Apathetic Breeze

Part 2/2

A lush forest stretched as far as the eyes could see just behind the lonely hill. In a circular clearing somewhat deep in the trees, several birds flew out of a branch as a warm breeze swept away their nest. Curious about what caused the draft, the chattering birds stopped to look back into the clearing to see a young boy lying down and looking up at the cloudy sky. The sun drifted down the sky like a kite that lost the motivation to fly and managed to peek behind several clouds. Angry that the clouds blocked its vision, it glared over the forest, casting a bright glow on Gale.

His arm shot up to block the sun's rays for the second time today, but the rays pierced through his semi-transparent hand and reached his eyes. Averting the sun's gaze and instead looking at the sky, Gale's eyes could see that his already pale hand had disappeared except for several translucent white lines that swirled around in a hand-like shape. Surprise soon grew into curiosity as one of his fingers drifted toward the winding white lines and made contact with one of the strands.

Leaves rustled, and branches swayed as a powerful gust of wind emerged from the point of contact, almost knocking Gale over. His eyes closed and twitched as the draft swirled around the clearing, ruffling the grass and caressing his hair. The warm breeze faded away into the cloudy sky, the surrounding air happy to become transparent for the little breeze. When Gale's eyes reopened, the air already accepted the wind as family, soaring high into the air together as one. The translucent lines curled into themselves and turned back into a solid yet slightly paler hand as it reached toward the family, hoping that grasping their transparent body would convince them to let him join.

Gale forcefully clenched the escaping air, his unkept fingernails tearing into his palm and staining it the shade of the setting sun. As the hand fluttered down, the flowing blood climbed upwards and soaked the index finger. Gale's pupils turned misty as he turned the blood-soaked finger translucent and scattered the white lines around him as an offering to ask if he could join them this time. The family returned and accepted his offer, though it was only for the finger. The draft that was once his finger blew upward and embraced the air, leaving Gale behind with nine fingers.

The nearby air congratulated the finger for becoming transparent by racing around the clearing and happily swishing around Gale. Although happy with the newcomer, the air expressed disappointment by ruffling his pale hair and sighing. Then, the wind whispered soft and appealing words into his ear, convincing him to become fully transparent, leave everything, and become their family. While the air breathed these soothing words into his mind, the breeze that once soared upward now dove down, muffling all noises except the whispers of the wind.

The wavering cyclone that spirals and winds brought a storm of thoughts, drowning and winding Gale of any other feeling. Gale's eyes became misty again, and his head drifted down. His entire body started to flicker, now ready to embrace the air as a whole. When the clothes surrounding him started to fade into lines, the white envelope flew through his pocket and landed on the grass directly below his gaze, resisting the breeze and staying on the ground for Gale to notice. His attention drifted towards the envelope, wondering why it was not flying away like everything else.

The envelope was picked up and examined by Gale as his misty eyes gradually returned to normal, slowing down the flickering and the surrounding tornado. Even after being held by the previously punctured and bleeding hand, the envelope wasn't stained with blood as the wound got stitched with fine translucent lines. The amount of money was not a lot, but just enough. The medicine his father requires is expensive, but with this, it just might be enough to stay opaque for a while.

Even though Gale's shoes trudged past the clearing, the grass beneath them remained upright as it swayed along with the wind. A faint smell of smoke reached his nostrils as two young people, one of whom was the man in the store, ran past him while yelling and laughing. The smell gradually thickened as the lonely hill came into sight. The burning light struck his eyes for the last time, but there was no movement from Gale. His eyes were fixed on the rising air above the shed as well as the fire that engulfed the wooden house.

Gale's head turned back to the distant town to call for help, but that idea withered and died as the two people who ran past him earlier were now only specks in the distance.

His eyes stared at the burning house, just like how they stared at the fireplace earlier. Nobody was there to help. He could just wait until someone else put out the fireplace, or it just naturally burns out. As Gale's body moved back towards the forest, his ears picked up a high-pitched scream coming from inside the house. Still, his legs moved towards the forest, ready to move on from his old life. His hands clutched the envelope tightly to his chest.

Then, a gust of hot wind blew toward Gale, almost knocking him over. His body steadied itself, but the envelope flew upwards, past him, and out of sight. Gale's arms reached for the envelope, but Gale stopped himself from running away again.

What was the purpose of getting the envelopes again? Why did he do all this? He still had something or someone he cared about.

Gale walked towards the house, raised his left hand, and pointed his pinky finger towards it. The finger turned transparent, and the strings began to unravel. Gale then commanded the wind to blow towards the house, now caressing his left hand, which only had four fingers. The wind seemed to calm the fire down, but it roared back, angered that the wind that helped him grow earlier wanted to claim its life.

Gale raised his left arm again. A more powerful gust bellowed out from the top of his arm. The next gust was even more potent as Gale raised his right arm.

His left foot swirled upwards.

His right leg unraveled.

The hurricane swirling around the house made the inferno flicker for a moment. The flames did not give up, though; they clung on to life as the flaming tendrils clawed deeper and deeper into the house.

His left thigh twisted into the air.

Then, his right thigh.

Birds chirped in panic as their nests flew away. The grass grasped the soil so that it would not fly away like the birds so far above it. Dirt, leaves, and stone swirled around the house as the trees shivered and clouds trembled.

Then, his stomach.

Then, his back.

It smelled the smoke bellowing out of the house.

Its nose.

Its hair.

Gale could hear the flames die down.

Its ears.

Its chin.

Gale could see the fire waning.

Its eyes.

Its mouth.

Gale thought that all it took was one last push.

Its head.

Its...

Three children walked along the overgrown path, excitedly chattering about exploring the haunted house. They heard the wind rushing around them as they approached the dilapidated wooden house at the top of the hill. The kids held onto each other, scared but determined to venture into the ruins.

In their peripheral vision, one of the kids thought they saw an outline of a small child similar to them inside the house, looking for something or someone. When the child tried to look closer, he could not sense anything except the soft wind gently caressing his hair.