halls in sanity is a young adult sci-fi slash post-apocalyptic work of fiction an comic book! you follow Randall, a young man hellbent on growing up and becoming a man. Randall's story is very special, being born in an apocalyptic world in ruins, he knows not of the horrors that await.
we plan on expanding the series through games, animation and art. so please, join us on our adventure through the wasteland.
warning, this story will contain gore, topics of suicide, and other disturbing topics that may not be suitable for children. please use caution when reading.
Thank you all, I'm looking forward to your patronage.
IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO READ THE FULL WORKS OF MINE PLEASECHECK OUT https://themonkeycant.com/ !!!
The village was buzzing with activity. Today was the day that any boy or girl with more than 15 years to their age was given the Trial. If they pass, they become a full adult with all the privilege and responsibility as an other member of the village. Those that fail are still children and are limited in what they may do and had far fewer chores. It was a happy day for most. There were a few children that failed the Trial every year but they usually passed the next year.
Every few generations there was a child that could not physically or mentally endure the Trial, but that type of child usually required help for everything. Randall was the first child in the villages history that was capable of enduring the trial, but would usually scream, pass out and soil himself shortly after the entrance would close behind him.
The only other children that hadn’t passed the Trial after a few tries were those that would need custodians to care for them their entire lives.
In trying times these children would have to be given up to the Machine in hopes that they would survive any corrective procedures the Machine would put them through. The survivors were indebted based on procedure and so far no one has actually be allowed to leave the Machines service once admitted.
Randall had been rejected by the Machine as it had no procedure to correct his problem. So every year, he faced the same humiliation of waking up soiled and not remembering what happened after the door closed.
But not this year. This year, he had his Magic Lite and since it wasn’t detected at the village gates gargoyle, he knew he could take it in his knapsack. Each child was allowed one knapsack filled with as much as they could carry themselves. There were lots of items that would alert the gargoyle, but some of them has ways you could work around it. You could take several small bottles containing water, but if you try taking one much bigger than a few large swallows the gargoyle will alert. Candles, flint and any fire liquids would alert. No one knew everything that the gargoyle would alert for, but most of it was just common sense for the denizens of Sanity.
The village got everything it needed from the surrounding ruins. The ruins were deadly, but that’s why only the adults were allowed in and the Trials separated the children from the adults. You had a much better chance of surviving most of the ruins once you got through the Trials. If you were able to get through the entire thing, you were considered an adult and given a symbol that would allow you access in to the restricted areas know to have fatal measures for those bringing ‘unauthorized materials’ either in to or out.
With the Trials held once a year, everyone celebrated. It was a day that the village was proud of. So many great adventures had been born here, including Randall’s father. Being an adventurer usually meant fame, fortune and meeting a horrible death in one of the many
ruins surrounding Sanity. There were rumors of fates worse than death.
Like the children's’ story of the bogey man who steals the voice from children who cry at night for no reason! That one is surely a tale told by adults to their children to keep them from throwing a night time tantrum. Surely. Randall didn’t know any children who suddenly
lost their voice, they had been born that way.
It was impossible to tell rumor from reality. The Machine was a rumor until Randall’s great,
great, great grandfather discovered it. Some praise it, others curse it, but either way, it
was Randall’s ancestor that made the first big discovery (or re-discovery) that helped
Sanity become a village rather than just some old sign that was left over from ruined
society. He also found the first underground ruins that grew food like magic, which no one
would believe at first since magic doesn’t work in the ruins.
It seemed like all of his ancestors had made great discoveries that made Sanity “the” place
to be born if you wanted to be famous.
His great, great, great grandfather also discovered the ruins that became the Trials.
His great, great grandfather discovered ruins take the non-working magic lights from
underground and give you another that would work; this got more underground food growth
working again.
His great grandfather disappeared trying to find out more about the Machine shortly after
his grandfather was born.
His grandfather didn’t have anything to do with the ruins and when his father announced he
wanted to be an adventurer, he threw him out on his own.
5
His father was secretive in his work, but he knew it had something to do with his great
grandfathers disappearance… his father hated the Machine, but thought there was more to
it if he could just figure out what! His father had a hunch that the Machine didn’t “want” the
people it healed to stay, but he couldn’t say why.
