Our Little Family (COMPLETED)

The Final Fall

The days to come have been the worst the Hansen house had seen in a long time. Or ever. Oakley, the former happy go lucky kid has been completely broken. The sessions with Jessica have helped a little but it's so little that there's barely a difference.

However, Zoe and Evan see this small difference, and there holding onto the small ray of hope they have. Zoe is trying everything she can to atleast get the child to smile. His empty expression looked straight ahead completely ignoring his mothers efforts.

The days passed swiftly, nothing changing, the same shell of a child whose broken because of an event that horrified him. It was a warm night in May, it was passed midnight as the house was completely silent.

Evan had his arms wrapped around Zoe as they both lay peacefully sleeping in there bedroom. Just down the hallway, was Oakley. He couldn't sleep for fear of having sleep paralysis again for the fourth time this week.

The boy crawled out from his warm comforter. He had been oddly freezing tonight. He pulled his favorite blanket over him and made his way to his bedroom door. Standing on his tip-toes, he reached for the handle. Wiggling it before it swung slowly open. His small feet made there way to the kitchen.

There was a small amount of light showing from Zoe's office, where her computer stays on it's screen saver all night. Oakley's feet moved from carpet to wood. The hard wood floor was somehow cold under the child's socked feet.

The toddler stood with his hand on the cool glass of the sliding door to the backyard. The moon reflected off the glass, shining just enough into the house. Oakley looked out, watching the world through a window.

He huffed out loud as he forced the door open. It wasn't completely silent but, Evan and Zoe were so sound asleep with there bedroom door closed, they didn't hear the sound. The loud noise was like nails on a chalkboard interrupting the relaxing bit of silence in the night air.

The outside world was so peaceful. If humans all just disappeared from the planet in this very second... would they even make a sound? If nothing happened to the remanence of the human made society, but humans themselves just vanished, everything would be the exact way it is now. No sounds of kids screaming, people talking, passing cars.... just a society and the moon overlooking everything.

The child looked up, allowing the moon's touch to grace his face. To think, everything can be swelled with normality one moment then the next... everything you are can be challenged. Whether it be because of someone else's doings or you're own...

The boy slowly moved closer and closer to his favorite part of the backyard, the tree. This looming tree had always been here, it happened to be an Oak.. which is why Oakley had always felt a strong emotional attachment to it.

The short green grass poked the child's feet in an almost uncomfortable manner. He waddled from his left then right foot in annoyance. Under he looked up again, the tree stood strong over the backyard as well as the child.

Raising his small chubby hand to lightly brush it against the trunk, the boy sighed in almost relief. No matter how different his life became, no matter if he was scared, angry, happy, sick or jealous... this tree always remains the same.

The same tall Oak tree. Nothing different comes daily for this oversized plant. The only thing that changes is how it might start housing life. Like birds. A mother bird creates her nest. She lays eggs, the eggs hatch... the babies fly off and the cycle starts again with another bird family during the next spring.

Why can't human's have it that easy in life. In a way, we're not to different from the birds. People are born, they grow up and leave.... but, the birds seem to know there purpose. There instinct is apparent to them within there first few minutes of life. Then when the time comes... they go.

The boy opened his eyes to see the world below his feet. He sighed once more to then reveal a sweet smile pastered onto his freakled face. He felt free, he felt like no one could hurt him now. He may not have a clue of how he climbed the tree and neither would anyone else. The logistics of how a toddler would climb a tree doesn't match up. Sometimes things don't make sense. However, sometimes things don't have to make sense.

Oakley took a deep breath to feel the early summer air fill his lungs. He felt the rough exterior of the tree branch under his finger tips. The leaves fell just into his view.

Suddenly the small branch began to give way. Instant fear rushed through the boys body but, no one was there to catch him from his fall. His body rushed to the ground followed by a tree branch close behind. The ground came fast but wasn't a surprise when it came.

The boy now lay unconscious at the bottom of a large tree trunk. The short poky grass held the boy in itself, like a craddle..
To catch anyone who may meet it's hands. The night passed as the boy lay completely alone. The morning dawned eventually.

Zoe rolled from her position next to Evan. Her eyes fluttered open as an instant feeling rushed into her body. A feeling that something wasn't right. A mother's instinct. Immediately she rose from her mattress. The air was cold...

She hurried to Oakley's bedroom only to be greeted by an empty array of sheets, blankets and pillows layed out on a bed with no child present. A small gasp escaped from her mouth.

She ran immediately to the living room, hoping to see her child watching the newest cartoon, full of colors and quirky characters. Again, nothing but a completely untouched room.

Her attention was then taken to the open sliding door. When she reached the doorway, she saw him. Her child laying in the backyard completely unconscious. His limbs were scattered every which way as the sudden fall caused him to try to grip absolutely anything he could possibly grab, to no avail.

A blood curdling scream escaped Zoe's slightly chapped lips. Evan jolted awake and rushed, still in his underwear to his wife's side. He saw his Oatie laying there.... all of his own memories rushed back to him.

The parents both stood frozen against there own thoughts.

"Please... please no". Zoe whispered under her breath.