Chapter 1

Ben’s world shatters

Ben’s world was a kaleidoscope of laughter and love, spun into the vibrant hues of his parents‘ unwavering affection. His days were stitched together with the golden threads of their care, each moment a patchwork of shared stories and gentle lullabies. He was the heart of a family trinity, where love was an unspoken language, fluent in the warmth of his mother’s hugs and the strength of his father’s shoulders.

Yet, time, as fluid as a river, brought a tide of change on a seemingly ordinary day in 2129. The sun hung low, casting long shadows as the family car hummed along the familiar road. Ben, nestled in the backseat, was lost in thoughts of tomorrow’s adventures. His parents‘ voices, a soothing melody, filled the car.

In a heart-stopping instant, everything shifted. The world turned into a maelstrom of screeching tires and shattering glass. Ben’s sanctuary became a prison of twisted metal. The warmth of his parents‘ presence was replaced by a cold void, their voices silenced in an unfathomable instant. The chaos unfolded like a nightmare, too swift to grasp, too cruel to comprehend.

In the sterile white of the hospital room, time seemed to fracture. Ben lay swathed in bandages, each breath a battle against the pain that wracked his small body. The beeps of machines became his new lullaby, sterile and unfeeling. Memories of his parents flickered like ghosts at the edge of his consciousness, their faces a balm to his shattered spirit.

It was in this liminal space between dreams and wakefulness that she appeared. A woman, ethereal in her presence, with long hair cascading over a dress as white as the walls surrounding him. Her approach was like a whisper, gentle and almost unreal. As she stroked his hair, a touch feather-light yet imbued with an unknown strength, a sense of calm enveloped Ben. Her presence was a paradox, both alien and familiar, like a memory from a dream he couldn’t quite recall.

With a grace that seemed to bend the very air, she slipped a bracelet around his wrist. It was an intricate thing, its design otherworldly, refusing to relinquish its embrace. Her eyes, deep and knowing, held Ben’s gaze, whispering secrets of a future yet to unfold. And then, like a mirage fading at dawn, she was gone, leaving behind the bracelet as a tangible proof of her visitation.

Ben, with the innocence of his twelve years, lay in the quiet aftermath, a child marked by tragedy yet touched by the inexplicable. His journey had taken an unforeseen path, one that would weave the tapestry of his destiny in threads of mystery and starlight.