Short stories and scrapped ideas [1]

Bitter sweet treat

Gale and I grew up in an orphanage, one with a lot of 'misfits'. Gale himself was called one, though I disagreed. His left pupil in his blue eyes formed improperly and made him blind in it but he had little problem walking around.

Our caretakers, the nuns, made the orphanage more mysterious as they kept to themselves. Then when a kid was adopted they'd leave without a proper goodbye or celebration; the info would never be disclosed to us. Yet as we both grew, I started to become more curious about the candy on the table. It was becoming an obsession.

"Come on Gale, let's hurry," I urged, running down the hallway past the candy table.

"Wait, my vision is worse today, slow down," Gale huffs as he tries to catch up with me. I grab his hand leading him to the front of the orphanage.

"As the sun goes down we'll go back in," I say, looking at Gale as he nods, rubbing his left eye.

"Junco, should we really do this?" He questions, his grip on my hand getting tighter.

"Think of it as a snack, we both like sweets and I finally want to eat one of those candies," I say, but Gale just sighs, leaning onto me as the sun goes down. We'd spent a week planning, I was going to get a taste of those candies.

As we crept through the halls, the lights were dimmed and some turned off. The off-white walls were lined with wooden crosses. The stench of old wood drifts away as we walk closer to the table. The hallway had doors lining it, the nuns bedrooms. As we creep closer, I grab Gale sliding under the tablecloth. Footsteps walked by as we hid.

"Junco, it's too dangerous-" I covered Gale's mouth, reaching onto the table and snatching a candied eye. It was covered in a sticky sweet substance that smelled and I quickly bit into it. It was sweet with a bitter aftertaste. I hold it out for Gale and he takes a bite but gags, startling me.

"Let's go," I grab Gale's arm, leading him to the bathroom where he vomits, while I wash the substance off my hands.

"I wanna go to bed," he mumbles, catching his breath. I took his hand, walking him to his room.

"Sorry it made you sick, promise I'll get you chocolate in the morning." I waved as he shut his door and before I knew it, it was morning.

I get up, walking towards Gale's room but find it empty. I turn, walking down the hallway, and see the table set with a new batch of candy. I look around before grabbing a candied eye. The stickiness of it made me feel nauseous, my eyes fell upon the deformed pupil of the blue eye.

"Gale has been adopted."