*~~~# A
FAMILY REUNION #~~~*
The air
was crisp yet warm, [summer] was about over.
Cicadas hummed so loudly Thorum could
barely hear the dry dirt crunching beneath his boots. It was all too familiar to him.
"Dear
Rega this place has gone to [hell]." says Thorum as he looked upon the
dead and barren
farmland that was once his home.
"Papa!
Papa! Chase me!" yelled five year old Thorum while he ran in circles
around his father
who was tending to their crops.
"Alright!"
Thorum's father belts out as he drops his tools and starts chasing after him.
"I'm
gonna get you!" he yells while pretending to be a
monster. Thorum yells and lets out a
giggle as his
father scoops him up and spins around. They both laugh as they tumble into a pile of
freshly harvested
wheat.
"I
love you papa!" Thorum giggles and gives his father a kiss.
"I
love you too, son." Thorum's father whispers with a smile.
"OH
HOW TOUCHING..." Zed whispers, interupting Thorums memory.
"Shut
up!" Thorum yells. "He wasn't always bad..." Thorum looks down
as a tear starts to form.
"UNTIL
HE ZTARTED DRINKING." Zed chuckles.
"I'll
teach you, you ungrateful little shit!" Thorum's father screams, Drunk,
tugging on Thorums
hair. "First you kill our crops!" He smacks Thorum
up the side of his head. "Then you complain when we
have no food!?" Another smack, sending Thorum to the
floor.
"MMM
THAT LOOKZ PAINFUL." Zed laughs.
Thorum
winces, gently touching his cheek then wiping away his tears. He pulls out the coinpurse
filled with a thousand [gold] and clutches it close to his
chest. Half the money he has made since
he
ran away, yet still enough to allow his parents to leave the
farm and move to Kregola.
"WHY
ARE YOU BEING ZO GENEROUZ TO THE AZZHOLE? WE ZHOULD INZTEAD UZE IT ON MORE
IMPORTANT THINGZ.
LIKE ZTRIPPERZ!" Zed chuckles.
Thorum
ignores him but begins to think maybe he's right. Then his old home came into view and all
doubts leave his mind.
I can't believe how run-down this place has become. First the barren farm and now
what looks like a haunted house? Broken windows, cobwebs in every nook and
cranny. The roof probably leaks
during each rain it's in that bad of shape. A strong feeling of guilt washes over him and
his eyes start to
glaze over. He feels like crying again.
At the
door Thorum stops. He can hear yelling.
Great Dad's drunk like usual. Well, here goes nothing.
He knocks.
"WHO
DA FUK?!" He hears his father yell from inside. The door wrenches wide open.
The man
standing in front of Thorum couldn't be his father. No, this man was fat and
dirty. He looked
homeless. Can three years really do that much to a
person? With enough alcohol and no work
I guess anything
is possible.
"WHAT
DO YEW WANT AND WHY IN REGA'S NAME ARE YEW DOIN ON MAH PROPERTEH?!" His
dad blurts out.
He
doesn't recognize me yet! Maybe I can just give him the [gold] and be on my way
and never have to
deal with them again!
"OH
COME NOW. WE BOTH KNOW YOU WANT HIM TO KNOW WELL WHO YOU ARE." Zed
whispers.
"I...I...I
br-brought gold..." Thorum stutters with an awkward gulp and holds out the
coinpurse. His
dads eyes widen.
"OH!
Here on business ehh? Why didncha just say so friend?" His father motions
for Thorum to enter.
"Come in, come in."
"N-n-no
I-I shouldn't..." Thorum hesitates, reliving another bad memory. Zed
giggles yet again.
"Nonsense
friend, my home is open tah anyone lookin tah buy!" His father says with a
drunken grin.
"Joseph,
who's at the door?" Thorums mother calls from the kitchen
"Not
now woman! we have a customer!" Joseph yells back to her as she walks
within view of the doorway.
"Thorum!"
she gasps, dropping the plate she was cleaning. Her eyes widen.
Time
seemed to stand still while only the plate slowly made its descent. Thorum,
frozen in shock that
he had been recognized fearful for what may come of it. His mother, in disbelief that her son had
returned home
at last after all this time.
His father, dazed and confused not knowing what to make of the
situation.
The
plate shatters into a hundred pieces and time warps back to its normal flow.
"Shit..."
Thorum mutters under his breath.
"YEZ!!!"
Zed gasps excitedly.
"Bless
Rega, Thorum!" His mom begins to tear up while running to her son,
embracing him in a hug only
that which mothers know how to give to their children.
"I thought the worst! I was so worried!" She was now in
tears. Thorum drops
the coinpurse he was holding and returns the hug feeling guilty again for
leaving. He begins
to apologize but is cut short when his father snaps back to
reality.
"Wait
on Rega-damned second!" Joseph yells pulling her off Thorum and throwing
her to the ground.
