Ivy's Prologue
There was a remote, volcanic island in the South Pacific Ocean. It was densely forested with thick underbrush and tall trees whose roots crawled along the earth, and whose red flowers bloomed ten months out of the year. The land was drenched in shades of green and the air was always warm, even when it rained. One might have considered it a paradise, were it not for the earthquakes and scattered fumaroles which shot up air so hot it could burn your flesh off.
The only four-legged creatures on the island were a single herd of goats who roamed where they pleased, eating away the underbrush in random patches of land. The rest of the wildlife on the island was made up primarily of birds so tame they would fly in your lap if you sat still long enough, and cockroaches who loved to make a racket after sunset.
Deep in the heart of the island was a spacious clearing and a great, grassy hill. Located there were two large, three story houses, one on top of the hill, and one at the base of it. They'd been identical at one point in time, but the years had been cruelest to the house at the bottom. A few sturdy shutters clung to the face of the house by rusting nails. The door's splintering frame had been so abused that it hardly stayed shut. The sagging roof leaked, the thread-bear carpets stank, and the steps buckled as they were trod upon.
The house on the top of the hill was more tenderly cared for – its inhabitants not so cruel nor clumsy. It still had its flaws, but they were charming. The shutters were all intact, if a little paint-chipped and faded from wear and the bright sun. The door creaked a greeting or kind farewell as you stepped through it. The carpet carried a stain from spilled paint, or perhaps grape juice; no one could remember which anymore.
The latter house, Upper House, was where I lived, along with fourteen other children. And at the bottom of the hill sat Lower House, decaying around its fifteen apathetic inhabitants. That was where Michael lived.
That small, forgotten island in the South Pacific is where where my story – our story – begins.
