The Unknown

The Beginning Of The End

     All he could see was a "Starry Starry Night" his favorite painting by Vincent van Gogh. This is what No. 569 always looked at since he couldn't see the real thing. His makers said he wasn't allowed to go out and see the real world. They said that he would scare people if he went out because of what he was and how he looked. Oh yeah, by the way No. 569 is part snake, the lower part of him at least. The upper half is human with bright red hair and beautiful green eyes. When you get to his waist his body turns into a large snake tail with red scales and a tan underbelly. The people in white jackets where happy with how he came out but they didn't care to give him a name. So they just call him No. 569. The boy started to call himself Vincent. Since his favorite artist was "Vincent" van Gogh. That was the only name he liked. He tried to tell the lab people this but they just laugh and told him that "things" can't have names because they are not born but made. So Vincent finally stopped telling them.

     Staying in a lab for years upon years gets really boring. The only person that kept him from dying of boredom was his care taker Randy. Randy was a tall man with sandy brown hair and kind brown eyes. He treated Vincent like a son for the most part, but with the other lab workers were around he had to treat Vincent has they did. When Randy wasn't around Vincent would study Van Gogh's art. He loved to look at Van Gogh's "Sunflower" paintings and he wished that he could see a sunflower in real life. Vincent would also to listen to music but he could only listen to it once a week. His favorite song was "Vincent" by Josh Groban, you can probably guess why. When he wasn't looking at paintings or listening to music Vincent was an experiment. He would be tested on how strong he was, how fast he could slither, and how inelegant he was. Which didn't change much through the years since he didn't get any real exercise. On the other hand he was intelligent, because of all the books he got from Randy. He was able to expand his vocabulary and basically knew the entire dictionary by heart. Life was boring for the young snake boy, but what exited him the most would be when he was able to get a glimpse of the outside world when the lab technicians left. It didn't last long for he was soon back in a room of white with the door closed.

     One day when the lab technicians had left, the door didn't close all the way. This caught Vincent's eye as soon as they left. So he went over to investigate. He grabbed the handle and slowly pulled the door open. The first thing he saw was a blinding light, which he figured was the sun. He blocked the light from his eyes till they adjusted. What he saw next amazed him. Everything was green and alive, just like in his books. He could hear the birds singing and the waves rolling up onto the beach. He could see the mountains in the distance and the deer by the lake. It was all so amazing that he couldn't even form words to describe how it was. As he slithered out he froze at this new feeling under his tail. He looked down at what it was. It was green like leaves but it was growing out of the ground. It stood on its own and with a closer look it seemed to have small creatures in it. Vincent smiled for he knew what it was instantly, grass. He couldn't help himself as he bent down and touched it. Before he knew it he was rolling around in this beautiful green grass laughing as if he were a small child. The red scales on his tail glistened in the sunlight making them look a thousand times brighter than they usually were. Vincent could no longer control his excitement.

     His adventure had just begun and Vincent was happy it did. He slithered down to the lake and felt the sand under his tail and between his fingers. He even went into the water. It was cold at first but he got use to it, though he couldn't move as well. He didn't know why, but he didn't care. He continued to slither through the shallow part of the water. As he slithered through he saw a strange creature that resembled him just a bit. It skimmed across the top of the water keeping its head higher than the waves. Vincent got closer to get a better look at it. It was a snake but what kind. As Vincent got closer the water began to get deeper. His tail slipped in the soft sand and he went under. See Vincent didn't know how to swim yet, the lab technicians hadn't taught him that. So he began to flail and twist trying to get back to the surface. In his attempt to swim back to safety Vincent hit his head on a sunken tree. It all went black within a few seconds Vincent was caught under the sunken tree so he could not float back to the top.

     It seemed like hours later before Vincent woke. He couldn't breath and there was a pressure on his chest then he felt something against his lips. With a jolt Vincent turned and coughed up water before taking a deep breath. When he looked up his eyes filled with fear. Standing in front of him was the lab technician that took care of him, Randy, and he didn't look very happy. Randy pulls Vincent off the ground by his ear and drags him back to the lab. As they were walking and slithering Randy had explained that Vincent had worried him. He had come back to refill the fridge but he saw the door wide open when he got there. He went inside to look for Vincent but couldn't find him so he looked everywhere and finally saw the end of Vincent's tail floating by a falling tree. This is when Vincent noticed Randy's clothes were soaking wet. Randy had jumped in and pulled him to safety. Vincent stopped his head hanging and tears in his eyes. Randy, being confused one why they stopped, turned toward the boy, but found himself in a tight embrace. Vincent was now hugging him and crying into his chest. The man gently laid his hand on the sobbing boy. He could hear Vincent mumbling that he was sorry and would never do it again.

     Once they were back inside Randy sat with Vincent to comfort him. The boy was still clinging to him and crying. Randy asked him why he had left the lab. Vincent told him that he had always wanted to see the outside world, and not just from a book. This didn't surprise Randy he knew that at some point Vincent would get tired of being cooped up in the lab. So he decided to make a deal with Vincent. The deal was that Randy would take him outside to explore if he promised to do everything he was told and not complain or argue with the other workers. Vincent agreed to it with a smile on his face. So for a few months that is exactly what they did. After Vincent was done with experiments and testing Randy would take him outside. That was until the boss came home.

     The boss was the head of the laboratory. He controlled everything from making the hybrids to selling them off to the highest bidder. Vincent hated the man. He grew to hate him even more after he took away the freedom Vincent was allowed. He had said that if someone were to see him then everything that they had been working on would be ruined. So the security around the building grew and Vincent was only allowed in his room and the lab unless told otherwise. Randy had also disappeared for some reason that Vincent couldn't figure out. Later he was told that Randy had been found dead at the bottom of the lake, with a gunshot wound to the heart. This hit Vincent hard, Randy had been the only person to truly care about him other than as an experiment. He was the only one to call him by his real name. After hearing this news Vincent started spiraling into darkness. He no longer spoke to anyone and he forgot about his books, and music. All he did was lie around or obey orders like an obedient dog. His eyes grew dull and his body small. He rarely ate and when he did it was only small portions. He no longer thought about the outside world nor did he think about Vincent van Gogh. All he thought about was the times he had spent with Randy that would no longer happen. Vincent cried every night for his lost friend. He cried to the point where he fell asleep.

     It has been months since the death of Randy. Vincent wasn't doing any better. He could no longer move from the lack of eating and he was rarely awake. The lab technicians have tried to get him to eat. They got to the point where they had to force-feed him but it didn't do anything for the boy. They have also told him that he could go outside whenever he wanted to but it still didn't work. He just ignored them and stared off in the distance as if none of them were even there. By this point he was skin and bones. The color in his skin and scales seemed to fade till he looked like a ghost. The lab technicians couldn't even do experiments or testing on him for fear of hurt him. They didn't know what to do.

     Hearing what had been going on the boss came to check in on things. When he saw Vincent for himself his face turned into one of discussed. He told the lab technicians that if they couldn't get him to move within a month they were to put 'him down. After that he left. The technicians couldn't believe what they just heard but they followed orders. They tried everything to get Vincent to move on his own but he just wouldn't do it. They had even told him that if he didn't start moving and eating them they would have to kill him. It didn't phase the boy one bit. Instead he looked them straight in the eyes, for the first time in months, and told them that he would rather die and be with Randy again then live another day in a world without him. After that the technicians stopped trying. The next month rolled around and they put Vincent down. As he lay on the bed dying he smiled. His last words being, "I see him. I see Randy..." 

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Hey guys and gals, thanks for reading my short story. Sorry if there are any errors in it, this is my first one.