the love of Yin and Yang [KawaSumi] Eng.

Kawaki

Kawaki Pov

When I was a little boy, I lived with my alcoholic father in a village that was only accessible through a tunnel... Otherwise there were forests and mountains all around.

Father and I lived alone in a hut, which was far away from the settlement. Looking back now as a young adult, the distance may have been intentional...as he knew his violence towards me would not be tolerated.

But let's start from the beginning...

I was just in the forest chopping wood, the chopped wood I would resell further away...so I could finance the alcohol addiction from my father...it was hard and very exhausting as I was also out of water.... I was so thirsty...

I sold the wood high up on the mountain and went back to the settlement with the money I earned to buy alcohol for my father. As I got less money every day for the same amount of wood, the alcohol became less and less.

When I arrived in the village, I bought father's favourite alcohol and shortly afterwards I went to a man who sold my favourite animals, but we had no money for an animal... And father wouldn't let me anyway...

The dealer gave me a picture of a goldfish, which I tucked into the back of my trousers and then i quickly ran home. If I was late, father would be angry with me...

Our house was hidden deep in the woods and it was already dark when I arrived. Dad was already waiting for his alcohol, but I was just in time. I gave Dad the bottle. Dad just nodded and complained about the crowd, but he still gave me the key to the drawer where our food was.
I ran over and tried to unlock the drawer and get some bread out, but Dad spotted the note from the goldfish dealer. He pulled it out of my trousers and tore it up in front of me.

"Kawaki, you're not getting any more!" he shouted and snatched the key away from me.

"Yes father...", I said and sat down hungrily on the floor next to the door... my stomach growled, but I had to suppress my hunger pangs...

A few days later I repeated my daily routine, first chopping the wood, then selling it on the mountain and then fetching the alcohol for my father. I was about to go back home when a couple of boys stopped me on my way. One of the boys knocked me to the ground and the bottle cracked, which wouldn't please my father at all...I was terrified of his reaction.

The fishmonger shooed the boys away and helped me up after giving me a handkerchief for my wound.  The sun was already setting and I had to get to my father, I ran.
I had to be faster... I ran as fast as if my life was at stake.
On the way to our house, I tripped over a stone, I fell and the bottle shattered on the floor.

"No...", I gasped and picked up the shards. I ran home and gave the shards to my father.

Dad freaked out and grabbed me by the hood of my jumper, he took me to another room and locked me in there. I was so scared... It was so dark and cold.... I closed my eyes and imagined goldfish... I felt a bit better after that...