Father & Son 6: Shades Of Future Night

The Sun Shining On The Trees

"Come on, Willow. It won't be that bad!" Fern reassured as their mother drove them to school.

"That's what you think because you've been here before!" His younger sister snapped.

"And I know the teachers. They're wonderful." Fern smiled at her, hoping she'd return it.

Willow was not one to convince easily. Getting her out of bed for her first day at the new school in town was a overdecorated hassle nobody wanted to deal with that day.

"Now, remember," Their mother warned. "Don't draw too much attention with your powers, Willow. That means don't use them."

"Why not?! Fern gets to use his!"

"We're still working on your powers. So it's best to keep your powers from showing up."

Willow groaned. "Fine."

Fern sighed. "God, you can be stubborn."

"So can you!"

"Well at least I learn from that! Your just plain stubborn and refuse to do anything about it!"

Their mother shot a glare at them. "Please stop, you two. I'm already stressed enough."

Her eldest son groaned. "Aren't we all?"

Willow's first day at this school was a lot. The kids didn't seem to like her very much, except for one kid.

A kid that sat far away from her, so it was to wait until recess to talk to her.

Recess...did not go the way she had hoped.

She had almost nobody to be around, because nobody seemed to like her. They all seemed to have some weird vibe when it came to her, as if they were sensing her magical abilities.

Her family had them, so what made it so weird?! She had to estimate there was at least 4 others in that school alone that were just like her, whether it be a teacher, another student, or even a higher up!

So why was she the one singled out?

She kicked a rock into the woodchips around the swing set, where the group of kids had gathered.

"What the..." She suddenly looked to see a small child trapped in place by the chain of the swing.

A group of boys were below her, laughing like this was some sort of stand-up comedy sitcom.

Wait a second...that was the same girl from the class!

"Sunny?" She vividly remembered the girls name, and kind of assumed that was her name, since she was the color of the sun.

Another kid, who barely resembled her, was watching in shock. She knew him, too. She'd seen him with some tall orange stick earlier that morning.

The other kids, a coffee colored one and his friends, were laughing like maniacs. Obviously, they thought this was funny.

And it was taking every single cell in her tiny little body not to smack them with rose thorns right then and there.

"Whatcha gonna do now, Goldie?" The boy cooed towards the golden yellow kid in front. "Gonna save your sister?"

"She's not my sister, now get her down!" Gold snapped.

"Why?"

Willow was going to snap. Nobody seemed to realize there was a scared little girl up there, who was tied in place by chains! That had to be painful!

Those things pinched like kids on Saint Patrick's Day, and even those stung. Sunny's pain could relate to a lot of people right now.

She ignored the stinging pain behind her eyes, that were telling her to snap those chains with tree roots and rescue Sunny.

She did rescue Sunny. But not in a smart way.

She began climbing the support arches towards Sunny, and suddenly all attention was drawn to her.

"Keep cool, Willow. Okay, sure, everyone's watching you, but still! Your both going to be fine!"

She was trying so hard not to look down. Woodchips were not the best thing to land on.

Risking the reveal of her powers was a sacrifice she was willing to make for someone like Sunny.

Once she reached the top of the swings, she realized how many children were watching. Gold and his small group of friends were front and center. Sunny must've been a member. Mocha and his buddies were just below them, sarcastically calling out to Sunny.

Willow had to fight to let her powers take control.

"Hey, Sunny? I'm gonna get you outta here, okay?" Her voice was gentle, a natural for her. The woman in her family genetically had soft spoken voices unless provoked.

Sunny didn't look up, so Willow let vines curl around the arch supports and they wrapped around the chains.

The chains gradually loosened around Sunny, so Willow grabbed her hand in case she fell.

"Gold! Get ready to catch!" She shouted.

Gold pushed Mocha out of the way and held his arms up, ready to catch the lightweight girl.

Willow gave Sunny a reassuring smile before dropping her into Gold's arms.

She slid down another support and glared at Mocha's friends. "I get why your name is Mocha. Your brain is the size of a coffee bean! A Mokka coffee bean too!"

"And why is that?"

"Because your Mokka pellet bird brain thought it would be so hilarious to let a child be chained up and dangling over woodchips!"

"Your calling me a bird brain?!"

Vines shot put just underneath Willow's palms. "I will make you into bird food if you don't shut your mouth, because nobody asked for your words of disrespect and disregard for a child's life and safety."

Teachers returned moments later. "Willow, Mocha, Sunny. Principals office. Now."

Gold stepped up. "Sunny and Willow are not going with. They are not culprits in this."

"Mocha and his friends chained Sunny up on top of the swings, and Willow rescued her." Another kid said.

The other kids began agreeing. "Willow and Sunny are innocent!"

The teacher stared at them, dumbfounded. "Fine. Mocha, principals office. Sunny, nurses office."

Mocha snarled.

As Sunny began walking with the teacher, she gave Willow a sad smile. "Thank you."

Willow smiled back, happy to help a friend.

"Sunnys been your friend ever since?" Red asked, pulling Willow out of her stupor.

"Yep. And them Navy came around and everything went to shit."

"Wow."

"I'm going to do everything I can to rescue Sunny. I never expected Gold to be in your group, even after all these years, but I'm going to let him help."

"You saved one of his friends. You didn't know who he was, but you still helped them."

"I'd do anything for a friend."

Red smiled. "You sound like King. He'd do anything to protect Purple."

"I promise, I'm going to make sure Purple gets iut of here without dying. We're going to bring his memories back."

Red gave her a look of determination.

"No matter what it takes."