Something Fades (One by One)

Somethings Fading (One by One)

The first time it started happening, Basil was four.

He'd accidentally spilled mommy's wine, and she'd gotten very mad at him. Basil had been scared, because mommy was yelling at him, and it wasn't like mommy never yelled, but it was usually at daddy, not at him. She mostly just ignored him. But this time she noticed him. In a bad way.

She'd started hitting him. And it hurt. It hurt so much, and he begged her to stop, but she wouldn't listen.

"Get up"

He tried to get up, but his chubby arms wouldn't hold his weight.

"I said get up!" she screamed.

Basil couldn't.

"Stop crying, brat, or I'll give you something to really cry about!"

Basil lifted his eyes up, uncomprehending, to his mommy's face. It was contorted in rage. He was scared. This wasn't...mommy wasn't supposed to act like this. She was acting like the monsters in his story books.

She...she was...

....

She wasn't mommy, was she?

No.

She was a monster.

And monsters...

They were evil.

It was the first time her outline began to darken and fade, and it didn't stop since then.

.

.

.

The second time it happened, it happened with dad.

Seven year old Basil's life was a monotone one, and he was always on edge when mom was around, but it was fine, because the monster only came when she was mad, so Basil kept her content as much as he could.

He never could.

He made her meals, and he cleaned the house. He brought some plants to make the place look prettier for her. He didn't know how the flowers were called, but he was quickly getting the hang of gardening, and it made his days less lonely.

Along with dad.

Dad wasn't around much, but when he was, he would play with Basil, and tell him stories, and hug him lots. Basil liked dad. He was nice to him, even if he yelled at mom too.

But as time passed, dad began to leave more and more, and Basil saw him less.

Dad liked flowers, and liked stories, and liked Basil, but he didn't like mom, he knew. So he left. But he always came back, and when Basil cried one night and begged him not to go, not to leave him, he knelt to his level and promised he would find a way to get Basil out of there.

Out of the house. Away from mom. Permanently.

Basil was ecstatic. He would finally be safe from the monster!

Especially since it had been appearing more and more, and his mom less and less, and eventually it was just a mass of darkness and eyes that made him want to vomit.

So, next time dad left, Basil waited.

And waited.

And waited.

But dad never came back, and mom was angrier than ever.

Basil never saw him again, until one day.

He had been running some errands on the supermarket, scarf tightly wrapped around his neck. It would be a week before Christmas arrived. Not that it meant anything. His house would be dark and Basil would be trapped with that thing-who was the monster again?- and it would probably end badly for him. The scarf was to hide the bruises, as were the long sleeves of his coat, but it did nothing to hide the ones on his pale face. Basil knew it didn't matter though. Aside from some pitying and uncomfortable looks, people-distorted, shadowy, but still people- wouldn't bother him. They never did.