The Gallery (-BTS-)

The Boy and The Balcony (Part 1)

A young boy is running through a large wildflower field with parents chasing behind him. His hair is messy as it bounces and flows in the wind. The smile he wore was large and boxy just like his father's and his eyes would shine bright blue in the sunlight. He was now around 15 years old, but he still enjoyed his parents treating him like he was younger. It gave him a safe space to be himself fully as most kids his age would be training for the armed guards or starting to learn the inner workings of the family business. His parents were different though they always told him to be careful on what path to take his life and that the sea would call to his heart when the time was right.

"Mom you are falling behind! You know they only bloom once a year!"

"I know dear! I promise to be right behind you. . ."

She whispers to her husband slowing down to look at him. "My love I don't think we should keep this from him much longer. The sickness has worsened, and I feel like I will slip any moment."

"I know. . . but just for today let him be a child. I will take him to the sea tomorrow and tell him the truth. You have my word, Milady."

As the boy reached the edge of the field the white flowers came into view. These flowers were known as Night-Blooming Cereus. They were a pure white flower that only bloomed once a year during the night, then after they would die. They were so fragile and soft he thought from a distance they looked like a snow patch in the dead of winter. He turned his head to look over at his parents, seeing that they were now walking with his mother holding onto the arm of his father. She looked as fragile as the flowers before him, with pale skin that darkened and yellowed around her eyes. He could tell she was unwell but could never pinpoint what she was sick with. He had heard her stories of his grandmother that passed suddenly from illness and saw the same spirits working their claws into his mother. She had been eating less and less, sleeping most of the day, and could never leave the house for long. Today was the farthest out she had been in months, and it was only due to his begging for her to see the flowers he planted in her place. It was left to him to care for the thousands of flowers his mother planted over the years. The large field looked like a painting of bright colors mixed with darker ones to create shadows that followed the hill lines.

"Ohhh my dear son these are the most wonderful flowers I have ever seen."

"My boy you did a swell job planting these for your mother! I knew that you had a green thumb like her but this is amazing."

The boy bowed to them both. "Thank you! It means the world to hear you say that! I only wished to make you smile and carry on your garden. . . even after you have left me."

His mother's breath hitched in her throat. "How long have you known my dear?"

"I have seen you getting worse over this last month but did not dare say anything. . . "

"Taehyung my boy. . . I am sorry to leave you so soon." His mother reached up and placed a hand on his cheek. "I need you to keep an eye on your father for me, can you do that?"

"Yes, mother. I promise to never let this house fall to the spirits of the lost sea."

"That's my baby boy. . . A heart pure and just as your fathers is."

"Anything for you mother." He turns his head to look over at his father, letting his mother's hand slip from his face. "Father, I wish to help with the trading ships. I know I may be young, but I know all your maps by heart, and I only wish to make the sea my home as you once did."

"That can be arranged my son but as for now I need you hear to look after your mother."

"Yes, Sir."

As the next 3 years passed by his mother became a shell of her former self. She was withering away to nothing as the doctor placed her on bed rest, saying that her time was near. She had told the boy that she wished to be with her flowers in death so that she would care for them while he was away from home. They planned to bury her in the middle of the field so that the earth could reclaim the flower keeper once more. As the weeks turned into sleepless nights, she finally passed the night of the boy's 18th birthday. It was peaceful and quiet as the doctor came in to call her the time of passing. The boy was stone cold and silent as her body was wrapped in cloth died with her favorite flower the Carolina Allspice. Walking in the dark to the middle of the field he felt as if his world was crumbling. His mother was as his father said, 'the steady water that held them together.' They buried her among her flowers that seemed to cry from her death as they welcomed her back to the earth. As they walked back the sky was clear, only showing the glittering stars that danced above their heads. Everything was to calm for his liking as if it was the calm before a bad storm. The feeling made his heart sink as he thought about the chance of losing his father next to either illness or those scummy pirates that tried to take the trade routes over.

"I will be leaving tomorrow for Spain if you wish to come and learn now." His father's head was hung low.

"I would love to stay by your side father. I will be joining you until I can man my own ship with pride, it is like what mother always told me. . ." He kept looking at the stars. "The sea would call for my heart one day."

"The sea calls for all of us my son. She passes judgement on those in her waters and those with an untrue heart are swallowed by her icy darkness. She is a rough mistress who holds grudges that last lifetimes. I only wish that you see her as a friend and sail those waters with pride. Your mother gave me the strength to continue and now I will do that for you."

"Thank you, father. . ."

The boy turned and hugged his father as warm tears ran down his face coating his father's shirt making it damp. His father returned the hug, letting out a sigh knowing that his son was now on the path of two choices. To either hold true to what they had taught him or to treat the sea as a weapon and get lost. 

Nether the boy or his father slept that night staying up to tell their favorite memories of his mother both laughing and crying as the sun started to crest on the horizon. The trip to Spain was only 3 months but the boy felt odd being away from his only home and the flowers for that long. Almost like he was abandoning the duty he had to the earth as the only other person that could care for them. They sailed into port docking at one of the wooden structures that branched out like a tree. He stepped off the boat looking around, taking in sights never before seen. He had only heard stories of all the colorful fabrics and people that would sing and dance in the town square.

"Don't wander to far my son!"

"Yes Sir!"

He wandered around looking at all the market stalls that held foods like fruit, grains, and spices. One stall caught his eye as he rounded a corner seeing that it was covered in large arrangements of colorful flowers he had never seen before. The only one he could point out was the Tiger Lilys he remembers planting with his mother. Their smell pulled him closer as he wished to see if he could add some new seeds to his collection. They sold the seeds to him at a fair price knowing he was the son of the only spice trader that would sell to them due to the village being caught up in the pirate wars. The village was used as a hideout at times for pirates who were too injured to fight being cared for by the town doctor. The boy walked farther into town passing by the town square that was filled with people yelling and screaming as a small boy who looked no younger than 10 was drug into the center. 

"I can't let him get hurt. . ."