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slashwriter) wrote2018-01-26 02:46 pm
Zox: School of Gods Chapter One
Title: Zox: School of Gods
Chapter: Broken Door of Hearts
Word Count: 1,105
Rating: PG
BROKEN DOOR OF HEARTS
“Mommy?” A young boy no more than five looked up. At a tall thin woman. One with short curly red-orange hair.
She glanced down at him; her lips pressed into a thin line. They trembled. "Y-yes, Akuro?"
He bit down on the tip of his right thumb. "Is Hisashi home yet?"
Taking a deep breath she closed her eyes.
"Mommy?" The boys eyes widened.
She opened her eyes and looked down at him. She knelt in front of him and placed shaking hands on his shoulders.
Akuro felt like he'd had one cookie too many.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
Her tearful gaze sent a chill down his back.
He whimpered, “Mommy!?”
"Akuro... Hisashi... he's... he's not c-coming h-h-home." Between each word she sobbed. Her shoulders shook. She could not contain her sorrow. Not even in front of her youngest child.
Akuro blinked and tilted his head. "When will he be home?"
She shook her head. A small lock of hair fell over one of her eyes. “Never, Akuro. Hisashi is never coming home.”
His eyes grew wider. His vision began to blur. "Never!? Like Madam Pompom?"
She nodded, "Just like my little calico."
“NO!” He bellowed and struggled out of his mothers grasp, "Hisashi can't be like Madam Pompom!" He ignored the glistening eyes and deep etched frown lines.
Hisashi couldn't be gone. He had to come home!
Before his mother could tighten her grasp he jerked away. Out of her comforting trembling hold.
Without a thought, he turned away from her and ran. His hand reached for the door. He turned the knob and sped outside.
"Akuro!" She called after him, her hand reaching toward him.
He felt the swish of air behind him. The smallest warmth brushed his fingertips. But he was too quick for her to grab hold of.
He didn't stop. He couldn't stop. A pain that started in his tummy rose to his chest. It hurt. Like a hand squeezing his heart. Of life and joy.
Behind him leaves rustled.
His mother called after once more.
She was lying! She had to be lying!
“She never lied before,” he whispered to himself.
He shook his head. He couldn't believe what she had said. That Hisashi wasn't coming home. Their promise – broken.
“A-Akuro! S-stop!” Her voice had grown hoarse from the short sprint. Her breath coming in short shallow gasps.
He couldn't see. His vision too blurred by his tears. Still he did not stop running.
He slowed a couple of times when he tripped over his own feet.
Up the hill he continued. Into the woodlands.
Behind the trees he stumbled onto a well worn path.
His right hand curled into a fist. "Why Hisashi? Why wont you hold my hand?"
He stopped only to stare down at his hand. He shivered. "I'm cold, Hisashi. Where are you?"
He looked away from his hand and ran again.
No matter how far or fast he ran the tears did not stop. Nor did the pain in his chest.
He did not slow down. Not until he was over a hundred yards into the woods.
Wheezing, his chest rose and fell again and again.
He heard a babbling brook and stopped.
The boy looked into the water. He wiped his nose with his shirtsleeve.
“Hisashi! You have to come home!” He yelled.
“Why wont you come home?” He whispered gazing down at the water again. He saw himself. Alone.
He could not think of an answer. Not one that made sense. He closed his eyes and huffed. With his mouth a grim line he stomped one foot against the ground.
He closed his eyes. Listened to the sounds around him.
He heard laughter on the the autumn breeze. He longed to hear it. He'd know his brother was well then.
Shaking his head he opened his eyes and frowned. "That's not Hisashi." The joyous sound didn't belong to his brother. If only it had.
He sat down on the shore. Removed his socks and shoes. Rolled up his pant legs. With a weary sigh and sniffle he plunged his feet into the water.
No more adventures. No more fun. Not with his brother.
Hisashi was gone. His smile. His laughter. His hugs. They were all gone.
He sniffled again. "Hisashi," he gazed up at the sky. It was getting dark. He kicked his feet in the water. "You were the best big brother anyone could have."
Big dark clouds gathered in the sky. Seeing them he got up.
He shivered and picked up his socks and shoes. Turning, he began to walk home.
Leaving the woods he gazed down the hill. He saw a figure in the distance. They were holding up their hands. From those hands a light red hue formed. It was as familiar to him as the well worn path in the woods.
Hisashi had wanted to learn how to do that too.
“Papa!” He gasped and ran in his direction. Maybe Papa knew what to do! How to bring Hisashi home!
The closer he got the brighter the red. It got bigger above his fathers hands. It looked like a heart. It looked to have a doorknob.
It is a door!
How his father managed to create a door from thin air he knew not.
It didn't matter. Only getting Hisashi home did.
Large wet droplets came down in a fury.
A flash of lightning lit the sky.
Akuro's eyes widened. He couldn't move.
He saw a bolt strike his father.
Thunder boomed. He covered his ears.
He began to shake. He couldn't see his father.
One moment he was there and the next he was gone.
He screamed a single word. "Papa!"
His mother ran out of the house. Made her way to him. Pulled him into her arms. Knelt down beside him. Held him tight against her. Needing him as much as he needed her. More so than either had ever needed the other before.
“Shh, shh, Akuro. It's okay. Everything is going to be fine.”
She rocked him back and forth. To comfort herself as much as to comfort him. He felt warm. Alive. Safe.
"Mommy..." he grabbed her shirt in his hands. Closed his eyes and let the tears fall.
In a single day his brother and his Papa were gone.
Nothing was going to be okay. Not anymore.
Tears streamed down their cheeks like rivers. Together, mother and son let loose their sorrow. In loud shaking sobs. Their tears mingled with the rain. The sound of their cries drowned out by the torrent of the thunder storm.