Edenta

Chapter 1: Old friends, new places

          Mondays. I hate mondays. They're always the worst day of the week. It's when the school week starts. It usually rains. You get bad luck. All around, it's just a miserable day. If someone tells you that they like mondays, they're lying to you. But today feels like an especially bad monday. First I woke up late because I had to finish my homework, then I missed the bus, then I was late for class and missed half of the lesson!

I really do hate mondays.

          The only good thing about today is that my friends are suffering with me. Alia, my friend since grade 2, had a bio paper due today that she stayed up till 3 a.m writing and she is a gremlin without enough sleep. Then there's Manny, my friend since SK, they had a lot of homework and that mixed with minor insomnia is a nightmare. But it really is our own fault. You see, as teens in grade 11 we have effectively mastered the art of procrastination.

          As the bell rings to signify the end of the second period, I leave the classroom as fast as humanly possible which, in reality, isn't very fast when about 15 grade 9s take over the entire hallway in front of your classroom. Once I finally escape the maze of bodies I make my way down to the library. When I get there I walk over to where I see Alia and Manny sitting at our usual lunch spot in the back.

"¡Hola Ollie!" Manny enthusiastically called to me even though we're less than 2 feet away from each other.

"Heyo Manny, Alia." I respond with much less enthusiasm.

Alia raised her head, from the table, that had been tucked safely between her arms which were covered by her oversized hoodie, and gave me a tired salute before returning to her nap.

"I see you're lively as always." I say as Alia flips me off.

"Alia!" Manny gasped in fake offense.

"Go to hell." Alia hissed out.

See, an absolute gremlin. I sit next to Manny on the beanbags and pull out my lunch.

          About halfway through lunch, Manny and I have both finished our lunches and are currently browsing through books. Specifically, the manga and fantasy sections.

"Oi, Ollie! Take a look at this one!" Manny said, holding the novel in their hands.

          We head over, with the book Manny found, to the corpse that is Alia. Manny then proceeds to harshly drop the book on the table to wake her up.

"What the shit?!" Alia exclaims in surprise.

"I found this cool looking book! I've never seen it before so the library must have just gotten it!" Manny stared at Alia expectantly through their round glasses. I'm still not sure how a sleep deprived, insomniac like them can be so energetic.

"I'm losing sleep.....over a book?"Alia asks irritated .

"Yup! And you're gonna like it!" Manny persists.

"...My dyslexia says otherwise." Alia rebuttals.

          Of course she pulls that excuse, she always does. She doesn't have dyslexia, she just finds it a bit hard to read sometimes. Before this becomes an argument I quickly change the subject.

"So what's the name of the book?" I ask trying to change Manny's focus.

As expected, Manny completely forgot about the slight argument between them and Alia and their focus returned to the book in question.

"The title says, Edenta! Cool right?"

I nod in agreement .

There was a long pause of silence before Alia spoke up.

"So we're gonna read it or???" She asks with exhaustion lacing her voice.

          Manny nods and silently opens the book to the first page and we all take turns reading. Before you ask, we do this with most books to help Alia out a bit because, like I said, she has a hard time sometimes.

"To all adventurers," I started.

"Thick and thin." Manny read next.

"In...this...book," Alia said after squinting at the page for a minute.

"Your journey shall begin." I continued.

"Leave your life," Manny added.

"And....start....anew." Alia finally said after more squinting.

"For in Edenta," I read after Alia, ignoring how she almost said Emu.

"You can be a new you." Manny finished.

"What do you think that means?" Manny asked.

"How the fuck should I know?" Alia retorted in frustration.

"Let's keep reading." I suggested.

"Fiiiiiiinnneeee." Alia drawled.

Manny then proceeded to flip the page.

"Well, we ended on you Alia." I say giving her a patient smile.

"Ugh! Fine!" Alia retorted and once again squinted at the page.

"If you...are.....Dave?"

"Brave." Manny corrected.

"I knew that!" Alia retorted.

"Can you just accept the fact that you made a mistake?" I asked Alia nicely.

"If you are brave, see I can read it!" Alia said in response.

"Whatever, just continue." Manny pleaded.

"Like many others." I continued, following Manny's request.

"Then these words," Manny read, relived that they didn't start arguing.

"You....must....Otter? Utter, utter." Alia said, whispering while she tried to figure out the last word.

"Wait guys, what if this is real?" Alia asks in a concerned tone.

"It's a book, how can it be real?" Manny responded.

"If it's real I'll give you 5 dollars." I say, hoping Alia stops being ridiculous.

"Deal!" Alia nearly shouts.

".....Ok then. Let's continue shall we?" Manny says after waiting for Alia to calm down a bit. With that we continue reading in our reading order.

"Adventures await you deep inside,"

"Troubled or torn you decide."

"This story...you shall...write,"

"Your own fate dark or bright."

"Now make your choice,"

"Here and...nnnnow."

"Before you take,"

"Your final bow."

"The...brave and...foolish,"

"Are all the same."

"When the world you live in,"

"Isn't a.....game."

"In Edenta,"

"You shall be."

"Until you...bind? find? find. A way...to be...free."

          We glanced at each other as the world around us seemed to slow to a stop. The book glowed as the void seeped out of the book's thin pages, enveloping us, we fell into the dark void and with that we vanished into the book as the cover slammed closed behind us.

          First I wake up late, then I miss class, then we fall into a book, and I have to give Alia 5 dollars!

I really do hate mondays.