❖
With all that his ancestors had done for Sanity, the villagers just expected him to do the
same. No one asked Randall if he wanted to do the same work as his father, but then none
of the children were asked if they wanted to take the Trials. All the children were expected
to go through the Trials. Running away wouldn’t do much good as there wasn’t much
around Sanity other than ruins for days. If you ran away, you’d probably end up stuck in
some ruin until you ran out of food and water. That was the only thing that Randall feared
more than the dark, he would rather die horribly than die of starvation, just the thought made
him dizzy and feel like he was about to pass out.
Today was different. Today, with his Magic Lite he would get through the entrance and the rest should be pretty easy. The adults wouldn’t let children in the adult only areas of the Trial, but from the little his friends would tell him he only had one other concern and that was
that his Magic Lite would need a shake when he was wedged in somewhere tight where he couldn’t give it a shake. He might scream and pass out if that happened and then he’d probably have the Magic Lite taken away since children aren’t allowed to keep any relics of the old world. Without it, he might never pass the Trials.
Randall skipped breakfast to make sure he wouldn’t have anything in his stomach in case he became nervous, but with his stomach growling and the ceremony to start he wasn’t sure that it had been the best idea. The smell of baked goods wafted over from one of the
food stands and it was a melody of sweet pies, frying meets and breads that could be called tart, but with a hint of sweet cream poured on top were simply delectable.
It was far too late to grab a snack, he’d just have to hope he was early enough to be one of the first few and that none of them would be stubborn if they got stuck and needed ‘rescue’. He headed toward the outskirt of town closer to where the Trials would be held. There were a few food stands that were along the way, but most of these served food that was cold and
overpriced. He walked as fast as he could without breaking a sweat. He was starting to get really hungry and knew if he ate now, he might as well count on losing it shortly before his turn.
A bit later and quite a bit out of breath, he made it to the Trials and there were only a dozen
or so children ahead of him. Now just to wait until his turn and finally become an adult.
Randall woke up early this morning, much earlier than usual. He hadn’t slept much either, he was worried that he’d let his father down. His father had high hopes for him. Today he became a man. The rest of the boys he knew were all looking forward to today, but not Randall. Randall was in no hurry to leave his childhood behind.
It’s not that he wanted to stay a child. He didn’t like it when the adults told him to wait with the little kids. He wanted to be with his friends, or the kids his age that he called friends. All of Randall’s friends had already become Men or Women by finishing their trials… but not Randall, he had failed each year for that last 8 years… he couldn’t make it past the entrance.
The dark paralyzed him. He was the only one in his village that hadn’t gotten past the entrance on the first try and now he was on his 23rd year and he still couldn’t do it. But not today! Today Randall finally found a way to get past his fear. He found a Magic Lite
that didn’t use magic and it didn’t burn like a candle so the gargoyle wouldn’t see it. He found it last year shortly after a huge crashing sound outside the village. After village elders made the area restricted, Randall snuck in one morning to see what
was so dangerous that no one was allowed. He didn’t see the big deal, it was just a big burning hole of useless metal. He found it on his way back nestled in a tree, glinting in the early morning sun. The adults must have missed it in that initial search and no one had
been back since it was restricted.
At first it just looked like a chunk of worthless metal with some glass on it. It wasn’t anything special he thought, but then it slipped from his fingers and tumbled to the ground. On it’s way down it hit several branches and Randall heard an clicking noise. When he climbed
back down and picked it up, he saw that light was coming out of the glass end. There was a protrusion that he pushed on and the click noise happened again. He dropped it, startled by the loud click. He picked it back up after a few seconds and gave it a hearty shake to
see if there was anything inside it.
It didn’t make any noise.
He pushed on the protrusion again and it made the same click and suddenly there was a blinding light in his eyes, which caused him to drop it again… once his vision cleared, he picked it back up and pressed the protrusion again… again it clicked and the bright light no longer came from the glass. Over the next few mornings, he figured out that you had to shake it to make the light brighter, dropping it also worked, but seemed to take longer. He also figured out that it would only get so bright and if you used it for for too long without shaking it, the light would stop without pressing the protrusion. He was confident that he would finally make it through the trials … or at least the entrance
this year. He would finally be able to join his friends as an adult.
