Prologue: Genesis

This is the prologue to my novel GENESIS. GENESIS details the origin story of Korbin Amazia, a sixteen year old boy who possess' the unique ability to create and control his own momentum.

Though you may not know me now, in time you will. In time you may even come to understand me, what I live for, what I continue to breathe for, and why that breath is crucial to the world I live in.

It is not purely by my own strength that I continue to draw breath. No, for if that were the case, my lungs would have ceased their pumping years ago, my heart would have failed in its charge to beat. It is by the strength of those around me that I still breathe, and the need this world has for not only my power, but also the power of a great many others, without which, Earth would have crumbled nearly nine years ago.

However, even now dangers prevail over this world, seeking nothing more than to watch it burn to ash while even people like me, one of the most powerful beings in existence, watch as it tumbles. But I am not alone, and it is because of the trials I have faced that I have been brought to this moment in time. I am an anchor that keeps the ship from drifting, but I am not the sails, I am not the rudder, I am not the wheel. I am merely the piece a piece to this intricate puzzle.

In my youth I saw much, worlds the greatest of men could merely dream of, powers capable of rending the earth in two, power which dwelt in the hands of many. I fought in battles I would much rather forget. I saw friends perish before my eyes, the light wink out of their own as the breath of life abandoned their bodies.

I saw the goodness of people’s hearts, even though they were shrouded in darkness. I glimpsed upon the shadows hidden within the depths of my own, often emotional, heart. I fell in love, a love I can look upon and know that everything I have worked for, everything I have worked towards, the things I have done, seen, heard and felt, were all meant to lead me to a point in time where I could look at my life, see everything that I have accomplished, and know that the choices I made were worth it. Albeit, these choices were often difficult to make at times, but, if I had the chance to go back in time, I would not choose differently. I could never know the end result of the choices I made until they came to fruition in their own time, but the greatness that came of some of those choices, although not all by my own doing, were often times some of the best things that could ever have happened to me.

But I was not born into this as many believe. I was born with power. I was born into a family, into a place that pushed me to better myself, but I was not born into greatness. I was born with potential, as all are born into potential.

At birth our eyes are opened. We immediately see color, taste intensity, newness, we hear sonnets being sung in our ears as the voices around us conjoin and whisper a soft lullaby in tandem with a flourish of life. We breathe our first, taking in the scent of the world in which we now live, while the voices of our parents speak to us. At that time, we wish to do nothing more than listen, and we continue to listen until our eyes flutter shut and we take our first sleep, while those around us silently bustle about, waiting patiently for our return, all the while continuing to speak, continuing to tell of the life we may live, the choices we may make for ourselves, for our future. All this and more begins at our first breath.

In this I am no different, born into power, but not into greatness. However, my parents saw in me potential, and they coerced that potential outwards, called for it to be something more than a small, barely noticeable light within. They saw that light, and their voices drew it forward, imbuing within it the purest desire, a desire for greatness.

To achieve such a feat takes more than oneself. It takes the utilization of our surroundings, everything we know, to shape and to mold us into something able to bear it. We soon learn that it is not a weight we must bear on our own, but one that others, too, must learn to share. It is in this truth that my story begins to unfold, and in this truth where I found so many of my troubles.

            It all started on a quiet night, I was sixteen at the time and hovered high above the expanse of a large city on the west coast of the United States. I was illuminated from below by the city lights, and above by the silver light of the moon. Off to my left the expanse of the Ocean began, flowing outward towards the horizon until it fell over the Earth’s curve like an unyielding waterfall, but soundless. The streets bustled busily as the cities inhabitants made their way home from a long day of work. Each moved at their own pace, some quickly, others slow, some in a panic from who knows what. The occasional light flickered on and off in people’s homes, some readying for sleep, others just now readying for their nighttime escapades as the city came alive in the dead of night.

I watched from above all the while.

To me they appeared as but ants, busying themselves in their day to day duties, knowing nothing more than the moment, while simultaneously worrying about the future over which they had no control. As much as I wanted to tell myself I was no different, I convinced myself I was telling a lie, one I somehow came to believe.

The lie caused a great fear in me. None possessed power like mine, and I had it, but had no real reason to use it. The world didn’t need my help, and I was just a naïve, sixteen year old boy who barely knew how to use the power I possessed. I had been practicing with it, yeah, but there wasn’t much more that could be done when I always ran the risk of being seen.

