Short Stories/Poems

Shadow of a Man

The baby cried and cried. His cries could be heard throughout the entire forest in which he laid. The poor soul was all alone, sitting on a large leaf, wrapped in his blanket. Lucky for him, it wasn't just the animals that heard his plea for help. A man around the age of thirty was approaching the weeping child. He was a man of moderate height, standing at around six feet. He wore cloaks of black and grey with a hood that covered his light brown hair. He had a small beard that was littered with streaks of gray. He wearily stepped towards the crying child with cautious, yet curious steps. Nothing could stop the look of shock that spread across his face when he saw the little human. He grasped the infant in his rather large hands and held him up to his torso.

"Hello little one. What are you doing out here in this dangerous forest."

The child only continued to wine as he was held by the mysterious man. This slowly subsided, though, as the man started to hum a deep, yet calm song. The child began to stare at the person cradling him with happy eyes. The humming eventually ended, and the two just stared at each other for a moment.

"Now where might your parents be. I can't see why they would leave you out here. Could it be that they have been hurt?"

The baby only continued to stare at the man.

"Hello! Is anyone there?"

No response came except for the squeaks of squirrels and the chirp of birds. The parents were nowhere to be found. The man decided that he would take the child to his home. He began to walk back to his hidden burrow in which he lived. He had never taken care of an infant before. The man had a weary face on him.

"I've never done this before. I don't even know where to start. What does a baby need? What does a baby do? What does a baby wear?"

The walk to his home came to an end as the man approached the door that lead to the inside of his burrow. They had arrived to his home. The man pulled out his keys, of which there were many, and began to unlock the door. They entered the hole of a home and the man set the child down on a small chair. He then went to attempt to make a makeshift crib. A little while later he came back holding a crib made up of sticks, twigs, leaves, vines, and a small pillow. He placed it down and proceeded to place the now smiling child in the poorly made crib. That being as it may, the crib stood well as it held the weight of the baby. The man had a pleased look on his face as he watched the child roll around in his new bed.

"I suppose you will need a name won't you? My name is Artemis, and I think I might slightly base it off of mine. I've got it! Arthur! I shall call you Arthur. Do you like that name little one?"

The baby smiled and giggled happily at the mention of his new name. The two had formed a well deserved bond. The man had a proud look on his face.

"Little Arthur, I'm going to raise you and show you everything I know. You will live a wonderful life if I have anything to say about it."

A little while later, Arthur was asleep. The man smiled as he set him down, once again, in his crib. He then walked off to another door around the back of the house. He pulled out his large collection of keys and unlocked the door. He then proceeded to walk down the stairs into a dungeon that lies below his humble home. The dungeon was dark and was lit with only a few dim torches. There were a series of cells blocked off with thick iron bars. In some of the cells were the skeletal remains of people captured in the past. There was one cell, though, that had a living person in it. This person was beaten and bruised. He was as thin as a stick and his breaths were raspy. His wrists were scarred from the times he struggled to escape the iron shackles that bound him. Artemis slowly approached the half dead man with a smile still on his face. The man slowly put his head up to reveal two bloody eyes.

"Hello there Sirean. How are you doing today?"

The man known as Sirean just coughed up a bit of blood in response.

"Splendid. I myself had quite a good day. I found a little child in the woods all by himself. I couldn't find his parents so I decided to adopt him. I think he is going to grow up to be a lovely young boy. Of course he will take after me," Artemis stated cheerily.

Sirean's already bruised face stretched into a deep frown as he heard this.

"Well, enough chitter chatter. It's time for us to have some fun. I think you will really enjoy today," Artemis said as his face slowly crept into a creepy smile.

Sirean nodded his head no. He tried to beg, but no words came out. Artemis unlocked the cell door and slowly crept up to Sirean with a smile plastered to his face. Once he finally reached Sirean, everything went black.

A/N: Comment down below a theme you would like for a short story. The theme for this story was Irony.