Flower's See Everything

Prolouge

The world looks a lot different when you're younger. Many people say it seems much brighter and happier. The colors were always looking more vibrant. The memories seemed less dull.

The laughter seemed genuine then and the echoes of those best moments are the things that change the frown on your face today.

I doubt your whole childhood was happy, but I bet you said you wish you can just be a kid again. Right?

Unlike you or at least many people, childhood just makes Jalen hide under the bed when the door creaks. Stare at the handle of the door. Listen to his parents foot steps. He was prepared to run into the closet at any moment.

Huddling in small spaces and holding his breath. Biting his tongue to fight the tears he was choking down.

Cuts and bruises dark and bled, and the faint scent always remained. The blurry vision and the ears ringing, not knowing that this wasn't normal. That was his life.

Watching his siblings faint from the excoriating pain and from taking random drugs to feel better. He watched as everyone eventually became addicted without anyone forcing anything down their throat anymore, it was all just normal.

Getting extreme punishments for the tiniest things, grasping onto the smallest of moments for happiness.

It isn't all bad.

In Bangkok Thailand. At the RV camp, everyone knew. Behave...

And hide.

If you weren't hiding, if all was well, there were other thing occupying his mind. He could've catch a break.

Strange figures stood in corners, and followed him.

The figures only made him follow some rules, one rule was... if he heard the foot steps, keep the doors open, but he cannot check the room of the door he opened.

If he leaves the bedroom, he must run back if the foot steps get louder.

If a shadow is murmuring and not interacting. It is not his friend. He shall never sleep if they're around. But they're always around. They will not let him rest.

If he see's a flash he is to blink, if he sees another flash he is to run. The bedroom isn't save anymore, you must be in a closet.

Of course, the more he broke these rules the harsher the punishments got. The figures weren't afraid to warn him of this.

The figures also weren't afraid to help him or raise him at times. The nicer of one's, the one's that made his vision ache from being so bright, were usually kind.

Unless their eyes turned red or green. You will never need to hide.

His siblings never understood the concept of these figures, how dangerous they were. The rules got more complicated over time and surely I'll mention more eventually. These rules are the most common ones... the most important.

It was like his siblings were immune to the consequences and rules he had to follow; this confused Jalen. They only got affected when Jalen broke the rules.

It had always confused him, but as long as he remained in line, he understood it would be okay.

Well... okay was a weird word.