DIRT ~ finished

Nicknames

While Will hung in the air, slowly seeing the dirt come closer toward his feet, and the hungry Pitters to his flesh, his faith sunk into him. All of a sudden there was no hope anymore, and he was facing death like he never had. As his feet touched the sand, his father stepped toward him. It felt like standing in front of a stranger, covered in mud, and with green eyes revealing a shadow that lay over it. Guilt.

'My son', he whispered.

'No', Will snapped back. 'Don't even DARE to think we are related in ANY way.'

The man nodded, untied the rope around Will's waist, and tied it around his own. While Will stepped away, seeing his so called 'father' being lift up in the air and pulled over the edge. Embracing freedom, screaming cheerfully. Leaving his own son in hell.

For some seconds, it kept quiet. Being stared at by all the groups. The muscled men, the kid with the older boy, some alder people sitting against the walls. But the silence got broken as someone stepped forward, behind the muscled men. The skeleton.

Will couldn't help but feel a shiver shoot down his spine, at the sight of the man. The skin looked almost like fleece covering bones. There was no shirt covering the man's chest, and Will swore he saw the beating of his heart beneath the skin. And the ribs looked almost like knives that sharp, sticking out. But the goosebumps popped up when the man was right in front of Will, and he stared right into two black holes of desperation.

'Name?' The man whispered, deep voice, sounding exhausted.

'William', Will mumbled, swallowing his nerves once again.

The man's breath, being blown right into Will's nostrils, made Will think of death. Even though he had no clue how that smelled, he was for sure it needed to smell something like that. Horrific.

'I'm sorry about your faith William.'

And the man turned around again, and walked off, tapping one muscled man's shoulder like they were pals. The tapped man nodded and stepped forward toward Will. Standing dangerously close to Will's face, almost touching forehead to forehead.

'Names don't count in here, William. We have reputations. That's how we get a name. When we find you are worthy of a real name, you get one. But that name won't change. Me, I am Skinny. Wanna know why boy?'

Will shook his head honest. The man grinned.

'Well I'll tell you. We eat what we need to eat. When we don't find you worthy of living, you die. And I, I will skin you, either alive or death I don't prefer anything. 'Cause what the people up there don't know', the man pointed to the sky. 'The meat just beneath the skin, tastes magnificently.'

He licked his cracked open lips and stepped a little further away from Will's shaking body.

Another man, the one that knocked dead the other man just a night ago, swapped places with 'Skinny'. He was bigger than his friend, and the glance in his eyes was more deadly. Will immediately felt like a piece of meat about to be ripped apart.

'Me Smash', he said with an extreme accent Will couldn't place.

He pointed back at the last muscled man.

'Doctor', and he walked back to his mates again.

Up next to come up to Will was the boy he guessed was around his own age. He did not look terrible yet, having still in one piece clothes, and not that much dirt in his black curls. I some way he looked like Jake. Having the biggest smile on his face. Completely bringing Will off of his path. Why smile in a place like hell?

'The nickname thing is true. But just call me by my normal name, will ya? I'm robin', he held out his hand and fist bombed Will.

The boy fell out of place. He was too happy, too normal and had too many twinkles in his eyes. As if his mind was still up at ground level.

The little kid, completely beaten up face, joined Robin's side. He didn't look near as happy as his friend. Understandable, seeing his nose stand so far to the right. The piece of bone where is must have got broken at the top was blue coloured, and Will could only imagine the pain the kid had to be in.

'Hi', the boy whispered shyly.

And Robin lay his hand supportingly on the boy's back.

'We call this one Nosy. 'Cause, well, he is', Robin laughed hysterically.

The little boy didn't look like he quite enjoyed the joke, but just went with it.

'He was nosy, so the boys broke his nose. Tadaa. Nosy.'

Will nodded, still silent and confused. He noticed his fingers tapping like he always did when nervous. What he had spotted his father doing too. As he realised that he put his hands in his pockets to calm his nerves, finding out something that filled him with new hope. His cellphone was still in the pocket of his jeans, the officer hadn't taken it away. He took it out in a hurry and held it up high in the sky to reach for any sign of wifi. He needed to call his mother. He needed to tell her everything Jake was telling her right now. That was his duty as a son.

But Robin lay his heated hand on Will's shoulder, stopping him from jumping around like a maniac.

'We tried bud. We are literally in a Pit here.'

'But my mother', Will sighed, wiping off Robin's hand and continuing jumping and searching.

'I need to tell her.'

'There is no connection'

'He's still alive.'

'You're an orphan now.'

Will stopped jumping, and once again all the Pitters had their eyes on Will. Already covered in sweat, and a little layer of sand in his sock. Will felt oh so alone. His mother, the most gorgeous woman walking the earth, was meters and meters divided from him. And there was no way of comforting each other from any side.

He had never felt a greater urge for her warm mother bear arms to be swapped around him. He wanted to breath in her scents of the flowers the constantly watered. He wanted her to read his poems out loud, and make then sound like the singing of a bird in his ears. He wanted her to twinkle her eyes to make him know everything was going as planned.

But at the same time, his future and her future were pitch black and alone. No warmth for either of them. And why? Why would that be their end to the story? Because Will thought he needed the love of a father. While that love had been inside his mother all the time.

He turned his grey turning eyes to the new kid Robin.

'I'm not an orphan. I have a mother. And she is all I need to lift me up and fly me away from here.'

And Robin sighed filled with pity, grabbing the little kid's hand.

'I'll pray for that William. But first, the Pit will tare you down. Physically and mentally, until you yourself exist from only sand and mud being hold together with the dream to once again be up there.'

'Robin', the little kid whispered up, 'I'm thirsty.'

And Robin seemed to completely forget about Robin again, focussing on the little kid only. Of who's lips was dry meat hanging down, bleeding at some points. And Will got shot back to life. He had to survive, and he would. But right now he was a Pitter, and he had to act like one of them.