Atop the Mountain

Chapter 6: The Sword

When Leon finished school for the day, he would walk and pick up Hop from preschool or daycare. Hop was always an energetic kid, running around all day, talking to every other kid. His teachers and caretakers always said that Hop was friends with everyone, regardless of who they were. So, when Leon showed up, he was always dead tired, ready to launch himself into his big brother's arms.

"You're such a good brother, Leon," they would always say, and ruffle his long, purple hair, which they often told him he should cut. He didn't feel like a good brother- not especially. He was just doing his best.

Every single day, even if his shoulders hurt, even if it was raining sideways or snowing, Leon would walk home with Hop on his back or shoulders, dozing away. Folks asked if he would rather hang out with his friends after school. Adults would lean down and tell him he must be so popular.

He realized, rather early, that adults seem to forget, or maybe they don't understand, what makes kids popular. It wasn't staring off into space, thinking only about salamanders or maybe how rain works to begin with. It wasn't crawling in the dirt at recess with a girl who you didn't have a crush on, looking for bugs and lizards. It just made you kind of weird.

Leon had Hop, and Sonia, and his mum. They understood. Other kids didn't. So he didn't mind carrying Hop home, especially on the days where Sonia was able to join him.

On those days, Sonia would tell him all about the books she'd taken out of the library. She took out three every week, on Wednesday, and always finished them by the next Wednesday. Leon never understood how she found the time or energy to do that, but he liked listening to her talk, and sometimes, she gave him something new to be interested in. That's how they got so into lizard hunting, even if England was kind of a shit place to hunt lizards.

When they got home, Hop would sit on the couch with a juice box or a container of applesauce, wrapped in a blanket, and he'd watch the telly for one hour while Leon started dinner. It was hard, since dad left, and mum had to take a second job, and grandma had to stay with grandpa in the hospital. He didn't like doing it. He didn't think he was a very good cook, but it was worth it when mum came home, sagging and tired, knowing she would have to go to her second job once Leon and Hop were in bed, and she would smile because dinner was one thing she didn't have to worry about.

Sonia's mum said it was too much responsibility for an eight year old, but Leon just saw it as something he had to do. Pick up Hop, make dinner, homework, sleep, repeat.

Leon's mom would wrap her arms around his waist and hoist him up into her biggest hug. "My resilient little dandelion," she'd murmur into his hair.

Sometimes Leon wished he didn't have to be resilient, but he never said so.

He had to be there for his mother- to be her little knight.

Leon blinks awake with a fog in his mind and a sense of uneasiness in his gut. Something is wrong, deeply so. He's in his bed, thick blankets draped over his body. He's warm, and comfortable, but not entirely present. He groans, rubbing at his eyes with balled fists.

A deep cold settles into Leon's bones, causing his teeth to clatter, and when he opens his eyes again, he's sitting in a damp forest clearing, dim dawn light casting bluish shadows over the pines surrounding him. He's in nothing but his thin white nightgown, and the morning dew is quickly soaking through that. He wraps his arms around himself, shivering, eyes darting around him.