Under

By Kari Kristine

A mountain has stood over a small town for as long as the citizens have known. The legends say that those who climb the mountain never return. Few have been brave enough to venture up Mt Erak and none of those who have ever gone up the mountain side have been seen again. Moro was left behind at an orphanage. It is the only life she has ever known, but something... or someone... is calling her.

The darkness of the mountain’s shadow and the sound of countless voices crying for freedom. For release from a prison beneath the trees and grass. Curious as to why she keeps having these dreams, why she has had them all her life, she sets out to find her answers with nothing to lose except, perhaps, her own life and everything that she had known before..

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359732067

Book preview

Under

Under

Beginnings

Flowers

Home

Unaligned

Bells

Days On End

Mother And Child

The World Beyond

Terms

Beginnings

Please.... I know you know it... SAY my name AND release ME!

Moro shot up, gasping.

That dream again... She sighed, pushing back mop brown hair from her face. Why was she dreaming of this? It wasn’t just one voice either, a group of voices. At first it had just been one, but now she could pick out at least four distinct voices; each one crying for help. She sighed and looked around the dark room. No name, no past, the khaki shorts and a red and blue striped shirt the only thing to her name when she had been found on the doorstep of the local orphanage. Mt. Orphanage, named after the ominous mountains that loomed over it not so far away. Despite its name, the actual building was not all that large. In fact it was only a two story building with a single kitchen and living room downstairs and two rooms above. The Madam had one room and one bathroom for herself, the children shared the other room and bathroom. The stairs squeaked only a little; it was clean, as they all had to keep it so and while it looked from the outside, with peeling blue paint and aged wood, that it should be abandoned or refurbished, nothing leaked and it was warm in the winter seasons. It was home. Children were warned from going to Erak Forest and certainly warned to never climb the mountain. Nightmares lived on that mountain and any who ventured there never returned. It was never stated why they did not, but it was implied that the reason no one ever did was because that mountain was a tomb of sorts and its inhabitants nothing but bloodthirsty creatures.

Moro pushed back the covers and went to the washroom, which held a basin of cold water. She stripped and wash with the cloth and soap nearby; she dried off with the towel hanging on the rack and then tried to use the brush to comb her bark brown hair before she got dressed again. Pulling on some old socks that were a little gray from age and dirt, she hurried downstairs and begun breakfast; heating a pot of leftover soup and adding some bacon crumbles to the pot to make it have a bit of flavor besides the grits. Stirring it slowly she listened as the silence around her gave a sense of peace. Moro liked the peace. Only in the early morning could it be this quiet. The sound of birds began only to soon be ruined by a distant gunshot and the toll of the town bell. Unfortunately it did not last long, it never lasted long enough for her liking. Madam’s footsteps thudded across the wood floor and Moro sighed, stirring the pot as a thin, wiry woman dressed in a single pink gown that touched her ankles and brown hair pulled back into a tight ponytail, came down the same stairs that Moro had tiptoed down in her socks moments before.

Don’t burn it this time! A scowl marred the mousey features; Moro just nods, slowly stirring the pot as the woman goes back up the steps banging on a door, causing Moro to wince a little, as she yells.

Everyone up! Breakfast! Soon following the thuds of her making her way back down was the shuffling of feet as five more joined. All of them no older than 10. Moro didn’t know them by name or face, each had been here less than a week. Moro didn’t know how old she was, but she knew she was older than 10. She grabbed a stack of bowls nearby and ran a finger inside... it was clean. She filled each bowl and put it in front of a child, then got some for the Madam and herself. No one spoke but it wasn’t a quiet meal as the Madam barked orders.

Sit up straight! No slouching at this table! You stop that slurping right now! never a quiet meal.

Eat!

Spoons clattered into empty bowls soon enough, long before Moro was finished with her own meal.

Upstairs! You all have class! A thudding of feet hit the stairs. Moro finished her bowl before getting up slowly and scooting in her chair; she gathered the empty bowls, stumbling over a chair that hadn’t been pushed in.

Clumsy! Don’t break anything! Moro only nodded.

Hmph! A patter of feet and then there was silence again as the front door slammed shut. Moro was not going to class. With the building empty she began to softly hum as she washed the bowls and then set them to dry before she made sure each