Young Writers Society

Scalders
Prolouge

“Is it safe?”
“Not sure.”
Two male cartographers step off a giant dark oak ship, onto a small, tropical island. They all head off and look for a good spot to fish. They find a great place, some rocks near the bright blue ocean. After they collected their dinner they headed to the ship to grab their paper and other materials for cartography. By the time they got outside, it was night. They looked up at the beautiful stars in the sky as a nice breeze of wind blew in their faces. Suddenly holes started to form all around the island, creatures began to crawl out. The inside-out blood-covered creature grabbed one of the cartographer's legs. The creature then grabbed the other. The man froze. The creature then slowly put its right claw and the man’s shoulder, then its left claw around the man’s waist.
“I didn’t finish the map, my boss is going to kill me!”
The creature then slowly ripped the man apart as his organs fell out of his body. The other man ran back to the ship and escaped. Only one man came back to tell the story.

Chapter 1

“Scalders?”
“Scalders?”
A young 19-year-old boy wakes up as he emerges from his old and rustic bed in his small and cramped cottage, onto the old wooden floor.
“What?” Scalders asked.
“Today is your audition, remember for the princess’s butler?” replied a girl about the same age as Scalders.
“That's not until seven o’clock!” replied Scalders.
“Yes, I know, seven in the morning!” replied the girl.
“What is the time now?” asked Scalders.
“Ten til seven,” said the girl in a stern voice.
Scalders grabbed his bag and pushed the girl out of the way as he rushed out the door. Scalders face planted onto a pile of rocks as he was dashing through the town. He brushed himself off and got up from the ground with a red and bloody face. Ignoring the pain, Scalders continued to head to the town hall. Once he got there, Scalders took a deep breath as he walked through the town hall doorway. Scalders then saw a line of what were roughly thirty people. A man approached Scalders and shook his hand.
“Don’t touch me!” Yelled the man.
The man then begins to rub his hands on Scalders face and scream. The man then dropped to the ground. Some police officers came and carried him out. By the time this issue was resolved, everyone had left except Scalders. The man was mentally unwell, but Scalders wasn't fearful. It was more convenient to Scalders than anything, he was now first in line.
“Scalders, am I pronouncing that right?” the princess said as she approached Scalders.
“Yes Mamm,” replied Scalders.
”What a strange name you have there,” said the princess.
”Yes, I get that a lot.”
”Any chance you would mind telling me your real name?” asked Scalders.
”I'd rather not,” replied the princess.
”Okay, it looks like everyone has left so you are a last resort,” she added.
”That’s nice to know,” replied Scalders.
“Ok, nice to meet you,” said the princess as she escorted Scalders out.
A truck that was heading towards his house caught Scalders’s eye. Scalders sauntered over to the truck as it stopped for pedestrians and hopped in the trunk. Scalders leapt out of the trunk onto his cottage doorstep as it passed his house. Scalders walked into his house and checked the cupboard, the only thing there was some stale bread. Scalders wasn’t exactly the wealthiest person. Scalders closed his cupboard, grabbed his basket, and walked back outside. He snuck into his neighbor's backyard and shook his apple tree while holding the basket underneath. Quite a few apples fell from the tree into the basket, around ten. Feeling that he had achieved his goal of getting the apples and not getting caught, Scalders walked back to his home and put the basket of apples in the cupboard. He also grabbed one from the basket and started to eat it, but this one apple didn't fill his stomach. Scalders couldn't do anything about it. Hopefully, this new job as the princess’s butler will have a good income. Scalders sighed as he walked over to his bed and lay down, hoping to get a good night's sleep.
“Hey Scalders.”
“Hey, Mum.”
Scalders and his Mum sit at a table in a desert.
”Mum, where are you going?” Scalders said as his Mum sat up and started to walk away.
”Mum, Mum!”
”Mum.”
Scalders leaped out of the chair and started to run after his mum, but his Mum disappeared, nowhere to be seen. Scalders woke up with sweat dripping from his face.
“Hey Scalders,” said a girl standing over his bed.
It was the same girl from the morning before.
”Hey, Mum,” Scalders replied as he rubbed his eyes.
”Did you have the same dream?” said the girl.
”Tilly?” replied Scalders.
“You went to sleep at six o'clock, are you alright?” asked Tilly.
“Yeah, I just wanted to get an early night for my first day as the princess’s butler,” replied Scladers.
”Sure,” replied Tilly.
Scalders walked Tilly out and closed the door. He walked outside and headed to the town hall. Scalders took a deep breath as he walked through the town hall doorway, once again.
“Hey Scalders,” said the princess after looking around the room and spotting Scalders.
“Are you free on April the third? Let's just say yes because you don't have a choice,” said the princess.
“Well then, yes.”
“Alright, there is a music festival that is happening that day, and I will be performing, I will need assistance with tasks like getting a drink from the bar and making sure nobody harms me. Can you do that?”