The world had its comics, its movies, and all of its ideas on what a super powered person should be like, but, when it came down to it, the thing they saw as cool would be the very thing they came to fear if someone like me actually decided to show his face. But, even with that, I would be more afraid than they were. What could I possibly do in a world that had nothing else like me, and, worse yet, no need for it?

I shook my head and gazed off towards the north, towards my home, which sat on the outskirts of a small city in a clearing surrounded by tall trees. It was hundreds of miles away, a distance I could cover in a heartbeat or two if I really wanted to, but, in reality, I had never tried to reach those speeds.

I began moving my way northward. It was late enough already, and I had school in the morning. On top of that, I could never know when my parents would go up to my room to check on me. It would be a surprise for them, their perfect child suddenly vanishing soundlessly from his room without a trace. Their obvious first thought would be that I went off to some party. Who would guess that their kid flew three hundred miles south just to stare at a city from above? Not my parents, that’s for sure.

I cleared the city’s borders and increased my speed exponentially, edging closer and closer to the speed of sound, but carefully choosing not to breach it. The waves of air rippled over me, flattening my clothing to my body. With the immense amount of air flowing at me from all directions, there wasn’t much more they could do.

A forest came into view in the distance. It stood ominously at the border of a small town of no more than three hundred people. I curved off to the left, making sure to avoid the town, kicked upwards, performed a flip and shot straight downwards. I fell for thousands of feet, diving headfirst towards the impending earth. For a split second I wondered what would happen if I barreled straight into it, but decided it would be best not to level the nearby town with the shockwave of such an impact.

When it seemed that I would make my curious thought a reality, I shifted my position, instantly reversing my momentum and rocketing towards the tree line. I was close enough to the ground to touch it. The dust trailing behind me and flushing into the air was proof of that.

I entered the forest, dexterously weaving between its many branches, spiraling around trees, and, frequently, just barely avoiding turning them into tinder. Further into the forest the branches thickened, and, being in no mood to tear my clothes, dropped to the ground and began speeding through the forest on the loose earth. I was moving incredibly fast, but, for a moment, I thought I caught the eye of a hawk watching me from a nearby tree.

Up ahead I glimpsed moonlight breaking through the forest’s end. I quickly took a look at my surroundings and leapt, kicking off of a nearby tree. I landed on the thick branch of another, having leapt over thirty feet, and skipped lithely along the branch to its trunk. I then spiraled around to the other side of the tree and climbed quickly up a patch of the trunk without branches, gripping ahold of the thick bark for handholds and propelling myself upwards. When the branches began again, I kicked off and performed a backflip away from the tree and up into the open air, breaking through the canopy in a fury of leaves, and, in a blink, thrusting myself high into the sky. When I felt my upward momentum begin to fail, I took over again, pushing myself higher still, until I was well out of view of any eye, and continuing my flight north.

I had already covered a significant distance by the time the city of Eastwood came into view. My house lay on the eastern outskirts, a few miles from the high school. The city sprawled out over the landscape for a few miles, but stood insignificant to the distant backdrop of Seattle, whose light could be seen brightly even from here.

I flew in close to my home, avoiding the front facing portion entirely. I had no desire to peak the curiosity of my parents by triggering the motion light on the front porch. My room was on the back, accompanied by a single, screenless window that allowed me access to it from the outside. I never kept it locked, just in case of some late night escapade, like this one.

I hovered a fair distance away from the closed window, eyes piercing in to the dark room, making sure neither of my parents were inside. When I saw nothing, I triggered my hearing in the off chance that they were sitting against the wall facing me, which I couldn’t see the other side of. Though I often wished I had X-ray vision, I didn’t. It was a downside. But, I heard nothing within.

I rushed forward, silently opened the window, slipped in, and closed it, all without making a sound. Once I stood firmly on the carpeted floor, I zipped around my room, flinging my clothes off of my body and every which way around the room and then slipped on a pair of shorts. I slid into bed and got myself situated just as the door opened. A small sliver of light vaulted into the room, illuminating my bed just enough for whoever was at the door, probably my mother, to see that I was there, safe and sound.

The door closed quietly and I breathed a sigh of relief. My timing had been oddly perfect. I closed my eyes, dreading the next day of school, but drifting off to sleep nonetheless. This was just the beginning. 

Author's Note

Hope you enjoy! This is the link to my wattpad account - If you get to this point, if you could, go here, create an account if you don't have one already and give me a few extra views and votes! It'll help me out a lot and I'll appreciate it so much! https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/75264681-genesis