A Willow's Awakening To Reality

Monster

Waking up in grief, he had remembered what happened that night, something that he had never let go of. He found himself sitting down by a white door, holding a doorknob loosely yet strongly. He looked around to see multiple broken glasses of alcohol bottles and a blackness all filled with the substance, the alcohol itself as a black sea. He stood up slowly, making his legs tingle as if they had not felt themselves in a long time, and looked around to find willow trees all around, and snow that covered them. 

He looked at his reflection on the nearest glass, he had been a light skinned man with blonde hair, and black clothing. He then walked around, barefoot on the sea of alcohol, and leaving frozen footsteps of blood on the snow, he looked at one of the willow trees and felt a breeze push its elegant leaves onto him to wipe his tears out, that were frozen and all black. The willow tree was consumed by the tears and soon started dissolving with a static screech for every sound it made. 

He stared as he saw the willow tree die and see its ashes form into a brand-new alcohol bottle. He then picked it up and walked around past the willow trees, shedding tears all around that contaminated the snow and within every step, everything was soon filled with blackness and screams of agony, to soon hear a child's cry nearby. He stopped to look around in disgust at a child's cry and turned to a white-haired child crying in the snow, repeating quick apologies, and begging for forgiveness. In such pain and regret, the child cries with its head down, with its elegant long hair facing the ground that was filled with blood of its own.

He stared at the child for a moment and raised the bottle of alcohol. The child looked at him with eyes full of regret meeting his eyes that showed no mercy towards the child's cry and slammed the bottle into the child's head, making the child silent. He then looked at his reflection on the tiny pieces of glass to see himself, as the child itself abusing his own child because of his own pain and suffering. He had found out he was still holding onto his past trauma, and passed it down to his own child, calling him what he was exactly called, a monster.

Willow dropped down to his knees in regret and guilt, to pick up Mildred while he was unconscious by the glass that was slammed into his lobe and even his tears had turned bloody. He then had heard his own cries and hugged Mildred tightly, then hearing his own apologies and contaminating the environment once more with his tears and soon everything had gone to ashes. And soon all died without him, he once again found himself in the sea of alcohol with tiny pieces of alcohol all around. And laid down there to stay if it took for himself to stop his weeping and soon, disappearing to look up at the sky, that was then a ceiling.

He opened his eyes and looked around to find himself all alone in a quiet room and in a comfortable white bed. He sat up and rubbed his head to see the bed full of alcohol bottles, some even broken, and the floor filled with empty plastic boxes that once used to contain snacks. He looked at the counter that had a plastic bottle filled with cookies and pieces of both cheese and ham. He stood up to look at pictures of Mitchell on the wall, and started to remember what had happened that day, and not only that, but other memories she had with her. He stared at them and heard a glass breaking as he heard a deep, familiar voice talking, and then another one, and another. All sounding mature, they laughed and spoke to each other surprisingly.

"Hey Mildred, remember that it is your turn to wash the dishes today"

"Snap! I totally forgot about that, I am sorry, Lily."

"Gosh Mildred, you have always been so stupid!"
"Speak for yourself, Mylo!"

"Okay you two, settle down, if you two are going to keep acting like this, I can just do it all myself...ugh...again."
Willow heard as they spoke, and walked closer to the door, slowly raising his hand to reach the doorknob, and placing his hand on it. It was warm, though it felt unusual to him. He then twisted the doorknob and opened the door as quickly as possible, to then be slapped by a beam of light, making him turn away. The silence had taken over the voices, and Willow opened his eyes to see what he once called, his children. The three of them looked at Willow in shock, though in different expressions. Mylo gave Willow a death stare, as if he had his guard up. Lilac looked at Willow in surprise yet looking as if a knife had just hit her, she looked hurt from seeing his face. Mildred looked at Willow with pure fear and shivered more the longer he stared. Willow stared at the three of them and walked out of his room, for the first time in years, it had felt brand new, yet it had felt like a dream. "Hey old man, ya' gonna say anything to us or what?" Mylo had said to Willow, with a protective tone of voice, as if he were in charge, Willow looked at them and waved slowly, even though it had felt wrong to do it. Lilac looked at Willow wave and quickly started doing the dishes, as a response to her discomfort. Willow turned to Mildred as his eyes were stuck into him, and his body looked like it was freezing. 

Though it had felt new to Willow, to walk out of his room for the first time in a long time, he had felt chains attached to his unhealthily thin body that was as heavy as a giant rock, he felt intense guilt and yet so did hunger was accompanying that feeling. It had never felt so new, yet so empty in his heart as if something were missing, though he had his children and a roof to live under, his heart was never fulfilled. He soon turned to the fridge to pick a snack from it, as if it were the only thing he had left. Mylo looked at him with a face of confusion, asking himself "Does this man have no shame?" and all of them watched as he started walking to the couch in surprise, as if they were expecting him to go back to his room again. Dozens of questions were floating onto their minds, some of them in fear of what his plan could be, and no trust was given to Willow, they could never. As for Willow, he sat down on the couch to turn on the TV once again, and started eating the snack he had picked up, without making eye contact with them either, though patting Mildred on the head gently, as a welcome gesture. In confusion and fear Mildred flinched, as he had never felt Willow's soft hand on his head in a while that he had forgotten what his touch felt like.

None of them had recognized him and believed he was an impostor who took over the Willow they knew, they did not know a father of their own, they just knew a monster and that is all they could remember in the top of their hearts, as for they have become vulnerable to the positive memories they had made together. It was all gone, all that they kept was a glass and made sure to never break it.