KATIE UNDERWOOD
CHAPTER 1: LEAVING SUPLEE
1
The town of Suplee had never been so loud.
Katie Underwood, the only girl under 20 in the town, was engaged to be married to Robert Houslin of Grey City, the major
city of the state of Greyland.
"Katie is too good for a man of the city," Jacob, the town restaurant owner said. "They do things too fast and without thought of
other people."
Katie’s mind was not changed. She and Robert had dated through high school, and he could not be any better a boyfriend.
"If Suplee does not approve of Robert, I do not approve of Suplee," she told her father.
"Katie," he said with empathy, "if you ever wish to leave town, I will give you enough money that you and Robert will have no
trouble skipping to the next town."
Not sure if she should be happy for Robert or sad for her parents, Katie said, "Thank you, but I’m happy anywhere with Robert."
2
Katie and Robert went into the woods outside of town, like they did every night neither of them had chores at Jacob’s.
"How can we be together, forever?" Robert asked Katie.
"That’s a silly question, we’re in love and nothing will ever make that not so."
"What if I fell off a cliff, or ate a bad mushroom, or caught a disease that we have no cure for?" Robert said.
"I’ve never thought of that. I need you forever, not for a century, or even a million years, but until the world is no longer here and longer."
"That’s why I asked. They say, with the change in our nature science made a hundred years ago, we will never die, but some people
still do. The world is not a perfect place."
Katie said, "What can we do?"
Robert said, "I’ll do anything, but we have to leave Suplee, maybe even Greyland."
They walked back to Katie’s house and went to the library the next day to research the history of immortality. The national government
censored much of the information about immortality, so they looked at books about folklore.
"Perfect", Katie said, Myths About The Outside World and Immortality in Greyland, 4th Century. The book was old and worn, probably printed
at least 100 years ago. "Now you find one."
Robert pulled out a book called If We Were Immortal, a newer book, probably printed in the past decade. Katie picked up Robert’s book and
found this:
Science has yet to explain why there are no records of people before the year 0, but one far-off theory is that until that year we had contact with
the other continents and the information was censored. We may never know until someone sails to these continents and returns.
It was common knowledge in Greyland that there are no continents outside the one people live on. The ocean surrounding the main continent was
so inhospitable that any continent or island off the shore would be impossible for anything to live on.
Katie and Robert were the type to question what is known as fact, and leaving the snobby town of Suplee was strong in their wills. They had
enough money to drive to Grey City, though gas prices had got high, and they would have little money to do much more than eat.
3
Katie and Robert left the town secretly, saying they were seeing a concert in Grey City and afterward a Newtown musical across the border in
Walnuton.
Myths About The Outside World and Immortality in Greyland, 4th Century had a part about an island off the shore of Greyland, west of
Grey City that didn’t appear on any maps. After arriving in Grey City, Katie and Robert hitchhiked across the coastal hills and found themselves
on a beach.
The clouds that covered the coast of Greyland made way for the Sun after a quick shower, and a small boat landed near where Katie and Robert
sat kissing.
"Did we call you?" Robert joked to the sailor.
"No, but we knew you were coming. My people patrol the woods between Grey City and our island so we can explain to them about the other
continents."
"You’re kidding," Katie said. Robert gave the sailor a skeptical look.
"Our island is the only island off the ocean coast of your part of the world. We live in between your world, the Modern world, and the rest of the world,
the Romantic world, but our island is considered to be in the Romantic world."
"We consider ourselves students and the island a school for learning about the outside world and more importantly, the land where we can live in peace
forever is."
"Our island is visited by all the people of the world, the elves, the dwarves, witches, the people of your kind who live outside of your world. Only one nation
does not visit our island – the people who live in the land we are trying to find."
"Why not?" Katie asked.
"If you live there, you won’t want to leave. The joy of being in a land that wonderful is so great, that any other place would seem like Hell." the sailor said.
"You can sail with me to the island, but you might not survive the trip, and you can never come back to Greyland or any other place
Hmm to be honest, I didn’t read past the first 2 paragraphs, it didn’t ketch my attention and there were a few minor grammar errors that I found confusing. This could throw off a publisher, so fix ‘em up eh? And you’ve got a piece of art in the making!
Good Luck!