One - Alden

A deep lowing from the nearby cattle roused me from my heavy slumber. With one foot dangling off and my head covered by a pillow, I let out an exasperated groan. I pushed against the leather cot, letting the pillow fall onto the floor. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes, I tried to gather what time of day it was. I  slid my feet onto the hardened surface of the compact ground and begrudgingly dragged myself over to a closed off window that sat within in the leather of the opposite wall. Undoing the hook, I let the flap fall down. Our houses around here aren't made of much. We each build our own out of the leather we receive from our own cattle and stand them up with poles we usually receive from trading with the Brackin. Thus, we are basically creating what almost looks like a giant tent. Each home is then sectioned off into rooms by dividers also made of leather. Needless to say, it's not very individualistic, but it's efficient enough for our Palkin culture.

Shielding my eyes from the sun, I instantly noticed it was directly above our small town, meaning it must be noon. Letting out another groan I closed the window once more, blocking out the day. As much as I wanted to ignore the day, I could already hear my mother speaking with my brother Fastus in a disappointed kind of tone. I knew it was about me, so I pulled on my tunic and my harem pants.

Stepping past the divider, I saw my parents sitting down at our low table, also made from Brackin trees, and my brother standing in his imperial armor by the door flaps. 

"Well look who wake up!" Fastus exclaimed, wrapping a muscled arm around my head, allowing him to furiously rub at my scalp. Fastus was almost twenty-two, his birthday being in the next two weeks. He works for our Elder, guarding our town and venturing out to the Brackin Territory at times with a trading squad. Like the rest of our kind he was tan from the sun and he had close cut dark hair to signify an air of authority with our people. The only difference was that my brother had a love of fitness, making him much broader than the rest of our petite race.

"Stop it!" I cried, pushing at his stomach.

"Aw, come on, brother!"

"Alden, what do you think you're doing?" My mother snapped, showering me with disappointed glares.

I tried to soothe the beast."Mom-" 

"I don't want to hear it!" Her tiny frame was just about shaking from anger. "I just don't understand why you can't be more like your brother."

I looked to my father to help me out, but all he said was, "Fastus got a special assignment today to venture out into the Brackin Territory." 

"Why do you always have to compare me to him!" I exclaimed. "I'm so sick of not being able to be myself!" I darted out the door, not even bothering to look back.

Dodging the guards of our village, I passed behind the giant cattle tent. That was where I was assigned to work, and did not stop walking. How my parents expect me to be great and powerful like Fastus when all I did was shovel cattle manure was beyond me. Of course, I didn't go to work much anyway, but that was besides the point. I found my way to my special spot. It's not much, just a giant rock, but when the desert goes on for miles finding something like this was exciting. 

I sat down with an exaughsted sigh. Crossing my feet, I looked out towards the horizon where I could make out the forest of the Viridi. I don't really know much about the Viridi. I'm not sure anyone does. Laying back against the rock I closed my eyes, trying to let the anger within me die down. My brother is a decent person, and he may even care about me more than my parents, but I can't change the fact that I am a failure because of him. I clenched my fist, allowing my chewed nails to dig into my palm.

Suddenly there was a roaring sound from across the desert. I sat up quickly and saw what I knew to be the beginning of a sandstorm. From the looks of it, it looked like it would be a big one. I quickly jumped from my rock, taking one last glance at the neighboring forest, wishing I could go anywhere but home, and took off for the dreaded town once more.