Aldenaire

By M.D. Tolman

Brett Malek lived a sheltered life. Homeschooled until 18, he could not wait to see what life held beyond the boundaries of the forest he lived in. What he found though was severely lacking.

But everything changed, when he met an oddly dressed sailor. From that point on, everything he deemed impossible became possible. It was almost as if he had entered another world...

Join Brett as he experiences the adventure he never thought possible!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Mar 31, 2011
• ISBN: 9781257315369

Book preview

Prologue

As the chimes of a clock began to ring out, the first beams of the morning light crept through open windows. Most sensible folk were still in bed at this quiet time of the day. This was not, however, the case for a young man named Brett Malek.

Brett Malek leapt from his bed, disabling his alarm clock before it had even a chance to start ringing. He had been waiting eighteen years for this day to arrive, each year becoming more anxious than before. He had spent the entire night wide-awake, unable to catch even a minute’s rest due to his excitement. He dressed as quickly as he could before bursting out of his room. His mother who stood outside his door, jumped quickly back as to avoid being run over by her joyful son.

Brett’s mother was a tall woman with long blonde hair named Ashlei. Her tanned skin and light green eyes were rare features for a citizen of Benchetti and gave a slight foreign look to her. Although she had never mentioned her actual age, and Brett was smart enough not to ask it, she looked as if she were in her late twenties or early thirties. Often, she would mention how people on her side of the family aged very gracefully and that she was no exception. As Brett had never met any relatives on either side of his family he was forced to take his mother’s word on this.

Ashlie looked down at her son Brett with both pride and concern. She had always been protective of her children but today she had to let go. Now Brett, she started, I know today will be a large change for you, and it must be frightening, your first day heading out into the world. I just want to let you know that if you don’t feel you’re quite ready yet, your father and I are more than willing to let you…

Brett knew where she was headed and stopped her by shouting out, Mom! Please! I know you and dad have your doubts about if I’m ready and think the world’s a dangerous place, but I am eighteen now. I’m almost an adult and it’s about time I tried to make my mark on the world!

Ashlie’s eyes began to water in contrast to the smile which she struggled to maintain. Realizing the harshness of his words Brett softened his voice and continued, Dad and you did a great job raising me, but you have to give me a chance to show that I can accomplish things on my own. I’ll be careful, I promise.

Ashlie wiped the tears from her eyes trying to keep a brave face as she replied, You’re right Brett. Of course you’re ready. Now go on and have a great day.

Brett wasted no time continuing his dash to the stairs. As he ran, his younger sister came out of her room still hugging her stuffed bear. She was nine years old and had similar features to her mother. Her shoulder length, curly blond hair, blue eyes, and freckled face made her, by all standards, adorable.

Rubbing her bleary eyes, she asked what was going on. In reply her mother stroked her hair gently and gave her a kiss on her forehead. Go back to bed dear. She replied softly, Your brother just has a big day ahead of him, that’s all. "

Brett’s family had always been close. They enjoyed each other’s company which was a good thing as they knew no one other than themselves. The Maleks feared the world and everyone in it. Because of this, Brett and his sister Sara were never allowed to leave the house.

Brett’s father was the only one who left the house, and even then it was only to get to work or to buy supplies. Every time he left, he would come straight home and would rarely talk about others in the town.

This lifestyle was strange for sure, but having grown up with it, Brett and Sara rarely thought of it. If they ever wanted to know what happened outside, they had the internet to research or they could watch television. Most of the time however, they preferred to spend time with each other in the large forest in their backyard.

The Maleks lived on a large property with a forest and river. This was everything needed to fill the adventurous curiosities of two young kids so Brett and Sara loved it very much.

Brett always had a love for climbing trees, and would often spend his days, after his mother’s home school lessons, climbing the largest trees he could find, pretending to be a monkey, bird, or any other creature that leapt from tree to tree. Some days his father would watch him and exclaim that he had never seen anyone like him for his agility in the forest.

In contrast, his sister Sara had a fear of heights, and enjoyed playing on the ground much more. Sara had a love for animals and often spent her time looking for any type be it mammal, amphibian, bird, reptile, or insect. At first, she would bring them home begging to keep them as pets. After a few years her parents finally convinced her that this would not happen, so instead she would run off into the forest every day to play with the animals.

