Agonized Hearts

The Same Way

Kain continued guiding me through a small path in a dense forest. The trees moved lightly as a calming breeze blew by. From behind I could see Kain's light hair dancing along through the light breeze. He looked so different from this angle, and I felt my heart lurch at the thought that I was holding his hand.

What was this sudden feeling? I've never felt it before, and was very curious, but immediately put it aside when Kain stopped abruptly. I looked up from our hands and saw him watching something past the bushes we stood behind. I quickly moved my attention to see what he was looking at.

"Don't move," Kain quietly spoke to me. I looked at him, but did as he asked. All of a sudden, a strong breeze blew the shrubs out of the way. Kain then suddenly turned around, picked me up bridal style, and rushed through the open space in the bushes. He landed perfectly on the other side then set me down. I looked at him a little confused, but then turned around and was amazed by the scenery around me.

I stood there in awe as I looked at the brightly colored trees that wrapped around in a circle. They were painted with a pastel pink and spotted with a few white dots. Those same leaves covered the ground but made way for all the different variety of flowers that lay plastered to the grass. The flowers and leaves gave way to a little path that started where Kain and I stood. The little path continued until it arrived too the middle. There, a great oak tree covered in white leaves stood strongly in the middle of everything.

"Pretty right?" Kain spoke up. I turned to look at him and found him kindly smiling at me. I felt myself blush lightly, but quickly nodded my head yes.

"Where exactly is this?" I asked him, not taking my eyes off of the scenery.

"My sister and I actually found this place when I was about 10 and she was about 7. We always walked around here, then one day we were playing hide and seek. I couldn't find my little sis, but then I heard some rustling in the bushes. Suddenly my sister was calling me.

"Kain Kain come here!' So, I walked over to where she was and she was standing in front of those bushes we just went through. I walked over to her and was about to ask what was up when she immediately hushed me and told me to stay still. Then the wind blew and moved the bushes out of the way and she dragged me in here.

"Ever since then, this has been her favorite place. Every time we came to walk around here we'd always make sure to stop here," Kain told his story. I watched him as he did, but...he seemed a little pained somehow. I was about to ask him if he was ok, when he began walking through the small pathway.

"This is a very beautiful place, I definitely understand why she likes it so much," I told him once we arrived in front of the great oak tree. "It's so much larger than it looked when we were by the bushes!"

"Yea, she loved climbing up this thing. I remember she used to act like a monkey," he chuckled staring at the tree and patting it with his right hand. That's when I saw it. His pain was at its peak, and a tear came out in response.

"Kain!" I looked up at him worriedly. He didn't respond, he kept staring at the oak as another tear rolled down his soft pale cheek. He suddenly blinked as if he remembered where he was then wiped the tear away.

"Sorry," he responded looking back at me. Smiling a soft, but fake smile.

"Kain are you ok?" I asked extremely worried. He looked surprised by my sudden question, but then backed up a bit and looked down. That's when I saw the little cross made out of two sticks and a small amount of rope. The cross was place directly in front of the oak. I looked back up at him, wide eyed. He kept his head down, his hair covered any source of eye contact I could make. He then lifted his head back up, but kept it so I couldn't see his face.

He then walked over to the tree and placed his forehead on it. His shoulders began trembling lightly. He lifted his hands onto the trunk and slowly clenched his fists. I quickly ran to him and hugged him tightly. His body then fell limp and he fell towards the ground, taking me along with him, and he let his tears flow as I continued hugging him.

"Why couldn't I have gotten there just a few seconds earlier? Then maybe she would still be here with me. I would still be able to hear her sweet laugh and smile. She'd still be that child-self she always was!" He cried tucking his head into my neck and hugging me back. It took all my strength not to cry as well, but I still felt a tear roll down my cheek.

I let Kain continue until he was done. The only thing I could really do was show him a bit of kindness by letting him let all his tears out. I wasn't sure what happened, so I didn't want to say anything and possibly make things worse. I felt so useless to him, especially with all the kindness he's recently shown me.

Once he began to slow his sobs down he moved to look at me. I could see the redness in his eyes and the puffiness around them. He wiped the tears away then lay his back on the large trunk of the great oak tree. I did the same. I felt he needed some time to regain himself, so I said nothing and we stayed quite for a while.

"I'm sorry," I looked over at Kain, his head resting on his knees. He slightly turned his head towards me and half smiled. "I'm sorry you had to see this."

I quickly smiled at him before I decided to speak. "No, it's completely fine. I understand how that feels. Maybe all too well..." I told him, whispering the last part to myself. I looked down as I remembered that terrible day.

Suddenly I felt a small pressure on my right shoulder. I looked over to see that Kain had lay his head on my shoulder. He then reached over and squeezed my right hand tightly in his. I smiled lightly at his small gesture then looked up and stared at the pasture in front of us. Everything felt so calm.

My eyes began to droop when I felt something suddenly fall onto my lap. My eyes shot open and I looked down. There I saw Kain's head looking up at me with his eyes closed. His body gently rose and fell with every breath he took. I moved the few strands of hair that had fallen and covered his face when his head dropped onto my lap.

As I looked at his gentle face, it was hard to picture that he had gone through something so bad. He didn't deserve what had happened to him; I wish I could have done something to help him. I'm not sure how long ago this happened, but I hope that when he wakes up I can help and cheer him up.

The sun was beginning to set, and my eyes fell droopy once more. This time I couldn't keep them open. Next thing I know, it's dark and I've fallen into my world of dreams.