Page 1 of Kane

Chapter 1

Cassie

Cassie’s bright blue eyes twinkled with pure joy.

Another webcomic in the bag. Well,nearly. Cassie still had some finishing touches to sort out. Plus of course the usual second check for any spelling errors that managed to sneak under the radar somehow.

Final amendments aside though, the latest comic was almost done.

Cassie spun around in her seat and looked around at her apartment. It was a bright, open plan space that had big windows running across one wall. The view out onto the city was superb. Probably the highlight of the apartment and in no small part one of the reasons that the rent was pretty steep.

Still, itwasworth it.

The sounds of the city hummed outside, but it was a comforting background noise for Cassie. A contrast to the total silence outside her childhood home, a ranch where the nearest neighbor was over twenty acres west.

Growing up, the only noise Cassie would hear from her bedroom was that of the harvester chugging up and down the cornfields.

Oh, and the sound of her mom arguing with whichever stepdad it was that month. There was much to love about the country, but her homelife had rarely felt settled. Often, it could even be quite toxic.

But that was then.

Country girl to city Little, Cassie had gone on quite a journey. City life suited her. Cassie enjoyed the light and airy nature of her funky apartment. It allowed her to furnish it with plenty of color.

And boy, did Cassieenjoyadding extra color!

From her home-made posters to various pieces of art she collected from her favorite Etsy stores and craft sites, Cassie had a keen eye for art.

Being a twenty-four-year-old full-time web comic creator meant that Cassie’s mind was almost always focused on art, color, design. It was her passion and had been since for as long as she could remember.

Even as a twenty-four-year-old, Cassie still felt the same unbridled joy at any kind of color or art that she had as a kid playing with fingerpaints at her childhood daycare nursey.

The passion for color knew no limits.

Even Cassie’s favorite stuffie was super-colorful. Bouncer was a neon green rabbit with the cutest floppy ears known to man. Cassie and Bouncer had been through a lot together over the years.

They really were best friends.

The perfect Little and stuffie combination.

Cassie’s peroxide blond hair even matched with Bouncer’s neon green fur. It was like they were meant to be together.

‘Hmmm, I hope this issue sells well,’ Cassie said, adjusting her thin, round-rim glasses. ‘You’d buy a copy, right?’

Bouncer just stared back at Cassie, but Cassie knew that if Bouncer could, he woulddefinitelybuy her comics.

‘Well, I don’t know about you, but I think I’ve earned a break,’ Cassie said, chuckling to herself as she stood up from her chair and walked over toward the kitchen area. ‘Hey, it’s not like the boss is going to tell me to get back to work!’

Of course, Cassiewasthe boss.

This was one of the benefits of working for herself. There was no one to tell her how to do her job.

Cassie was in control.

Breaks any time she wanted.

Totalfreedom.

As good as this was, not having a boss did have downsides too. Cassie tended to get lost in her work. When she was passionate about a new comic, it was all she could think about.