Her favourite thing to do with the animals was to train them to do various tasks. She would train squirrels to fetch items from high up in trees, she would train frogs to retrieve items lost in the water, and she could even coax the shyest of deer to allow her to pet their soft ears. If Brett had been told that she trained a rock to jump through a hoop he would have believed it, as it seemed there was nothing she could not train.

This was the way it had always been for Brett, as long as he could remember. Nothing ever seemed to change in that house. His mother still looked the same way she had always looked, as did his father. They still wore the same types of clothes, wore their hair in the same styles, and still acted the same way they had always acted for as long as Brett could remember.

Ashlei would spend her days giving Brett and Sara school lessons, cleaning the house, and occasionally going for a walk through the forest to check on her children. Although a very humble woman, she had a strong understanding of the world around her, and the charisma of a great leader. Brett often wondered why someone of her talents never went out to become a leader of a company or do something else of equal fame. After years of wondering this, the best answer Brett could come up with was that her fear had forced her to miss out on her true potential.

Brett’s father Gathlei worked for a mechanic in the town and had, apparently, made quite a name for himself doing it. His pay was quite good and he would often receive calls for advice. If he had wished to Gathlei most likely could have gone into business for himself, but he didn’t like to bring attention to himself.

Often times Gathlei would bring home devices from his work to show Brett how they functioned, but Brett’s heart was never really in it. More often than not, the lessons would end in Gathlei and Brett becoming frustrated to the point they could go on no longer and then both would stomp away upset.

Despite these occasional arguments, Brett and his father got along wonderfully. Gathlei always supported and encouraged Brett to keep on going. The only thing Brett wished for was that his father would view him as more than just a dreamer. Whenever Gathlei saw Brett leaping through the trees, he would comment at how talented Brett was becoming. Deep in his heart though Brett knew that his father wished he’d spend his time learning a trade instead of wasting his time in the woods.

Gathlei was a little shorter than Ashlei, and had a paler complexion. He had dark brown hair, which was as thick as it had ever been, and dark brown eyes. He was quiet by nature and rather unintimidating, but Brett always felt he was holding something back about himself.

Over the years Brett had begun to feel a need to explore the world around him. The forest he had grown up in had begun to seem small as he memorized within their property line. Often he would try to sneak past their property line deeper into the forest but his sister was always there to stop him.

What if you find yourself in some bear’s den? she would cry, Or falling off the edge of a cliff? Or in a smuggler’s cave? We are pretty close to the docks here and there are no doubt smugglers nearby!

Brett shuddered slightly at the mentioning of the docks. They were known through reports as a city of cutthroats and criminals. Brett’s father would often come home and tell of some horrifying story he had heard at his work about vandals and robbers sneaking up from the docks. On top of this there were frequently reports in the newspapers about foolhardy children who had disappeared near the docks at night.

Despite all his fears, Brett dreamt of growing into a great explorer. He wanted to find new countries, lost cities, and strange creatures. He wanted to solve great mysteries that others had deemed impossible such as building flying machines or machines that could explore the depths of the ocean.

The textbooks his mother had taught him out of often said many phrases such as Science has deemed this impossible. Or, Although Humans at one time believed such things, they were but myths and legends of our more primitive ancestors." It was because of these reports that many scientists had simply given up trying to build crafts such as flying machines, and those who did not give up were reported as insane.

Brett hated these types of phrases as they were so limiting making the world seem so small and taking all the magic and splendour out of it. When Brett would tell his mother his frustrations with such things, she would just smile and reply, Well maybe one day you will prove them wrong.

Brett would prove them wrong some day. He was determined about this. One day he would explore the world and find out that not all the countries had been found, not all the creatures had been discovered, and not all things deemed impossible really were. He would go out on many great adventures, starting today.

After many arguments, Brett had at last convinced his parents to let him go to a public school when he had turned eighteen and that day had finally come. Brett smiled as he looked at himself in the mirror. Today he was going to have his first day outside the house.

Part 1

Chapter 1

Brett’s parents promised him that as soon as he turned eighteen they would enrol him in the public high school. The year had finally come and Brett ran excited to get ready for his first day of school.

Brett rushed down the stairs grabbing a piece of toast from the table and then made a dash towards the closet. Reaching for his jacket he caught a glance of himself in the mirror. He stopped, horrified at the sight. The neckline of his shirt was a loose fit and he could see the start of his hideous birthmark.

