Blue Polish

{1}

The fall that year was beautiful as ever. Orange, red and yellow leafs falling to the ground. A young black haired boy sat alone in a big pile of them, picking up the ones he thought were the prettiest.

Hunter had just turned five that August. He was a big boy now. Or so he thought. His little head was full of ideas of what he'd do once he reached that age. He could go exploring now. Unfortunately, up until this moment, nothing interesting had come up.

Hunter was getting impatient. He longed for an adventure, for something new. Life with his mother was okay, but she could never fully satisfy his boredom. So right after he'd turned five, he began sneaking out of his backyard through a broken fence, bravely looking for new discoveries.

Today was the day. The day that turned the young boys life around. Today he realized his true passion. Something that was more exciting than even pulling on girls' braids in kindergarten.

As the child wandered in the nearby woods, he stumbled across a furry little pile. It instantly caught his attention. He walked closer to examine it and found a red substance covering the whole thing. It was the same red liquid that runs out of Hunters body every time he falls or accidentally cuts himself.

He instantly associated it with pain, as every time he saw it he would always be hurt. Was this little animal, laying there, not moving, in pain? He wondered. His sky blue eyes, wide open, fixated on what seemed to be a little squirrel. It couldn't be. How could it be laying there so still if it was in pain.

The boy took a stick from the ground nearby and poked the animal. It didn't even budge. That irritated Hunter. He wanted to see the pain in poor creatures eyes, but they were just completely lifeless. The squirrel was dead.

The disappointment was quickly replaced by a new found joy. This little creature didn't belong to anyone and nobody was around. The child had full freedom to do whatever he wanted with it. So he took that chance and after wrapping his new experiment in a big leaf, took it home.

As expected, his mother was waiting by the back door, calling his name. Before entering their backyard, Hunter decided to hide the dead animal in a bush behind a fence. He didn't want his mommy to take such great discovery away.

"Sweetie, what were you doing behind that fence?" His mother asked. "It's dangerous for you to be out there." She looked worried.

"I'm sorry." Hunter looked down at his feet, feeling guilty. "I just wanted to explore."

"I know, baby." She looked at him more comfortingly. "We can go exploring together some day." She suggested.

"Okay." The kid said unenthusiastically. The whole fun of it was that he was all on his own. He didn't want to be watched over. He wanted full freedom. That just meant he was now supposed to be extremely cautious every time he snuck out. And he made that promise to himself that he wouldn't let his mommy get in the way of his adventures.

Hunter would watch her everyday, trying to catch a moment when she was busy enough not to notice him being gone beyond the fence. And one day, he caught just the kind of moment. He snuck out through the fence and went to check up on his previously found treasure. Except... it wasn't the same.

The dead squirrel's body was now covered in flies and maggots. The worst part was the smell. It was so unbearable that the poor child nearly gagged, covering his little nose with his hands.

This made him confused. What happened? Why does it smell so bad? And most importantly, who do those insects think they are to just come in and steal something that belonged to him?

Hunter felt this burning anger build up inside of him. He clenched his teeth and not even paying any attention to the smell he grabbed a nearby stick and started smacking the maggots with all the strength that he had. Sadly, the flies were quick enough to escape. That didn't matter. It made the child hate them. They were thieves. Intruders.

After a good five minutes of uncontrollable rage he finally stopped to take a deep breath and calm himself down.

He looked down at what now just looked like a disgusting smelly mush. His little heart ached at the missed opportunity. If only he hadn't wasted so much time trying not to get caught by his mother. Now, he had to search all over again.

After a moment of grief the child walked off into the woods, his dedication and curiosity giving him strength. Unfortunately, nothing good came up. And to top that off. Hunter didn't even notice how dark it had gotten. Mommy must have already noticed him being gone. She's probably worried sick and what's worse, mad by now.

The young boy tried to find his way back home, but of course, he was lost. It was still getting darker by the second. His little heart started beating faster. He felt a knot form in his throat.

Hunter hated crying. To him it was a sign of weakness. And he wasn't weak. He was strong and so crying was off limits.

All that was left to do now was fight and try to find a way back home without breaking down.

Silent cracking of dry leafs and a slight whistle of wind accompanied the young man as he unknowingly walked deeper into the dark forest. Eventually, it was pitch black. The only thing illuminating the way was a cold light of the moon, which was dim in itself as most of it was hidden behind the trees.

Hunter squinted his eyes, trying to see the path ahead more clearly, but that didn't work out.

It was getting harder and harder to tame the tears. Each tree now looked like a predator, waiting for the boy to come closer so it could grab him with it's claws. He finally broke and fell to his knees, crying loudly, his high pitched voice echoing miles away.

All of a sudden he felt as if he wasn't alone in this. Like someone was watching over him. The child raised his head and squinted his eyes, trying to see something in the dark. He could spot anything, but he just knew someone was out there.

He stood up and whipped his tears with his little fists. After looking around for a bit Hunter gave up and with all the courage that he had in him screamed out:

"W-who's there?"

No one replied.

"Hello?"

Silence. All that was heard was the cold wind brushing against the threes, lifting the rusty leaves off the ground gently.

"Whoever's our there, I'm not scared." The boy screamed out, clearly lying as his voice was shaky and his bottom lip was trembling slightly.

Overwhelmed with irritation of being ignored he clenched his teeth and more tears came out as a sign of annoyance and anger. Eventually, the child broke down and started crying loudly. He wanted to be back home. With his mommy. Where he'd feel safe and sound.

Suddenly, out of the darkness, something was thrown his way. At first it startled him, but once he realized what was it he stopped crying. A dead animal. Just like the one he had found before.

Without any hesitation Hunter rushed to the little thing and without worrying about getting blood on his hands he grabbed it and started investigating it. Ripping the fur apart, he was like an animal himself. All the fear had disappeared. He was now in control.

The feeling of euphoria was overfilling. The kid was elated. It was like nothing he'd ever felt before. This was the start of his adventure. This new found joy. Now he knew what he wanted. He wanted more. And more. And more...

Guyss, I'm back with the sequel. Not much else to add here sooo
Hope you enjoyed! <3