ARC I BEGIN – PRECIOUS PROGENY

The bed was rustled and unkempt – the fault of the apathetic teen currently lying in it. It was a particularly warm morning, and through the curtains sunlight was beginning to stream in, casting long shadows along the floor. There was a phone and wallet on the bedside table, and little else save for a lamp. Across the room was a torn poster of a mildly attractive girl from an anime, with the rip right down the middle, hanging from a pin above a dresser built from glistening mahogany wood.

There was a pair of headphones strewn carelessly on the floor, lying by a discarded laptop, lid closed tight as if keeping the secrets on the hard drive locked away forever. The wire of the headphones was trailing in the general direction of the other side of the room, where the foot of the bed stopped and a comfortable beanbag lay. A clown-like doll was lying on it, seemingly relaxing in the warm summer morning. It was facing a desk with papers strewn all about – the products of a misspent evening failing to do homework, no doubt.

In the corner of the room, opposite the corner the bed was nestled in, was a small row of drawers with clothes in, and bowing at the foot of the drawers was a pair of trousers and a top, thrown haphazardly the night before as the teen had climbed into bed. On the back of his bedroom door – firmly closed, as usual – hung a dressing gown of a deep blue, made from a thin and durable cloth, perfect for wearing on mornings such as this.

The teen came to and sat up, glancing around the room. Everything was as it should be. He got up and walked across the room, collecting his dressing gown and donning it. As he walked back, he almost stepped on the headphones, hopping out of the way to avoid doing so. He picked them up and tossed them onto the beanbag to join the doll. With a barely-stifled yawn, he walked back over to his bed and checked his phone. A few messages: Lola, Cassie and Joseph. Nothing of importance. He noted the bright sunlight pouring through the gap between the curtains and sidled over until he was standing right in front of it.

The teen slowly and deliberately teased open the curtains.

With an uncaring stare, he watched the meteors fall…

And watched the world begin to burn.