Eros. (Benimaru Shinmon)

九❀

Year 195

I entered my home and kicked off my shoes and headed towards the back of my house towards my garden, I stumbled towards the edge of the porch and sunk down. It had been less than 24 hours and this was happening to me. Maybe she was my lucky charm...

The tears began to spill from my face. It was more than crying, it was the kind of desolate sobbing that comes from a person drained of all hope. I sank to my knees at the tiny grave, not caring for anything at the moment. My tears mingled with the ground beneath me and my gasping wails echoed around the house. The pain that flowed from me was as palpable was the frigid fall wind and I was struggling to keep my tears silent, as I was looking up to the rooftop beyond.

I slowly made my way towards the garden that was my haven of peace and comfort. I had always been so self-conscious when I cried but now I just gave way to the enormity of my grief towards everything that happened today. It was my way of lashing out rather than using anger because of my pyrokinetic abilities.

Through my tears, the garden seemed to be a shade brighter. It was as if the gift of the skies wasn't water, but liquid magic, washing our world to show what was there all along, nature in her in humble brilliance. The buttercups became gold, the grass the shade of every dreamer meadow, roots quenched, soil renewed. And after the patter of the rain came bursts of birdsong, their hearts rejoicing the occasion of my tears.

A heart breaks in the heaving waves of a new disturbing reality that has arrived uninvited. It was then as I moved towards my friend's grave that I felt this blackness come over me. Like a blanket, but not a blanket of warmth but a blanket of coldness making me shiver. But somehow it's making my eyes feel heavier and heavier. I finally close my eyes finally sending me into a sleep filled with dreams

I opened my eyes and immediately it widen. The once pale blue sky is now shielded by a veil of darkness as the smoke swallows up the whole sky. The fierce fire could be seen sneaking their way out from the rows of trees and struck my house. Within seconds it became a place of ashes. A place of melted appliances, charred stuffed animals, blackened books, and pile after pile of objects rendered unrecognizable by the cruel dance of overzealous flames.

The charred remains of my house stood in the pale morning light like a skeleton. It had been so alive, so vibrant. Inside had been a place of love and security, a place with memories and warmth. Now the wind whistled through and the steady rain fell right into the twisted plastic and metal that had been furniture and electronics. In those ashes lie my photographs, my art, all my personal possessions and my garden.

It is no wonder that Hell is a place of fire. Fire kills. Fire forces tear even out of people who never cry. Fire twists the soul until it screams silent screams. When a fire takes your home, its destruction is more than physical; it's emotional and, in some ways, that loss is more permanent.

I gasped for air and opened my eyes, every thought of my dream was in high definition. Though my eyes are open I can't think of why; my heart is pounding, mind empty. It's as if a hypodermic of adrenaline has been emptied into my carotid. I strain into the utter darkness, breathing rate beginning to steady.

My hands were gripping something soft as I looked below me and realized I was in my futon. But I remember clearly that I had fallen asleep in the garden. The heck happened. I picked my body upwards and noticed a small tissue wrapping, something that I knew that a particular elderly woman who was known for her daifuku would use...and only one person she loved giving her daifuku who would enter my home-Benimaru.

Benimaru was here...but why?

Distracting me from my thoughts on the situation, the sunrise illuminated the blue as if it were igniting the most perfect flame. The rays shine through my window almost instantly. It was a reminder to me that my life was still here and that I needed to focus on today's tasks regardless of the events that occurred yesterday.