The Chase ▹ Ashton Irwin

PROLOGUE

If there's one thing I remember from my childhood...or that I want to remember from my childhood...its what my mother said to me when I was 6 years old.

It was an unordinary day, for me. It was sunny, bright, and happy. The sky was blue, the grass was green...almost as green as my own eyes as they squinted up at my mothers frame. My usual curiosities were buzzing around my brain like a swarm of angry bees.

I had seen a television program earlier that morning. A girl and a boy touched their lips together and it confused my young self. Why did they do that? Does everyone touch lips to other people? Is it like shaking hands? I needed to get to the bottom of this. I remembered what the girl said after the boy took his touch away from hers. "I love you."

What did that mean? I've heard that word before, but I've never come to the full conclusion of what it really meant. Once again, my young and innocent self was on a mission to find out.

"Mummy," I had asked as I sat down on a bench in that stupid park. She sat down next to me. "Whats 'love'?"

My mother chuckled. "It's a little word with a whole lotta meaning." She laughed, and I laughed too. I don't know why I did though.

"That's it?" I asked. That can't be all it is.

My mother sighed and put an arm around my small body. "Well," she said. "Love is something you won't be able to understand until you're much older. You see, life is full of love. Different kinds of love. It just takes more time to figure out what each kind means. You'll see, soon enough."

And that was the end of it. I didn't ask any more questions that day because that was too much to take in for me. We left that park and I never ended up going back.

There comes a time in your life when you just suddenly realize why we're all put on this planet in the first place. Some might think its to make an impact on the world, others might think for no reason at all. I still havent figured that out either. All I know is, life's a chase. And we're all just starting it.