Short Passages

Apocalypse

The sun's golden rays were thickly veiled by the gargantuan grey clouds, angrily swarming the sky and deeming the sun's natural sanguine radiance a hindrance. Rain fell like a shower of diamonds, pelting the grey concrete and forming pools that accentuated the flaws of the roads. People crowded the streets, rushing past one another in a desperate attempt to seek much-needed shelter, their umbrella's colours and patterns that clashed and created a sea of chaos. Various cars zoomed by, wheels splashing through the puddles of rainwater, raucous honks a constant ringing voice that cut through the cool air. The city was the embodiment of flashing colours, irksome voices and a furious downpour.

Hidden in the shadows and unnoticed despite the number of bustling people was a boy. His body curled in a ball, small and fragile, shivering under a single tattered sheet. His skin an unhealthy ashen, marred with countless untreated scars and gashes still crusted with dark blood. His golden hair long ago lost its unmatched shine and colour, now an untrimmed mob of grimy dull tangles. He watched blearily, icy blue eyes half-lidded and glazed over in a sheen of unshed tears, as various different boots and shoes stride past, utterly and impossibly oblivious to the boy's presence and existence altogether.

It was as if he was invisible. 

But maybe this was his punishment. Or was it the inevitable outcome he had finally reached?

The chilly wind brushed and whistled past his ear, as though whispering the words, You don't matter, over and over again until it was permanently engraved into his mind. Then it howled, a shrill note beating at him, as though it were angry. Its howls and whispers soon mixed into a melancholy song that became part of his mind. White wisps of air escaped from the boy's mouth, his throat drying to the point that it felt akin to the Sahara Desert.

Through all his purity and young mind, the boy still knew⏤somewhere at the very back of his mind⏤that there was nothing he could do to stop it. Like poison striking his short life line. It was through this epiphany, that the tainted memory abruptly flashed before his eyes.

He remembered that growing eagerness, bubbling inside of him as though a volcano ready to erupt. The feeling was irresistible, tugging him towards the side he knew he could not cross and yet... he knew that if he did not, the feeling awakening within him would surely eat him from the inside-out. So he promised himself, Just one time, one second, and he would meet the cool breeze and fresh sea air grace him in its shimmering presence. Sprinting out the front door for the first time, feeling the emerald grass tickling at his bare feet, embracing the direct warmth of the beaming blinding sun like an iron pressed against his pale skin, a rush of adrenaline pumping through his veins, he discovered it was much more. More than he could've ever imagined it to be. He basked in the feeling, the breeze combing through his luminescent golden locks, cheeks flushed the colour of a blossoming rose in pure and utter bliss. He ran like the wind beside his best pal Copper, sporting the most satisfied and enthralled smile on his face, and experiencing first-hand the sensation of... freedom. Something that had always seemed so foreign, faraway and unreachable⏤just out of grasp. Except now it rested right in his palm.

But was it too much?

He never would have thought that the price he would have to pay for the freedom so short-lived was something so great. It went beyond his imagination, and further beyond his comprehension.

Before his eyes the memory grew hazy, brightly flashed, and was replaced with another tainted memory.

The gleaming moon was predominant in the vast sky that seemed to appear as a dark abyss. On the porch stood the same boy, his head down, smile wiped clean off his face and staring at his feet. A gloomy atmosphere fell in place. Before him was a lean lady, her figure towering over the small boy in an intimidating stance. An indescribable vexed expression seemed to be carved in her delicate facial features, skin wrinkled and forehead lined with creases.

"I gave you countless warnings, yet you disregarded all of it. You called for it, and it's time you learn your lesson you disgraceful child!" Her voice seemed to pound at his eardrums and echo across the slumbering sea. The sound of clacking heels fading away soon replaced the shout, followed closely by the loud slamming sound of the door and the blatant click. They were all he needed to know that she had locked him out.

His memory blurred, and the sight of rushing shoes was once more what he faced. A salty droplet trekked down from one eye and ran horizontally across his face. He knew it was pointless to convince himself that it was a mere raindrop. He knew it wasn't.

It was then that he sensed something. The sudden feeling of euphoria leaked in the cracks of his aching heart. A vague smile appeared, lining his deathly pale and chapped lips. He lifted a trembling hand painfully slowly and felt, what should've been thin air and rain, warmth and soft fur tickle in between his fingers.

"You shouldn't be here," his voice was croaky and hoarse. His throat burned and hurt, feeling like sandpaper. Energy seemed to have seeped out of his body, for he couldn't find enough of it to turn his head to see what he already knew was there. A familiar bark was all the confirmation he needed. "Go...Copper," the last words escaped his mouth in a gasp, just as he heard a yap. His hand dropped, his vision blurred, black spots dancing across his view before it swallowed him whole.