Expanded Horizons: Beyond the Blue

Cast Away: Chapter One

"I can't believe this."

Andris sat rigidly, arms crossed and scowling at the newborn in front of him, sitting quietly in his carrier on the table in the dark of night. The boy reached out for him, demanding his affection and attention, but Andris simply sat there and steamed silently, keeping his distance. He had to look away from the child to avoid boiling over.

"I told her to end it, to just get rid of the damn thing," Andris muttered spitefully. He turned and looked at the boy. "You shouldn't be here."

He had to look away again as the child continued to reach for him, beginning to grunt in frustration in its little baby voice. Before long, it grew louder to the point it was clearly going to cry, but Andris would have none of it. The baby had cost him too much already, and it was going to continue costing him even more.

"Hey, GUY, your kid needs attention," a random passerby said angrily at Andris, who still ignored the baby.

Andris grunted and picked up the carrier, careful to avoid letting the child touch his hand, and carried it off. The area was too crowded just outside the hospital, and he knew he would attract too much attention to himself in his current state. He had to find a quiet space to think to himself about what to do next.

He walked to a nearby park and took a seat, positioning the carrier so the baby was facing away from him. Attempting to ignore the baby's pleas for attention or care, Andris pulled out the documents he was given regarding the boy's birth. Proof of where he was born; sealed and stamped; records of any medical problems he had come out with; none; and a record of what transpired during birth; a death certificate for his mother.

He held the death certificate in his hands and just stared. He hadn't expected this. He knew it was risky, her having the child, but he figured if he paid for the best doctors, she would come out just fine and be able to take care of the baby. Even with all that investment, she died, leaving him in Andris's care.

Andris sighed his frustration and let his hands drop. He told her to get rid of the baby, but she refused. They weren't even married. He was convinced she was trying to coerce him into marrying her with the kid, but he really had no way of knowing now. All the money he put into her survival was gone, and now, even more would have to go into caring for this kid.

"Why couldn't she just get rid of you?" Andris asked of the baby whose face he could not see. "I told her to. I told her the pregnancy was a risk. But noooo, she just had to have you. And now I'm here with you."

The baby cooed and Andris could see his hands reaching up for the source of the voice. He had to wonder how the baby came out so healthy when his mother died of complications from her frailness giving birth. That may have been part of it, actually. It was probably the baby's fault she was gone.

"How am I even supposed to take care of you? I have a job, a business, and it's expanding. I can't be worried all the time about some kid, especially when I can't take the time to hire a caretaker. If I get a bad one, I get screwed like if I left you out somewhere."

Andris knew he should've stuck to flings, not try to have a consistent companion. He got too comfortable, got careless, and had a damn baby to show for it. His girlfriend, if he would say so, was gone for it.

"It's her own fault," he murmured.

Andris thought about how to move forward, how he would have to deal with the contents of these documents. He didn't want this child, but he had it. He didn't want family connections to random people, now he had them. Everything was going to get in the way, and he couldn't do anything about it, save for finding someone to take the child.

"Excuse me."

Andris looked up to see a robed figure standing before him, very old-style clothes and shaved on his head. He wasn't much older than Andris, he'd put the man around maybe thirty to thirty-five. The center of his robe had a strange symbol of wavy, painted lines.

"I believe your child needs attention."

"And I believe you can mind your own business."

"Very well." The man began to walk away and Andris watched him as he started to go. Then it hit him.

"Hey, wait!"

"Yes?" the stranger replied.

"You look like a spiritual type," Andris said. "Like a moral man."

"I am a seeker of knowledge," the man replied. "I am on a mission for my monastery to-"

"You want this kid?" Andris said abruptly. The man blinked in surprise. "I mean, I, I can't really take care of him, so-"

"That expensive pair of shoes says otherwise," the man said slyly.

"Uhhhh-"

"Why would you give up your child?" the man asked.

Andris sighed. He hated explaining himself, but now, he had no choice. Desperately hoping the man would understand, he began with the history with his girlfriend, the dangers of the pregnancy, and how he was stuck with the boy now.

"I'm not ready to be a father," Andris pleaded. "Please, I can't take care of this boy."

The man looked at Andris, glanced at the carrier, then looked back at Andris. Andris clasped his hands together and placed his face into them, praying that the stranger would take his baby.

"Very well."

"Realy?!" Andris looked up with a glean in his eyes. "My friend, you are a life-saver!"

"Yes, I believe I am," the man said with a mild frown as Andris took his hands and shook them vigorously. "I will take him now, and any documents you have of him."

"Doc- oh, sure," Andris replied, confused. He handed them over. "Here you go, but I don't know why you'd want them."

"It is important for us to keep track of our origins, so we may track progress," the man said. "That is how knowledge advances. That is how change is kept positive."

"Yeah, okay, makes sense," Andris said. "I'm really glad you could take him off my hands. I'll buy you a drink if you ever stop by."

"I don't believe I will," the man said, moving to pick up the baby carrier. "May you have better fortune in your future days."

"You too, buddy," Andris said as he turned and walked away.

The man watched as Andris happily left his own flesh and blood behind with a complete stranger, then turned his attention to the baby. He went silent, more than any baby would in the situation. When he looked at its face, it had a subdued, hopeless expression, as if it knew it had just been abandoned.

"Child, fear not, for you shall be brought where such severances can never occur."

The baby gazed up at the night sky filled with stars, the only bit of light in the child's life thus far, and the only light he would see for some time.