The Ballad of Proteus

Every other day was the same for Proteus. Life on the Skarloey Railway seemed to have repeated itself into the same old cycle. Loading, unloading, pushing, and shunting. No matter which job Proteus was given, it was all the same. Life was harder for the young boy now. Although he remembers his mother, he knew deep down, she never cared about him. She was once with him but one morning, it was as if she disappeared into thin air. Proteus always felt incompetent and useless, he figured his mother left for his own good. "Who would want a son like me?" he thought. He felt that he couldn't do anything right these days. As he pushed the coal cars, he felt the cool breeze brush past his red hair. There was word from the workers that three new members would arrive tomorrow morning. The ship was coming from Wales. Proteus soon arrived at the coal hopper to drop off the cars filled with coal. He walked back on the path he came from as he was kicking small rocks on the ground. It was starting to get late as he noticed the sky slowly dim. Each step he took only felt heavier than the last. Eventually, he arrived at his old shed. It was made of wood, painted a dark red on the outside walls. The door was made up of three planks with a large piece removed in the corner. Proteus opened the door and inside was his dusty room, a dark shadow looming over it. He walked closer to a small wooden table.

          On the table was a picture frame, the glass in it was cracked. It once had a photo of Proteus and his family, but the day his mother left, was the day that photo was gone. Proteus picked the broken frame up. He stared at it, for a long time. The longer he looked at it, the more he felt the emptiness of the room creep up to him. He placed the frame back down, and shut his eyes, as the thoughts in his mind began to dissolve. As he turned himself around, he opened his eyes and fixed them on his muddled bed. The sheets were torn and the quilts were rolled up into a ball. The pillow on his bed had a large hole torn into it. As Proteus inched closer to the bed frame, he collapsed onto the shambles of sheets. Eventually the tears from his eyes fell one by one. Proteus didn't know what time it was. All he felt was the wet spot on his pillow where his face laid. The tears eventually rushed down faster, it took a while for Proteus to realize that he was crying. "What did I do to deserve this..." sniffled Proteus. He looked up towards the ceiling, in hopes that he'd think of an answer to all of his problems. Instead, he saw a small brown spider, crawling around its web. Proteus shoved his face back down, into the pillow.

            Morning arrived. The sound of birds outside awoke Proteus from his sleep. As he got up from his bed, he heard the workmen shouting outside. He creaked the shed door open, and curiously sauntered out. As the light from the sun shone on his face, he looked around and saw three wandering boys. They were well dressed, or at least, dressed better than himself. One had dark brown hair and wore red suspenders. One had a lighter brown shade of hair that was combed back. He wore a small knit vest over his white collared shirt. The two boys were slightly taller than the third one. The third boy was short like Proteus, with red hair just like him. He wore a thick, wide coat, which only made him look shorter. It didn't fit him well, the sleeves were far too long and almost dragged on the ground. He had a thick scarf wrapped around his neck. Proteus walked out of his shed, and made his way towards them. He looked down at his own dirty overalls, then looked back up at the boys and began to sweat. "H-hello..." stuttered Proteus. The dark brown haired boy walked up to Proteus, eyed him up and down, and grinned. A devious grin that revealed nothing of friendliness. "And who is this?" he asked, almost chuckling. "He smells like wheat..." whispered the other boy with lighter brown hair. "My name is... Proteus." answered Proteus. The two older boys giggled. "Oh," said the brown haired boy. "Even your name is silly." Proteus looked up at them, docking his head in confusion. He took slight offense at the rude remark. "I'm Bertram." said the dark brown haired boy with pride. "This is Duke." He pointed to the other boy with lighter hair. "And that's my puny little brother," said Duke pointing to the boy with the large coat. "Skarloey." Bertram locked his eyes on Proteus. "The stationmaster says each of us will have a shed of our own," said Bertram. "I don't suppose you already have one?" Proteus froze, unable to respond. Bertram looked up at the old, ragged shed. "Oh, is that it?" asked Bertram.