Welcome to Gaia! ::

KEY WORLD SAGA

BY S.D. NEELY







CHAPTER ONE


In the Swiss Alps, sits a three story cabin that is painted a dark blue with light green trim. The front porch of the cabin wrapped around with swings and benches. On one of the swings sits a young man, he has brown hair and bluish grey eyes, he stands six foot even, and looks to weight about 180 lbs. His name is Douglas McLandon.

About 13 years ago Doug lost his parents, they went out for a day of hiking and just didn’t come back. Doug has lived with his three aunts since. The oldest of the three aunts is Anne, she is five foot five, has auburn hair in a tightly wrapped bun and has been the business advisor of Doug’s family. You wouldn’t know it but Doug’s family is one of the richest in the world. The second oldest aunt is Becky, she is almost six foot tall and has salt and pepper hair. She is the free spirit type and has taught Doug the use of things in nature. She has also taught him to take things in life with a grain of salt, not to be judgmental of others. The last, Lynn, is five foot nine and is Doug’s main tutor. She has handled his education either by teaching him herself or hiring other tutors. The three of them have tried to keep him happy but at the same time not spoiling him.

Today is his 16th birthday and it is early morning. His Aunt Becky steps out on to the porch carrying two mugs, one is coffee and the other is hot chocolate. She startles Doug as she sits next to him on the swing. She hands him his hot chocolate and smiles at him, he takes it and smiles back. They sit for a while enjoying the morning and each others company. “Happy birthday, nephew,” she says. He looks at her surprised, he had completely forgotten it was his birthday. She chuckles at him and says,” Little nephew lost in thought, forgot his own birthday.” She then puts her arms around him and gives him a quick squeeze. “Thanks, I have been thinking about mom and dad. I wonder if they are alive and if they are where have they been all this time,” he says, looking a little upset. Becky gives him another hug, understanding his pain.

“Well, today we have a couple of surprises for you,” she says,”come inside and see for yourself.” She gets up and pulls him with her. They walk into the living room where his other aunts are waiting. As he walks in they both say happy birthday to him. He sits down and they hand him his first present, it was a new archery set. His second gift a modern state of the art camping gear. He also got a few more video games and new clothes and boots. He smiled at his aunts and gave each one a hug and kiss saying thanks. He gathered his gifts and went to his room.

As he walked in and set his things down his pet ferret, Olin, jumped up and down in her cage wanting out. Doug laughed and opened her door, she runs over to the bed. She jumps up checking out his new things. As she buried herself in the pile of clothes, Anne walks in and says,” Doug why don’t you go hunting today. We will be leaving in a couple of weeks and it would be nice to have fresh game before we leave.” Doug looked at her and asked,” But what about my lessons?” She laughed and said,” It’s your birthday and we want you to enjoy it. So no lessons for today, get ready and meet us in the kitchen.” With that said she turned around and left the room. Doug smiled this was one of few things his aunt let him do on his own.