It was a family trait; from his mother’s side apparently, that everyone would have a large, reddish birthmark on their chest almost in the exact shape of a diamond. Brett shuddered at the thought of what amounts of teasing he would receive from his new classmates if their first memory of him was seeing that. Wasting no time, he ran back upstairs and pulled on a turtleneck instead.

He hated turtlenecks but he figured it would not be a permanent style choice. He figured that if he could make some good friends first he could eventually switch back to looser fitting shirts without being teased too much.

With everything ready, Brett stood at the front door. It was finally time for him to find out just what the world had to offer. He had dreamt of this day all his life. The thoughts of every possible adventure which could occur ran through his head. After taking a deep breath, Brett opened the front door and walked out.

To Brett’s surprise the scene before him was rather plain and boring. Across the street there was an elderly gentleman watering his lawn, while in front of him a stray dog attempted to ‘watera tree. Although this was not quite the adventurous start Brett had been hoping for, he decided it was still early in the morning so he wouldn’t let a slow start get him down. Confident and excited, he made his way to his bus stop.

The route his father had told him to reach his bus stop was a simple and short. By all sense should have only taken a few minutes to reach, but this was a great adventure to Brett, and every flower, tree, or person was a new discovery.

Brett went along his way, cheerfully greeting every person he passed. After greeting them he would usually get no more than a suspicious grunt in return, but he couldn’t let that ruin his day. He was certain the school day would be full of excitement and adventure.

Finally Brett saw his bus stopped in the distance. Quickly he hurried towards it as the bus driver patiently waited for him. As soon as Brett was within five paces of the doors, they slammed shut and the bus took off down the road. The kids on board pointed at Brett who stood stranded. Surprised and confused, Brett chased after the yellow bus down the street.

Thanks to the years Brett had spent in the forest, running around, leaping from tree to tree, Brett found he could keep up relatively well with the slow moving bus. Even still, he could not have been happier when he saw it slow down to pick up someone else ahead.

Brett slowed down to a jog, relieved to see his opportunity to now board the bus. No sooner did the last boy step into the vehicle than once again the bus driver slammed the doors shut and took off again, leaving Brett standing at the corner. Discouraged, but not yet beaten, Brett took in a deep breath and chased after the bus again.

This time the bus moved slightly than before and Brett’s legs began to burn chasing after it. At last, Brett saw it slow down to pick up another group. He decided not to slow down this time and instead jumped on the bus before the driver could shut the doors again.

The bus driver was a short gruff old man with tobacco stained teeth and a permanent scowl on his face. From the look he was giving, Brett could tell that he hated his job, hated his passengers, and hated Brett. Next time don’t be late! he growled in a coarse voice. Brett; too scared to even look him in the face any longer, quickly made his way towards the back of the bus.

As Brett walked down the narrow aisle way, he watched the other kids quickly move their bags to cover the empty spots next to them. At last he found a boy about his age who was distracted listening to music.

No sooner did Brett move to sit next to the boy then he felt the boy’s shoe against his back. In a matter of seconds, Brett was down on the bus floor.

Find another seat! the boy jeered at Brett. I don’t lower myself to sit with new kids.

Brett got up painfully and looked up the aisle. The kids on the bus had rearranged themselves to make an empty seat and all pointed at it. Reluctantly, Brett sat down in the empty seat and looked out the window trying not to notice the angry glares he was getting.

The rest of the ride to school was long and hard on Brett. He tried a few times to make friends with the kids sitting around him, but no sooner would he introduce himself to someone than the person would turn around and start talking to someone else. At last, Brett gave up his fight and turned back to his window waiting for the bus to arrive at the school.

When the bus finally did arrive at the school, the kids all rushed off. Brett tried several times to get out of his seat, but found the other kids kept shoving him back down again.

Well this has been a great start to my big adventure. Brett thought to himself as he fell back to his seat. Finally when the last kid walked past Brett’s seat, Brett was able to get up again. As he left the bus he felt as if the bus driver’s eyes were burning a hole through the back of his head.

The crowded hallway parted as Brett entered the school. Although there seemed to be hundreds of students in the hallways, Brett never found himself within two feet of another person. After having a brief drink from the water fountain, Brett entered his first class.

All heads turned towards Brett as he entered the room. By the time he had taken his second step into the room, the sound of screeching tables could be heard as every student moved their desks away from one lone, rusted desk in the very center of the class. As this was the only