Fated to be (+18)

Chapter 23: Reminiscing

The clean-up was somewhat easy within the house and surrounding area, but it was more time-consuming on his second floor, which had been raided.

His parent's room was the first room that Zoroark had when she investigated the floor, and he gave it extra attention to how it was supposed to look.

It was silly, but David still had thoughts and notions that his parents would be able to return to him. It was childish at best, but it still helped him cope and think of the good that was there before... everything happened. While he may not remember much from his younger years with his real family, he kept on to a few kinder memories and feelings.

[Flashback...]

A younger-looking David was in his current home with himself, lying on the floor in his stereotypical bedroom for someone his age at the time, with toys almost everywhere and a small drawer with clothes slowly getting smaller for him. As for himself, David was holding a crayon in one hand, and in the other, he was holding down a piece of paper on the floor with what he considered to be a 'concentrated' look plastered on his face.

For anyone else looking, though, it looked nothing more than a grumpy face on a young kid as he stared at the paper and continued to draw something.

A pair of hands suddenly grasped David's sides and hoisted him up into the air as if he was nothing, assaulting him with a barrage of tickles and giggles, causing the young David to burst into tears as he dangled in the air.

Eventually, David can touch the ground but falls on it, clutching his sides in laughter. His father's hearty chuckling rings in the room as he stands over David.

David's father was a muscular Caucasian male with a heavy tan from working outside, doing any odd job at the time that would allow him to work. He was a well-statured man who dwarfed the young David, but for most people, he stood above them at 6' 5." Wearing tight-fitting jeans and a collared shirt, David knew he had just returned from work.

"Hey there, my little artist. What are you drawing this time?" His father asks while going down to lie on the floor next to David.

David's father used the nickname 'little artist' since David had a passion for drawing many things in his youth. Until his love was shattered by his old life the moment he was placed under the foster care of those 'monsters.'

Young David grabs the nearby paper and proudly shows it to his father, who momentarily turns serious as he gives the picture a stern look.

"So what is it? A cloud with golden legs?" His father asks young David, who gives a complex thought on it.

"I don't know. I just made it when I saw a cloud like it today," David says with a goofy smile.

"Well, kiddo, you certainly have an interesting imagination to make something like that, but for now, do you know what sounds like a good idea besides staying couped up today?"

"What?" David asks

"A hike through the woods!" His father exclaims as if it were the most exciting thing ever.

"Aww, come on, Dad, a hike? Really?" David asks begrudgingly

"Well, you may see them as something pointless and annoying now, but someday you will see the beauty that wilderness can provide us; now go get ready. We will leave in ten."

"Alright..."

Of the few moments he remembered of his father, it had to be his trips with him that stuck the most, the trips in the forest along different paths and even off the beaten path occasionally.

There is only so much that a person can feel towards the person who helped bring him into the world; no matter what they did, they were still his father, and there would still be that love for them.