Brave little soldier boy and other oneshots

Brave little soldier boy

Leaves from the vine,

Falling so slow

o0o

She remembers when she first holds him in her arms. He was a small bundle, and when he opened his eyes, it was a beautiful, brilliant, sea-green, just like his father's. They were full of innocence, and a love that would last a lifetime. He didn't cry, instead, he just stared at her, with a faith that would never fade away. She guesses that it was then that she decided that she would make sure nothing would hurt her little boy.

However, it wasn't as easy as it sounds. Power seemed to radiate off him, and although he was oblivious, she wasn't. She saw the monsters lurking in the shadows, their eyes hungry. Their claws were sharp, and their teeth long, but they were no match for a mother's protection. When he heard the rumbles of the monsters under the bed, she fought them, not with swords, but with love. When he woke up in the middle of the night because of dreams, she would soothe him, protect him from the harsh reality of the world he belonged in.

She was foolish to believe that she could protect him forever, but in those moments, she wish she could. She wish she could keep the innocence in his eyes, the joy that sparkles when he sees her. And if she has to lie to him, to watch over him as he sleeps, take all the hits and blows as he walks on, ignorant, then she would. Because nobody, nobody, would hurt her little boy if she could help it. She didn't care if she had to fight, she didn't care if she had to walk into a war, her little boy would grow up thinking that he was normal. He would grow up knowing that his mother loved him.

But of course, he wasn't normal. He came home crying because the little kids were laughing. He couldn't read well, he couldn't sit quiet for more than two minutes. He would make teachers angry, he couldn't get higher than a C+, and he saw monsters that others couldn't see. He wasn't normal, and he was ridiculed for it. But in her eyes, he was perfect. He was her little boy, and she didn't care about all his so-called faults. Because that what made him perfect, what made him him. 

The monster attacks were getting worse though, and soon, he was jumping from school to school. A monster was always there, somewhere, waiting to strike. Waiting to kill. Money became tight, and she was working two jobs, going to night-school to get her diploma, and it all wasn't working. She needed to protect her little boy, but she couldn't. She needed to hide him, shield him from what he was, because as soon as he found out, they would come for him. 

It was perfect really, that she walked in to him. His smell was overpowering, and no one could smell anything past that. Enough to hide his scent. This was perfect, but she was aware of the risks. She could see in his eyes, the bottles of beer, and the poker card games. Just another thing that she would have to shield her little boy from. But that was okay, because as soon as the mean, smelly old man moved in with them, the monsters stopped coming. Her little boy was safe, and that was enough to keep her going, to tolerate the man that she now called her husband. She took the blows and hid the bruises. She cleaned the shards of glass so he wouldn't hurt himself.

But he could see through the cracks, the cracks that she didn't manage to hide. And soon, he started to hide things from her. Bad grades, fights, bruises. It only got worse, and she knew that the time was coming for her little boy. So when the satyr came banging on their door in the middle of the night, she didn't hesitate. She needed to go, her boy needed to be safe. Their car swerved into a ditch, and she struggled to get out. Her mind was focused on one thing, getting her boy out of there. She told him to leave the satyr, to leave her, but she refused. She guessed that it was her fault, in a way. She gave him such a strong sense of family, that when it came to leaving them behind, he couldn't do it.