From: Jose L. Solano (jsolano199@aol.comlink) Subject: [PW!] Memories of my Youth Newsgroups: alt.games.nintendo.pokemon Date: 2000/05/06 The dark figure stood before Trent, the shroud still concealing his face. Trent remained seated on the floor, his eyes fixed on the dark figure. "Tell me," Trent said, "What exactly caused your birth?" "A number of events throughout your life." "Such as?" "I'm not much of a storyteller, but shall recap the first few instances." -------------------------------------------------------------- Samantha Retwin, wife of William Retwin and mother of Jacob and Ian Retwin, walked down the ill-lit hallway, her younger son Ian in her arms and her older son Jacob by her side. Two men holding rifles flanked them as they headed to see William. William as led down the same hallway, handcuffed and surrounded by six armed men, the flickering lights flashing against his dark expression. As he walked towards his fate as many other men, in similar situations, hollered and roared in anger from behind steel barriers, knowing they would eventually walk down the ill-lit hallway as well. Finally, the Retwin family made it to the room at the end of the hallway. The armed men removed William's handcuffs and forced him to sit down on a large, wooden chair. As he sat down, the other men strapped him to the chair. Finally, the men stood off to the side, in perfect order, holding their rifles. They looked like clones standing guard over William. One of the other men walked over to a large switch. William glanced at his family; his beautiful wife, tears running down her cheeks, and his two young boys, still too young to realize what was about to happen. He prayed they would not take the same path he did and face this horrible, horrible fate. Finally, one of the men placed a large, black sack over William's head. He walked back to the switch and held his hand on it. Samantha turned both her children to face her, Jacob's head buried in her thigh and Ian looking behind her. Quickly, the man threw the switch. And now, it was no wonder the lights flickered. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Several years had passed since that day. Ian was in the fourth grade, Jacob a senior in high school. Ian was a loner at school, and few people even bothered noticing his existance. "Heya, Trent," said Lance, Ian's rival said. Like the other few people who knew him, Lance referred to Ian by his middle name, Trent. "What do you want, Lance?" "Ah, nothing, Trent. I just wanted to borrow some money for lunch." "Dammit, Lance!" Ian had begun swearing from a very early age. What had angered Ian was the fact that Lance knew well that Ian never had any money. The Retwin family had grown very poor since William's passing. "Later, loser!" Ian yelled as he ran off. As he did, a young girl approached him. She was a pretty girl, with reddish-brown hair, tied in a ponytail reaching her knees, for some reason. "Don't let him bother you," the girl said. "I just wish he'd leave me alone." Ian held his head in his hands, depressed. The girl sat next to him and put her arm around him. "Some people are just natural jerks. What's your name?" "I'm Ian, but my friends..." Ian stopped in midsentence, realizing he had no friends. "...Everyone calls me Trent." "Nice to meet you Trent, I'm Katherine, but you can call me Kate." -------------------------------------------------------------- "You were quite happy to have met her, weren't you, Trent?" the dark figure asked. "Yes, I was. She was my first friend, my first and only love." "That happiness changed recently, did it not?" "Yes, it did." "But that comes later in life. Shall I continue where I left off?"