The Prince Of Keldar

Chapter 1 - Alexander Michael Smith Junior

Alexander Michael Smith Junior was your average fourteen-year-old boy. He was born and raised in Chicago, where he lived in the South Street Liberty Orphanage. His parents had both disappeared when he was three, and his aunt had raised him until he was five. When his aunt passed away, the government came and snatched up Alexander from his home in the suburbs, and dumped him in the orphanage, where he lived under the care of head master and mistress Phelix and Madsen Woods.

Mr. and Mrs. Woods were the two most horrible people that Alexander had ever met. They, at first glance, appeared to be very happy. They always smiled. Yet beneath their smiles and radiant happiness, they had hearts of ash. They hated all the children under their care and they made sure the kids knew it. They enjoyed their "unique" tastes in discipline which, to the children, felt more like psychological torture. They held a strict system, which Alexander rarely tried to touch, and never tried to bend.

Alexander kept to himself mostly. He spent his time in his room, away from the other children because they were almost as bad as the adults in charge of them. They spent their time smoking, stealing and being a general nuisance to everyone they came in contact with. Alexander preferred to draw. He drew marvelous pictures of mythical creatures and lands, all out of his imagination.

He created a whole world inside his head. He drew wise wizards, noble knights and beautiful creatures. He created stunning landscapes, with forests and mountains and rivers running throughout the rolling hills. There, the kings and queens that ruled there had kind and benevolent hearts.

He escaped the horrors of his own life through his craft. The other children frequently made fun of his drawings. Alexander didn't mind. He knew he didn't have too many years left before he could escape for real. He could leave, go somewhere far off, where he could be at peace. He had very little ambitions or plans for the future, but any job or place was better than here. He would find a way to make money. Most of the kids that left this orphanage went on to become gang members or petty crooks, but Alexander did not intend to turn to a life of crime. He saw no shame in living hand to mouth on the great open road. Alexander had no extraordinary plans or aspirations, but he had no idea how extraordinary he would become.