As soon as they arrived at her house, Rose's cat greeted Zephyr, she always liked to meet new people, and warm up to them. Zephyr was no exception. They sat down at the table, a shaky handed Rose made them dinner.
Many unremarkable days later, the suspicion in Zephyr grew bigger every silent hour spent. He went to Rose, who was crying for most of her waking hours ever since they left the Reed house.
What's wrong, nanny? You don't act like yourself - He explained.
Nothing, dear - Said Rose holding back tears.
How come we aren't back at home then? - Wondered Zephyr out loud.
They got really exhausted, and I didn't want to be a burden on them - She said trying to make up a lie that would sound convincing.
Why would you be a burden? My parents think of you as family.
They worked for so long, I wouldn't have felt right staying there.
When can I see them? I really miss them.
After a bit of silence, Rose could no longer hold it together.
They... died... - She Muttered.
Both started crying, Zephyr couldn't take this all in. He just learnt about the world around him, how he knew nothing about it. And now his parents are gone... was it his fault? Could he have done something better? What if he was there when they died? Could he have protected them? Would things have changed?
You are a good kid, Zephyr... Do not avenge them. Aggression only births aggression. Be the bigger man, remember this! - She said, while every fibre of her being wanted to take revenge for the fallen family.
Zephyr tried to put on a plain face, not really understanding what that means. He went up to the room to let himself go, he cried hours on end, the silence tore him apart. It got so bad that he started talking to his snake, telling it how bad he is feeling. Guilt, powerlessness, and grief started to overtake him. Silence slowly took the place of a very one sided discussion, because even though the snake could gesture towards him, frown, nod, and shake its head, there wasn't much it could do.
It became so depressing that it no longer gave any comfort for Zephyr to keep on talking to the reptile, so it was him and his thoughts once more. Even if he didn't talk, the snake seemed to understand what he was going through, and made a frowning face, before disappearing. It thought it would be the best if he could spend some alone time. Zephyr felt regret over not being able to say goodbye to his parents, and their last words occupied his mind.
He laid in bed all evening, without any motivation he stared at the ceiling. He felt as if he could never feel happiness again.
Why wasn't it him that was killed, why has it got to be his parents? - He pondered.
He felt very tired, but wouldn't let himself fall asleep, as he was sure that he would have a nasty nightmare after this. After a while he couldn't force his eyes open anymore and a bittersweet dream of his parents occurred. Zephyr felt ecstatic when he saw them, but his parents didn't seem to share the same affection. They were... distant. It was almost as if their soul no longer was present and the blueish hue that outlined them only represented the husk of their former self.
The snake was behind him, and saw what happened. The reptile coiled up his leg, Zephyr couldn't feel him doing so, as he was distracted with looking at his parents. It continued on around his torso until it was around his face, blocking the view of the child. This woke Zephyr up, and was very confused about why the snake had done that. He was quick to ask it too.
