The Whispers of the World

Chapter One - Insomnia

Wilfred lay in his bed, unable to sleep as ever. His mind was lost to the idea that in a week, his life was never going to be what it was. The idea of marriage was stupid to him, let alone using it to gain influence amongst your peers. All it did was bind two miserable people together for life, and then they were stuck that way if they wanted to keep the influence they married for. To Wilfred, it was ridiculous. Sadly that ideology wasn't shared by his rich father and mother who were so hung up on their social status that they didn't care for one second about how their only child felt about it. The fact that they were willing to use him to get higher up what was essentially a far too elite popularity scale made him feel sick.

A slight breeze blew into the room through the open window and rattled Wilfreds door, causing him to jump. The silence of the house was so absolute at this time that it took him by surprise. Was it even still night time ? Or was it the early hours of the morning ? Inquisitive about this, he lifted his head up to look at the luminous clock face on the wall at the end of his bed, brushing his light blond hair out of his face. He slumped back down defeatedly. 2:40am. Shit. It was reaching that time where if he were to fall asleep now, his mother would berrate him severely for sleeping in, what with all the wedding arrangements that still needed to be discussed.

"If you have time to sleep, you have time to discuss flower arrangements!" the sound of his mother's shrill voice filled his head.

He groaned and rolled over, putting the pillow over his head as he buried his face in the overly soft matress. This wedding wasn't what he wanted. And it wasn't from a lack of trying to convince his parents that he had no interest in it, they just chose to ignore his arguments. Proving yet again that social standings are apparently more important than the person that they had literally made. Wilfred wanted a life. To see the world, explore unknown places, see things that no mere man had seen before. Instead he was going to be locked away in his happy little home with his probably not so happy little wife, pressured by both of their parents to make their own happy little fucking family. By some chance, Wilfred had met his wife-to-be before. They'd grown up together, though they weren't exactly friends, Amelia Grace was a perfectly nice girl, even if she bent too much to her mother's will. If she were left to flourish without her mother, she might have a shot at being someone different, someone who's actually interesting. But here she was, forced to be bound to the son of a rich man for the rest of her life.

Before marriage was even an issue, Wilfred already had enough on his plate. He had the problem of not understanding or even wanting to understand the mechanics of his father's company. His father had fruitfully tried since Wilfred was merely seven years old to make his son interested in his craft to no avail. He'd tried so fervently, yet nothing. Steamworks and mechanics just weren't Wilfred's cup of tea and his father would not accept it. Every day was a grind with schooling, and then Mr. Boffert dragging him away to teach him about steamworks and it's use in machinery every day, rain or shine. This and his mother's lack of any desire or compassion for what HE wanted made him feel so unloved.
For months Wilfred had been wishing for a miracle to get him away from his current nightmare. Nothing would bring him more joy than escaping this town, it wasn't where he belonged, and it had never felt like it had been. He could feel it in his blood. This wasn't home. Home was anywhere else that could let him be free. Home was the feeling that he belonged and that feeling wasn't something that could happen living anywhere near his parents. Or with a wife or husband. Marriage wasn't for him.

Wilfred threw his pillow on the floor and turned over again, staring at the ceiling.

"Why me?" he groaned solemnly to himself.

He lifted himself up from the bed and went to look out his window. He had a wonderful view. He could see the oranges of the flames flickering in the street lamps before they went out, the tops of the trees in the orchard at the end of the road, and outside the confines of the town, he could see the Swallowing Lake. The lake held a special place in Wilfred's heart. It was where Allison, the family maid, had taught Wilfred to fish. For most people that was a father-son activity... But not when your parents are always busy keeping up appearances, and too busy to spend any time with you. From his window, in the distance, he could also see the World Stream. He'd heard so many stories from Allison about how the world was torn apart, and how magic was real. She would say she'd seen it, but never anything more detailed.
Wilfred loved the whole idea of magic and witchcraft. Making objects appear from nowhere, summoning fire with your bare hands, bending nature to your will, it was all so fascinating. He recalled mentioning this interest to his father as a small child, and the sudden shift in his fathers mood as he turned away.

"Magic is dangerous. I never want to hear you mention it again." growled Mr. Boffert in a low voice, making it clear that pursuing the conversation would get him no where except a world of hurt.

With a sigh of resignation, Wilfred, picked up his pillow from the floor and flopped back down on to his bed. After a few more minutes, his insomnia gave in to his desire to sleep and he started snoring quietly, dreaming of the wonders he wished to explore some day.