The Eye-Patch Teen

The Savior

"Dad?" I questioned, he laughed and said, "Michael you fell asleep on our road trip to Canada were in North Dakota halfway there." "Sounds good dad." There is a time of silence, "Michael my son do you know why I brought you on this trip?" I sighed, "Yeah my second suspension." "Come on Mike gun threat? Seriously." "DAD STOP PRETENDING YOU KNOW WHEN YOU REALLY DON'T! YOU'RE NOT MISSING AN EYE YOU WEREN'T BULLIED IN SCHOOL! YOU ARE NOT LABELED AS UNSTABLE AND WEIRD WITH NO FRIENDS AND FUTURE. PEOPLE DON'T GO AROUND WHISPERING WHEN YOU WALK AROUND THE HALL! AND I'VE BEEN I'VE BEEN IGNORING THEM FOR YEARS THAT'S NOT WORKING... IT STILL GOES ON IT'S BEEN GOING ON FOR 6 YEARS! You had friends. Dad, you will never understand my pain so just stop." I looked away my one eye began to water. He sighed and quivered, "Michael, your mom and I are just really worried that school is super expensive and the other school isn't right for you. Michael, I love you if I could take away your pain I would but I don't have the power to." "I know you do. And I wouldn't wish this pain and suffering on anyone else." "I'm proud of you but also disappointed I don't have the guts to speak to my father like that. It's time my son." "Ti...Time for what?" He looked down and backed up with me with glass in his face blood leaking down and said in a dark voice, "Awake my son!"

I awoke and hung from an old decaying log. My shirt collar was hanging on I heard a crack from the dead log. Below me was a river going down. The water was cold I could feel the breeze from the log. I heard the rotten log begin to break. if I fell id go into the freezing cold mine water. The log was gonna break. If I fall with it ill go deeper into the ravine. The water ran to a dark drop-off. I'm too heavy this it's gonna fall. "Fuck it!" I began to take off my shirt. I took a few deep breaths and let go. my face and chest and stomach hit the ground. My legs dipped and slammed into the frigid water that was flowing toward the dark. I attempted to pull myself up before I was swept away. I failed and plummeted into the water. It was like 30 degrees. As I got closer to the darkness I could hear the water falling into the dark entrance. I began to yell since the water was so cold and my wounds were getting saltwater in them plus I was terrified. I grabbed the edge of the wall. Half my body was encased with the frigid water. 

I struggled to pull myself up again and again. I even cut my right hand on a little rigid rock. I clustered all the strength and adrenaline, screamed the most determined manliest scream I ever had to produce, and threw myself on the cave floor. My chest hole body felt like a pin cushion being stabbed by a bunch of needles. I struggled to get up the bleeding from my face and chest was now benign. Shit Cal he's still up there, I cried, "Cal I'm ok are you up!? "Get a rope!" I looked down discouraged he wasn't up there. I felt helpless. I helplessly glanced around and I saw him sprawled on the floor. I ran to him to see if he was ok. He was still breathing just knocked out I slapped him twice lightly. I then pinched him and his eyes opened groggily, "Cal are you alright. My teeth chattered from the low temperature. He got up and hugged me. "Mike you're ok! What happened to your face?" I shivered from the cold as he noticed the chest injury and I looked at the new bruise on his face, "Cal did he hit you?" 

He looked away and closed his eyes and tears began to flow. "Cal?" He fell to his knees and started to break down. He sobbed, "Michael I'm so sorry! I shouldn't have come." "Dude it's not your fault. I would've been down here anyways if you didn't come." Seeing my boyfriend cry made me wanna cry "Cal what's this about man?" He began to sob louder and he started hyperventilating. "Cal we're gonna start with one gonna start with one question at a time we're gonna get out of this together." He nodded while crying, "Why did you wanna come, I thought you were busy?" He put his hands on his head and wailed, "They found out!" I needed to get him up I can't see him like this. I held his hands and he rose up with them. I wiped away his tears. "Now cal are you-?"My sentence was cut off with a shiver. He looked at Mr, "Oh my god Mike here." He took off his bunny sweater and forced it onto me. "I look like a pirate fem boy." He sniffled and chuckled, "Now Cal who found out what, and thank you." He struggled to take a deep breath. "My parent found out I was gay. My dad was trash-talking some gay people on tv and I couldn't hold my tongue anymore. And he wants to send me to conversion therapy." "That's  awful." "I left then told you to pick me up?" I sighed in relief, "Are you ok know. I know that it hurts." He was still crying he wasn't physically hurting now he's mentally hurting. "We got get the hell out of here."

I looked around and heard a splash the log I was hanging from fell into the river and floated out of sight. I began looking around and pointed to a wall, "We can climb!" I ran over to the wall and looked up. Cal looked at me nervously. "Cal, can you climb? " He looked at me embarrassed, "Only with a harness. I sighed I'm gonna have to carry this 5 foot eight inches dude. Five eleven so I'm carrying something slightly smaller, I asked Cal, "How much do you weigh no offense?" "Uhh, about 134 pounds." "I'm like 170 which means I have to pull up 304pounds. Hop on." I looked up it was like a mile up. "I cant. Cal, we gotta..." "It's ok Mike we can find another way out like there." Cal pointed to a mine entrance falling apart. "Cal the mines were closed because they were unstable and dangerous. and they were closed in like 1962. You do the math." "I don't care  we need to get the hell out of here." He walked towards it and took a deep breath. I jogged to catch up with him and held his and we proceeded through the darkness. "Mike, how are you even alive you look like shit?" "I... My father." "What?" "I'll tell you more later. He was my savior.