Hello, I'm an amateur writer, so please give me useful comments on this fic. Tell me if I should continue this story. You can either e-mail me (through my profile) or send it in the form of a review. Thanks! (with a big grin)

A New Life, In A New Town

" Go out there and stay out!" An angry voice shouted at a small child. The child, a boy, ran out of the house, where a fight was ensuing, and rapidly growing intense, too. "Fine! Maybe I'll find a better place to live than in this madhouse, anyway!" the boy shot back before sprinting away into the darkness. The slamming of the door that he exited through wasn't helping to calm his anger at all.

After running quite some distance from his miserable home, he crouched behind a house. He tried futilely to blink away tears from his eyes. Tears started to fall down his dirt-covered face. He dried them with the back of his hand, making his face even dirtier. Finally, his exhaustion took the better of him and he drifted off to sleep.

" Wake up, boy. What are you doing here, a young lad like you?" a pleasant voice said, while its owner shook him awake. " H-Huh? What?" the boy mumbled groggily. His eyes shot open as soon as he caught sight of the person before him. He backed away until he could feel a wall, blocking his escape route. " What do you want?" he asked warily. The man laughed. " Want? I wanted nothing from you, and I certainly won't want anything now." The boy relaxed slightly while maintaining his wary glance on the man.

At first glance, the man looked rather intimidating, which is most probably the reason for the younger boy's shock. At closer inspection, one will realize that this man is not scary in the least, despite his beard, which was growing white. He wore a farmer's outfit, complete with overalls. " What's your name, boy?"

" Matthew. Just call me Matt." The boy was beginning to lose his hostile look. "And you?" he asked, surprising himself and the older man. " Me?" the man asked. " If that's not asking too much," Matt hastily added. " Oh, don't you worry lad. There's nothing wrong with being curious. Just exercise it, OK? Don't let it get you into trouble." The man said, resuming his pleasant tone. " By the way, I'm Andrew."

" Hi." Matt said automatically. " Where am I?" he asked curiously, scanning the surroundings. " We're in a town at the moment. Should I escort you home?" Andrew said kindly. Matt's relaxing shoulders tightened again and his offer. His eyes looked bloodshot. " N-No, don't send me back! They'll kill me, they swore they would if I ever went back. Please, anywhere but there!" he shrieked frantically, getting up and preparing to run away again.

Andrew caught his arm. Matt tried to pry his arm away, but it was useless, for the older man had an iron grip surprisingly strong for his ripe age. Realizing that he efforts were useless, he stopped struggling and stood still. " Please don't send me back," he begged. Andrew took pity on him. " Alright lad. Come along with me now." " Where to?" the boy whimpered. " Just to the port. I'm leaving soon for my hometown and anyway you can't lie down here all day, you know." He reassured the agitated boy. Matt calmed down. "Okay, may I follow you home? Only -" he broke off, then continued, "- only I don't have a home to go back to." Andrew nodded sympathetically. " You can come with me, lad. I'll arrange something when we get back to my hometown."

At the dock….

" Here we are, lad. The port of Bejeweled City." Andrew said. " Whoa," Matt exclaimed, at a loss for words. Huge ships were at the port. Some were so huge that Matt would certainly look no bigger, and perhaps tinier, than an ant if a person happened to look down from the ship.

POOT!POOOT! Matt nearly jumped out of his skin. " Relax, Matt. That's only the ship signaling that she'll be off soon to cross the huge sea." Andrew tried to soothe the child. Matt looked visibly shaken but managed to give Andrew a small smile. "Where's our ship?" he enquired.

" Ah, the ship. There it is, over there." Andrew pointed somewhere at the end of the dock. Matt was disappointed; the ship was much smaller in comparison to all the other large ships. They completely dwarf her in their midst. " Shall we go?" Matt asked, determined to hide his disappointment.

" Yes, come on now, lad. We have to buy a ticket for you before you can board her." Andrew said. "What's a ticket?" Matt asked, his overactive mind crammed with questions he wanted to ask. " My, my, what an active child. Here -" the old man showed him something flat made out of plain cardboard. There were some words on it that were too complicated for the young mind to understand. "- this is a ticket. Using this, we can board the ship to go back to my home in Mineral Town." Andrew said, his mind far away in the distance most probably thinking about his beloved homeland, untouched by pollution and advanced technology.

Matt gazed up to Andrew's face. The old man's face was full of wrinkles, yet he seemed to grow years younger when he smiled or was recalling blissful memories, like he was doing now.

" Are you boarding this ship, sir?" a porter asked respectfully. Andrew was jolted out of his daydream with an unpleasant jolt. " Huh? Oh, yes, but I need a ticket for the boy, Here's mine." He handed over the piece of cardboard which the latter examined. After a moment, the porter nodded. " Get on board, then. Oh, and it's 1500G for the child's ticket." Andrew handed him a few notes and said," on board then!" Matt cheered happily and skipped up the plank.

On the ship….

" Do you like the view?" Andrew whispered into Matt's ear. They were standing on the deck, preferring to feel the rush of the wind on their faces than being cozy and warm inside the ship. Matt nodded happily. The seagulls that fly overhead amused him no end, especially when they dive down for a catch. There will be a squabble among the birds to eat the prey. They caw and shriek angrily when one of them appears the winner and swallows the catch down in one gulp. Then the whole process will repeat itself. Again, again and again, never ending until the brink of extinction. Matt hoped that it would never be so, and continue till the end of time.

" Passengers alighting at Mineral Beach, please get ready now. We shall reach in approximately five minutes," a voice rang clear and loud through loudspeakers placed on the ship. " Come on. We'll go to our new home." Andrew said proudly. " The beautiful Mineral Town." Our new home…Matt thought happily as they descend from the ship feeling the last of the refreshing breeze that raced past the great ship as she continued on her journey. Finally, a home I might come to love.

………………………………………………………………………………………….

So how was it? Not too bad, I hope. Send in reviews, give me some feedback! Come on now. Surely you more experienced people out there are willing to help younger and less experienced ones. ( pretends to pout.) Just joking, guys!