Aiden and the Scroll of No Man's Land

Chapter 4

We both knew the perfect story for this kind of situation and so with a glance at each other, my sister spoke. "We ran into the Elder from across town." She started and I knew this was sure to get my mom's attention off the real matter. "Oh was it Grouser who lives near the border?" asked my mom interested. "Yeah, the same one.." I continued. This was basically it. My mom was into our tale and in no time her mind was elsewhere. This meant we got our food fast which was currently a blessing.

The food was the usual but remarkable nonetheless like always. Minutes later we were free again roaming about the streets aimless at the moment. As we walked a battered lonely road a little past the busy market place my sister spoke out breaking the long silence. "Hey! Remember what's happening tomorrow night?" she asked as she looked at me with her big eyes, her voice building up with excitement. "No.." I said not thinking. "Come on try and guess," she said hesitantly not willing to give in so fast. "One of your friend's birthday?" I asked after a few minutes of staring at the ground. "No, come on one more guess." "OK... is it the day dad finally got out?" I said suddenly without even thinking really because my mind was somewhere else pondering and trying to open unknown doors. I saw my sister's expression drop and I knew I had spoken without even consideration. "Sadly as you know he cannot come out for another three months." She said as she now kicked a pebble that was blocking her path. "Don't you think his sentence is way longer for the crime he committed?" I asked suddenly feeling the same way my sister felt.

It was sad that a key member of our family was behind bars for a crime that was not worth even being behind bars. So he had stolen a few goods and gotten into a couple of fights but that did not serve as justifiable proof for serving two long years behind bars. Something was unnerving about this and although I think it was mostly because of me, my mom and sister always told otherwise.

To be honest I think that because of me being in part of the family my mom, dad and sister all had to suffer way more than what others had to suffer. Like I had told before, not only was it hard for me to go on about my business without someone calling me names or someone causing problems to me, it seemed to affect my parents and sister as they tried to lead normal lives like everyone else around. My mom and dad consoled me, telling me not to take the full blame but deep inside I thought it was me causing the problems.

My sister cut me off from my deep thoughts as she said. "I know what you're thinking, however, I'm not going to do the same bickering as mom, instead I'm going to try and change your mood by telling you that tomorrow night is Zelia!!" "Why are you so excited about it?" I asked puzzled as I looked at her energized face. "You can't even enter. You still have two years to complete before you can watch the match." I said trying to calm her down. "I know and even though I'm really pumped for two years to go in a flash, I'm excited because you can finally go for it." She said and I finally realized her excitement. My face lit up with excitement as I told her. "Yes finally." I told as we continued to walk down the road. "They say it's so brutal that those who go in sometimes don't ever return." She continued her excitement building up. "Hope they do." I said my voice not showing the excitement I had just moments before, as I thought about the unlucky two who had to face the fight. "It's the fairer way." She said and I knew she was right. Brutal though it was, it was one, if not the only way to end a major dispute.

Thinking about the opportunity to see two individuals fight to their death just did not seem to go good with me. I thought my sister would actually have more fun in watching those individuals fight there rather than me. Nonetheless most of whom were eligible to watch the fight were in the highest of spirits. So much so that they created posters and wore paint over their faces depicting the name of their supporter.

My face must have shown some form of sadness as my sister spoke the next sentence in a comforting tone. "Don't worry about the fight if you don't want to go we will do something better here. To get you into a better mood why don't we go and meet dad?" she said and I took her advice as I knew she was just trying to get me into higher spirits. "Yes, that's a great idea!" I said as I tried to raise my spirits at least for her.