Squinting he looks Thorum over. "BOY?!" He shoves
Thorum backwards to the front yard. "HOW DARE YOU!" He yells
with another shove. "HOW DARE YOU SHOW YOUR FACE BACK
HERE! RUNNING OFF LIKE THAT! LEAVING US HERE TO STARVE AND
GROW OLD WITH NO ONE TO TAKE CARE OF US! HOW DARE YOU!
BOY!" Another hard shove.
"Show
him what we can do!" Zed giggles
"NO!"
Thorum screams at Zed's taunt.
"NO?!"
his father looked confused but kept up. "YOU LEFT YOUR MOTHER HERE TO CRY
AND MOURNE OVER YOU EVERY
NIGHT WHILE YOU WERE PROBABLY OUT PLAYING 'HERO' WITH SOME
DIRY KYOKI WHORE I BET!" He shoves Thorum hard sending him
spralling in the dirt.
"DO
EET DO EET!" Zed sounds ecstatic.
"NO!"
Thorum yells. Scared. "She's not a whore! And I AM a Hero!" Getting
back to his feet.
"NO.
You're nothing. I always knew you would never amount to anything!" Thorums
father yells.
"He's
right, until you show him he will never know what we are capable of..."
Zed chuckles.
"And
to come back here expecting us to welcome you home with praise and open
arms!?" Thorums father opens his
arms. "Well I've got an open arm for you, Boy!" He
winds back and smacks Thorum across the face.
Thorums
world goes dark briefly, then a reel begins of every time his father had hit
him growing up.
Zed
giggles.
Thorum's
eyes flick open, now completely black. "Never again." He mumbles
under his breath. His father
ends a fist straight for his jaw but Thorum concentrates and
turns his cheek to stone for one short moment.
The bones in his dads hand shatter on contact and he screams
in pain grasping his broken hand.
"WHAT
THE FUCK!? YOU LITTLE FREAK!" His father swears, nursing his hand. Thorum
stands tall, looking
through his father.
"Yes.
Father. I may be a freak. But you're wrong about one thing. I have become
something, something
that Torega hasn't seen since the rise of the Adepts."
"THATZ
MY BOY!" Zed laughs hysterically.
The
ground around Thorum beings to tremble and shake.
Thorum
screams as he shoots his knee up and a clod of dirt breaks free from the ground
below his father and smashes
into his chin sending him reeling backwards. Thorum follows it up by slamming his foot
down bringing his body with him which
sends a shockwave splitting the earth on its way to his
father, sending him spiraling into the air. Thorum punches
his fist into the earth which creates a fist shaped pillar
to protrude from the ground below his father, crashing into him and
keeping him airborne. Thorum juggles him by punching the
ground with his other hand. And in a final swift motion, Thorum
rips both hands out of the earth and points at his father
and throws his hands down. At the same time two thick vines shot out
of the ground, latched onto Thorums father, and slammed him
into the ground.
Joseph's
limp body slumps over twitching, almost every bone broken or fractured,
bleeding profusely. Some bones
sticking out of his skin. He coughs up blood and gasps for
air. Thorum calmly raises up and
straights his body. He walks over
to his father's body and looks him dead in the eyes hoping
he is still conscious enough to see his son one last time.
"Goodbye
Father." Thorum whispers as he snaps his fingers. A sharp stone spike
punctures through his dad's back and out
his chest then crumbles into dirt.
Thorum's
mother, still awestruck and gazing on in horror finally snaps out of it. She
screams and runs over to her husband's
lifeless corpse. "What have you done?!" she cries,
then stands up and looks at Thorum disgusted. "What are you?! You're a monster?! What have
you done with my sweet, sweet little boy?!" she begins
to weep on Thorums shoulder, flailing her hands at his chest.
"Hardened
him..." Zed whispers through Thorum.
She
freezes in fear. Thorum calmly walks
over to where he had dropped the coinpurse, picks it up, and walks back to his
mom.
"Mother,
all I really came to do was give you both enough money to move into the city
and never go hungry againn." Thorum
says cooly. She looks
at him still frozen with fear, tears streaming down her face. Thorum holds her
hand out and places the pouch of gold in it.
"But since you never seemed to be able to raise your
voice or lift a finger in my defense, so shall you never have to." And
with that Thorum
embraces her one last time, softly kissing her forehead.
From
that contact on her forehead her skin slowly begins to petrify until all that
is left is a stone statue that used to be his mother.
Still clutching the bag of gold and frozen tears stil
streaming down her face.
Back on
the road to camp to meet up with Aime, Thorum's black eyes return to their
normal clear hazel, the beautiful green and purple hue of
sunset gleaming off them.
And he can't help but feel an odd sense of calm ease.
The
Reunion with his parents went better than he had hoped.
No comments:
Post a Comment