The Riddle (Children of Two Futures) by Winters G.J

Author:Winters, G.J. [Winters, G.J.]
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Tags: Fiction
Publisher: Publications Circulations LLC
Published: 2013-09-03T16:00:00+00:00

The Future: 7245 A.D.

EVEN AFTER HEARING the riddle, Savannah Proehl hadn't been able to make much sense of it, other than to figure out the number fourteen was important to her mission to save the world. After getting the Soonseen's Lonnan Nation to cease firing at a ship from their Kinnan Nation, President Kunan Slaan had asked her to stick around in the future for a while.

The problem of the human race dying out as a result of Hinjo Junta's actions had remained. Though the immediate danger from deflected energy beams striking the planet had passed, Savannah found that she could not return home as soon as she wanted.

Not that she actually did want to return home. The multitude of scars on her back, the scar on her leg and the scar across her rib cage all reminded her of what awaited her when she returned to her father.

She still smelled the foul alcohol on his breath as he leered over her. She might be bleeding, asleep, or crying. So often had he beaten her that his facial expression remained the same, unlike after the first whipping Savannah had endured.

He had been apologetic back then. He said that he regretted what he had done, and Savannah had believed him. She wanted more than anything to believe that her father had it in him to overcome his own monstrous nature.

Yet, by the time her back fully healed from the whipping, he had done it again. He whipped her with a leather belt. He always held the buckle in one red fist. Each time the leather struck her back, Savannah lost a little more faith in her father.

By the time she had lost track of how many times he had whipped her, any hope she had once harbored of her father overcoming his demons had disappeared. She no longer thought it would be possible for her father to become the kind, loving man she remembered.

That man had hugged her at all hours of the day, had taken her to the park, and had watched her favorite cartoons with her. He had even laughed at the jokes Savannah thought only she understood. She had felt, back then, that she and her father had a special connection.

Returning to him would mean that she was inviting him to hurt her again. Worse, he would likely be angrier than ever since she had left him. He had always warned her against running away, even though the idea had never crossed her mind.

She couldn't leave him, even if she found herself hating him. Washing blood stained sheets and blankets had become routine in her household. She had never once thought that matters could be better anywhere else.

That’s why she wondered why Kenneth's body bore no scars. Every parent had to beat their child. Savannah had always thought so. Yet, Kenneth had never been beaten, if the condition of his body was any indication.

When Savannah had first seen him with his shirt off, she had been too caught

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