An extract from Angeline Fowl's diary, 10th September 2001.
When we first adopted Alex I was unsure about the age gap between her and Arty. I needn't have worried. They took to each other straight away. We hardly saw Alex; she was so busy with Arty on his computer. I know they were scheming something, and I wouldn't put it past Arty to be the reason why some large global businesses has gone bankrupt – but I never mentioned it to my dear husband. It would worry him too much. He has made a full recovery and is walking well on his metal leg.
Speaking of him making a full recovery, he is taking me to New York tomorrow to celebrate his health. We have asked Butler to come with us. I'm sure he'll enjoy it. I shall enjoy it too.
*
Cornwall; England. Half a day away from The City.
It was Alex who found the box. She was jogging along the beach on a mission from the silver soldiers looking for sea cabbages washed up in last night's storm, because the fishing had been bad again. She, and the other young girls, were half a day from home. Flicking blond hair from her eyes, she tilted her head to see it better.
"Katy?"
Her friend looked up from chasing a thick coated, black Alaskan hare across the muddy sand, and came over to where she was standing.
"What is it?"
"That."
She nodded at the box, having no hands to spare because they were clutching at the few sea cabbages they could find.
It was different; it didn't belong there.
All around was a rocky outcrop, bashed into a vertical cliff by the never ending stormy seas, and the low hills behind them, followed by The City. A great mass of rundown concrete buildings, surrounded by a high concrete wall. They said it was too keep the bad things out. In reality, it was to keep them in. After the sixty minute war, many had been wiped out by the nuclear weapons. They claimed they would stop that. They would make the world a better place by making the outcasts live without food or water – away from The City. The people that managed to stay out were freer than the others. It was a prison. Not many ever saw a blade of grass in their lives. And amongst all this; between wilderness and City, there was the box. It was made of a rich, red wood, burnt to blackness in some areas, but it still radiated a strange kind of light so you had to look at it out of the corner of your eye.
It was different; it was from somewhere else.
Katy bent down and touched it, as if it were a terrified injured animal. She stroked the burnt patches as if they were deep wounds. "It's dry. It's…warm. Shall I open it?" Her eyes sparkled with excitement.
Alex shook her head. "No. Let's take it back. I'll give it to my brother, Artemis. He'll know what it is. It's probably from The Dark Period."
The Dark Period was what the silver soldiers called the time before The City. They battered it into minds of children at school, and forced adults to believe. Not many could remember The Dark Period anymore.
Alex put her sea cabbages into the net Katy held out, and picked up the box tenderly. "It's getting late." She reasoned. "We'd better go back." Katy nodded in response and they set off back to The City.
Neither of them noticed the man lying amongst the rocks, just twenty paces from where they found the box. His skin and hair were the palest of whites, even whiter than snow. It shone with a strange light, so white it reflected the sun, but his palms of his hands were jet black.
*
Disclaimer: For all you know, I could be Eoin Colfer. But I'm not, so I don't own this.
Yeah, I know. Short, crappy. Can you just review anyway? I want to see what you think. This has no relevance to Excavate by FairyDragonShadow. I totally made it up, and have had it written down for ages, and then I read that.
Ah well.
Umm…I'd appreciate it if there weren't any flames. I know I'll probably get some and I can handle them, I'd just prefer constructive criticism. Thanks.
