00. Prologue
With my back pressed against the rough bark of the tree, I close my eyes and let the raindrops fall and slide down my face, leaving a cold trail of moisture.
Anguish wraps its hands around my neck, squeezing every ounce of happiness out of me, before carefully pouring in a bottomless bucketful of desolation down my throat, silently killing me.
Large pillows of cloud come together, completely blotting out the old-gold colour of the sun, casting a gloomy shadow of hopelessness over the land.
"For staying alive, thank you."
The strange boy whom I've never known existed an hour ago speaks up, shattering the momentary silence.
I hang my head low and pull my knees closer to my chest. "Why did you save me?"
The polluted air mingled with the undeniable smell of death occupies the vast space hanging above our heads, and like a thick, dark blanket woven with misery, it suffocates us slowly.
Lowering his head, he mumbles a soft, almost inaudible reply. "How could I not?"
The foliage sway and shake wildly to the upbeat rhythm of the wind, causing a handful of leaves to fall off and flutter downwards gracefully onto the ground.
I slowly lift my head and my eyes meets his empty ones.
Even with the large crack that runs down one of his spectacle lenses, successfully concealing a huge part of his eye, the bitter desolation that spills right through the huge crack is extremely hard to dismiss.
"Forget everything you saw today," he says, fully aware of the gravity of the words he's just uttered.
The potent smell of smoke carried by the gentle breeze washes over our faces, making us wheeze and cough violently while gasping for air.
I turn my back slightly more towards the right, avoiding his burning gaze that's spreading across my face, scorching whatever's left in me into a pile of ash. "I don't think I'd ever be able to."
Deep inside, as much as he tries to convince me otherwise, we both know that erasing whatever we've witnessed and lost would never be possible.
"I can't believe I'm an orphan at fourteen. I lost everything and now there's nothing-" I stop halfway, allowing liquid sorrow to trickle down my cheek, washing away remnants of leftover hope.
With a shaky hand, I wipe my tears away, only to have more saltiness spill over my brimming eyes, blurring my vision ten fold.
Rain drops pelt against my body, hitting me with full force, albeit not strong enough to force the misery nestled comfortably within me out.
He removes his glasses and tucks in the pocket of his jacket before sliding it off his body and draping it over my shoulders, adjusting the collar so it curls nicely around my neck.
My eyes trail over to face, roughly trying to make out his features through the heavy rain.
Rainwater slides down his face, inevitably forcing him to tilt his head downwards, making it even harder for me get a good look of this mysterious boy before me.
My eyes travel down his face and eventually stop at the beautiful necklace around his neck that catches the faintest ray of light and slightly glimmers.
It's a fairly simple-looking necklace with a circular charm and a small maple leaf encased within it. The charm pulls the rest of the necklace down with its extra weight, forming a small V shape.
The boy gives me a weak smile, trying his best to mask the inner affliction that's scratching everything up, tearing him up into insignificant pieces of paper.
His lip quivers uncontrollably and I watch as his face contort in bitter sorrow and he sobs miserably, clinging onto the very last remnants of self-control.
He pulls me into an embrace, catching me completely off guard, pulling me along into his own little shell of hurt.
Almost immediately, the bubbles of guilt and desolation that float aimlessly in the air, waiting to be popped finally explode, leaving behind nothing but abundance of warmth.
"When we meet again, I promise things will be different. I'm so sorry but for now this is all I can do."
Even with all signs of hope burnt to crisp, and shivering in the biting cold of the rain as an official orphan, I'm anything but lonely.
Trapped in the warm embrace of this boy whom I could've never known existed an hour ago, I feel warmer than I could've ever imagined.
~•~•~•~•
YOU ARE READING
Hidden Heartstrings
Teen Fiction"To silently hate you while secretly plotting your death or poke you in the eyeballs right now, I'm still contemplating." "Choose the opposite of the former then," he tells me ever so simply. ~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~• When Chelsea Crew trudges her way into...
