Reckless - Memoirs from the End of the World

I Shivered My Timbers [Part 1]

My father was a smart man, he could do anything; when I was twelve I helped him build a hut by the sea. He said it was a lookout hut but I would go in there at night to gather my thoughts and just relax and get away from my father's cries, I was the introvert of the family. My sisters were a lot older than me, five and eight years in front and as a result I was always a baby in their eyes. My dad never saw it that way, he always used to say 'I only got the one son, I have to teach him everything I know and so he did. My mother had died when two crazy men whom I could only describe as dirty, sick and twisted rednecks took her from us as payment for the rest of our lives. My dad would tell me "Don't worry son, she's strong shell kill them both and be back in no time, going to get her might get your sisters killed, it's not what your mother would have wanted".

He would cry and yell in his sleep, call out her name and then cry again like restless baby. I tried once to comfort him but he smacked me straight across the mouth and splat out blood, I never comforted him again after that, it was a lesson learned.

I never understood it, really. Why he agreed to it, my mother's face was expressionless when they began to tie her hands behind her back then roughly handled her away. She didn't cry or scream and I guess that made Dad's story believable but it never sat right. My sisters used to talk about it too but not in front of me, I would eavesdrop on them until it sounded like broken record.

That happened when I was thirteen, that hut did nothing for us but I guess I now had the know-how and confidence to build us something.

When my oldest sister was older the men came again, I saw them from the hut, a few years had passed if I had to guess and these bastards were at it again. I told dad and he told us all to hide, we had allocated hiding spots just in case. We were scared but it dawned on us that mother was dead otherwise they wouldn't be back.

As they come closer to our huts just by the sea one of them looked inside the main hut then gestured to the other to look outside. I could hear him say "Guess we'll check the hiding spots' under his breath. I hurried over to my sisters told them to be quiet and grabbed them by their hands and escaped as quietly as possible leaving my dad behind. I couldn't save them both.

"What about father?" said Maria, she was the youngest of them.

"Don't worry, he's strong, he'll kill them both and find us"

"That what he said about mother" This time Elisa spoke.

"You want to go back?"

"No, I get it" she replied without a thought.

"We should have moved a long time ago, mother was as good as dead, they knew about the hiding spots"

"Why would she do that? Tell them the spots"

"It's probably better to not talk about it El"

"So, you're in charge now" she said in disdain.

"I just want whatever family I have left to be alive, I'm not a kid anymore and this world doesn't give a shit about how old someone is" I could tell from her face that she was slightly impressed as she gave a little nod to Maria, they were always closer to each other than anyone else.

That night we could hear them calling our names and goading us out as they had now captured dad. He would scream with pain, cry and beg until they got fed up and we heard his soul leave. They began to cry albeit softly but I just couldn't, he should have never let her go and I wasn't ready to follow in his footsteps. They gave up after a while but we waited a lot longer just in case, my sisters pleaded that they might be able to save him still, but I assured them it was only wishful thinking.

I told them I would go and check but all I did was pick up all the parts of his body and bury them in the ground, but I left his head out so they could have some form of closure. I told them to pay their respects and then meet back at home, if they could forage for food then that would be better.