ache & after

Short Story: The Peony

The young man lay on his bed, writing short stories, poems, and songs like he usually did when having free time. He wrote about steps that needed to be made to change how we all view one another. In his poems, he organized his thoughts in ways that when reading the story just once it gave several different meanings. Then in his songs, he jotted down the different lyrics about not giving in to what others expect of him and reaching for what he wanted in life. Amid a sentence in one of his songs, Mikael felt himself dozing off, slowly, into the dream world. When doing so, he felt the pencil in hand, dragging against the paper, gradually, slipping from between his fingers.

Mikeal's head raised as he saw himself standing in what seemed to be pitch black, not like when it grew dark outside and the stars guided the way, but just black as if he was engulfed into it. His eyes darted around at it all trying to figure out where he was exactly. While looking around, his eyes suddenly landed on some sort of figure that mixed in with the darkness. He squinted, trying to make it out. Within an instant, the figure scurried up and stood right in front of the young man. It screamed in his face, anger pouring from its mouth. Its teeth sharp and long, thin hair covered its face with horns that circled wide around Its ears, but what seemed to be most blinding of all, was its eyes. The eyes never seemed to end as they were filled with the nothingness of the pitch black. Much like the pitch black that consumed Mikael now.

Mikeal was jerked out of sleep suddenly when hearing a sudden rapid knock on his front door. He laid there for a moment, trying to not let the terror of the dream overtake his mind. After a moment, he sat up and breathed in slowly. When standing he grabbed his maroon hoodie and headed down the stairs to answer the front door.

When reaching the entry room of the house his hand reached forward for the front door and pulled it open. His eyes went to the man in front of him, probably only a few years older than himself. Mikael watched him for a moment, the man's head down and he continued to stay silent. "Hey, do you need something?" He asked, quite confused and concerned that the man only stood there with his head low.

When lifting his head, Mikael could only stare at the familiar face. The man with ocean eyes, brown-blonde hair, a tall figure, a strong body, sharp jaw, and glasses. It was then Mikael's turn to stand there in silence, his eyes staring at the man instead of the ground like the man's eyes had been.

"You're..." Mikael quietly started. "I'm you." The man finished, observing Mikael, wondering what his reaction would be.

Mikael shook his head, then grinned in a way of confusion, and even maybe in the sense of him feeling a trick was pulled on him.

"No, no... That's-that's not possible." The twenty-year-old only laughed and tried to let his body relax. "This is some kind of joke." Though while Mikael was trying to relax, the man stood tall and still, his expression serious, which after a moment, made Mikael stop laughing.

The man let his eyes drift to the ground for a moment as if deciding on whether or not to speak his next sentence. While standing there, he pulled a small seed from his pocket. He closed his hand tightly and let the small peony sprout from between his fingers slowly. Mikael watched, once again in disbelief, his eyes glancing from the flower to the man, his heart racing. The man opened his hand and gently gave the small flower to the confused lad.

His ocean eyes then flickered up and watched Mikael's, his lips parting before speaking his next sentence thoughtfully. "I know how you end, and I'm here because I want to change that."