Chapter 1 excerpt

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.

Chapter 1:

Captured by Etyouth

(Excerpt)

I could see the mess of blood and human tissue staining its hideous paws and its mouth. There it menacingly stalked me on its hindquarters humanlike with its fangs and claws. Shaking my head and crying quietly, I knew it reduced my entire family to nothing more than shredded flesh. Now it prowled after me. This beast loomed over 50 feet tall and had a dog-like snout. Fluffed brown carpeting covered its body, and it sniffed for me—hungry for my 9-year-old body. It would show no mercy to me so I cowered inside my house, peeking outside the window in the living room. For some reason my house sat furniture-less, and I could see the beast desperate to find me. Carved in red-jagged lettering sprawled across its chest, was a name that read “HTUOYTE.”

As it moved down the street, a girl on a bike came from the other direction. She had light brown hair cascading wildly to her shoulders, deep brown eyes, and freckles. The girl looked familiar, but I couldn’t remember who she was. She couldn’t have been much older than me, but she acted like she didn’t even see the creature. If it couldn’t find me, it would certainly use her as alternative prey. Wearing a halter top and shorts with pink and orange stripes, she pedaled past my house, until she finally noticed the beast. Her face became flush as she realized a meager 20 yards separated them. She didn’t even brake, but bounded right off the still rolling bike, and skidded hard on the pavement. Wincing at her left elbow that now sported a nasty wound she remembered her more pressing, life-threatening problem with the creature now rapidly approaching. That thing would kill her for sure, but she just laid there unsure of what to do!

Even though I wanted to stay safe in my house, I couldn’t let her become the next meal for that beast. Risking my own life, I ran out the front door to the sidewalk she laid on, and I said in my high, nasally child voice, “Get up!” I offered my hand, and she took it. Then, I pulled her up onto her feet. “Run to my house!” So, I gestured towards my front door, which I left wide open. Not wanting her to die, I indicated to her to go ahead of me. At first she stared at me like I was crazy for letting her go first, and the terror in her eyes told me that the creature was closing in right behind me. “Get out of here!” I commanded through my tears, knowing I was making a self-sacrificing choice. She quickly scrambled to the safety of my house, while the beast pounced on me. To this horrific cat, I was a mere mouse. The creature sank its teeth into my body and my bones crunched. Realizing I had been bitten in half, I screamed…

Then I awoke. Thank goodness it was only a dream! But wait! Where was I? Motionless, I lay with all four of my extremities shackled to some kind of dentist-type chair. My arms were bent back over my head, exposing my bare chest. I couldn’t feel anything, my body completely numb. What a nightmare I now faced—worse than the one that invaded my sleep. My heavy eyelids resisted opening. I lost my ability to distinguish reality from fantasy. Something happened to me, but what? Visions of lightning perhaps from a thunderstorm kept escaping from my memory. I struggled to remember.

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