Seasons

The Dawning of Prophecy

                                                                                         SPRING

This is the story of a boy. A boy who knew nothing of the fantastic world that existed around him, just the mundane one presented to him. Until one wet spring morning, the day of his birthday, he heard his parents fighting. They had fought many times before, but this was different. There was a power in the air; he could hear it buzzing in his ear. His father's voice sounded terrified, his mother's ferocious.

He walked down the stairs, their voices increasing in volume. Mother had bags packed, including one for him complete with his stuffed fox on top. He heard the voices clearer now, as he moved closer to the living room. Father had been pleading that he and the boy be allowed to leave. Mother howled back at him that this would not be the way of things.

The boy had come around the corner to find his father's eyes wet with tears as he muttered a prayer to himself, and his mother's eyes red with rage. As she looked at the boy, a smile spread across her face. The boy's ears rang with static. Then came the pop, a sound like wet meat falling on the ground. He looked down at his shirt, finding clumps of red and grey. Curious, he touched it, feeling the stickiness and warmth of it. He looked at his mother in confusion. Then he saw Father's body lifeless on the floor, blood pooling from the headless body.

Mother came up to him with a wet cloth, her voice suddenly soft and comforting as she cleaned him. She took him upstairs, bathed him, and gave him clean clothes to change into.

Dazed, he was then suddenly in the car driving to the mountains. Mother had strange music playing, the boy remained unaware of the world shifting around him. Mother spoke about a special trip to a special place, a place full of magic, home. Hadn't they already been home with father? The home they left burning.

They drove for what seemed like days, the boy watching the sky cycle between light and dark. Mother turned off onto a deserted road, once they were high in the mountains. As they drove further up the boy was aware of a shiny glimmer surrounding them, the flakes flickering in the sun. The boy's ears popped, and he scratched at them, as they made their way higher still, he felt the air come alive and pulse around him.

They arrived at a place that looked like a farm the boy had visited with father. There were many women around tending to fields and standing in circles, and groups of little girls playing all around. There were many small houses all around and next to each was a small tent. A strange lady in a flowing dress came out to greet them as mother stepped out of the car leaving him in the back seat. She hugged and kissed Mother and regarded the boy with a hungry smile.

Something shifted in the trees to the boys' left. He saw it out of the corner of his eye. The boy blinked, then the odd lady came and invited him to get out of the car.

Taking the boy's hand, she walked him to where the road met the trees. The lady opened the boy's palm and rubbed some type of leaf with a funny smell on it. The boy smiled as the lady finished with the leaf and let it float to the ground. A peace settled over him; then without warning she sliced his palm with a knife. The boy flinched but he wasn't afraid, nor did he feel pain.

The lady pushed against the wound bringing the blood forward. She held his open palm out to the forest. Now the boy's eyes burst wide with fear; as a large creature with a glistening black body covered in cyst and decay, came lumbering out of the trees. It spoke, its voice sending chills through the boy's body. The boy could not understand, but he could sense the words were not pleasant. The creature rose up ever higher, towering over the boy. He shifted against the grasp of his mother and this strange woman, but their grip tightened on his small shoulders, The creature dipped its head low, and its mouth began sucking on the boy's bloody palm. The pain finally came and the boy, overcome by fear and confusion, lost consciousness and his memories of the past week, as the world blurred together, he glimpsed the creature's body heal.