heart Beach, that I stopped and admired the place I had never been to before. I angled my head up and closed my eyes. I fell forwards.