Saudade (Published under Indie Pop)

Chapter 20: Sad Song

Chapter 20: The Sad Song

"What the hell are you saying?" I asked with shaky voice.

He looked around us and then to the children who were staring up at us with curiosity in their eyes. He suddenly pulled me away from them and let Erasmus continue on distributing the apples to the children. I felt a little bit guilty for leaving them. I was actually enjoying what I was doing before that strange man arrived and attacked me.

"I don't care if you're called the Skull now! You are still Threy Weston! Before you became a pirate, you were the son of the –"

"I was a son of a tyrant! And so are you!" He said angrily, stopping me from finishing what I was about to say.

His anger was matched by my confusion. How could he say those things? "Our families are not tyrants! They are leaders who work hard to keep the peaceful living in our land," I tried to reason.

But he looked so mad and I didn't think my words would be enough to change what he believed. This pirate world ruined the image of the mainland in the Skull's eyes. And I was afraid of what he might do about it, what he might become because of it.

"Do you think you know everything in the mainland? You are caged in your castle with walls as high as the mountain so you couldn't see what lies behind it! You don't know everything."

I opened my mouth for a response only to close it again and be left unable to speak a word. I couldn't believe I was hearing these things from him. I couldn't believe I was even listening to him insulting where I came from. He sounded more of a pirate of the seas and a rebel of our lands. I was talking with a stranger.

"Stay with Erasmus. I have to finish this first so we could finally rest here in the Forsaken Island," he said looking around to the pirates who were busy with their tasks.

He was calmer this time and all the hints of anger started to fade away from his face. He was still serious and cold though. He was back to being the Skull but it still felt like he was a stranger to me. I didn't give an answer. I remained staring up at him and scrutinizing. Should I still listen to him? He sighed when he finally met my eyes again.

"Don't look at me like that. I know you are disappointed but I will not apologize for telling you the truth. We sometimes need to break something for us to be able to see clearly. And I might break you again and again for you to see what I see."

I gritted my teeth and clenched my fist. I wanted to punch him hard in his face because the only truth I knew at the moment was his betrayal to his family and the mainland. He betrayed me and that was the only thing I could see.

"You're right," I said instead. "We need to be broken for us to see clearly. And if just like what you said, you're going to break me again and again, then I might see the things I should have seen a long time ago."

And after throwing a cold glare towards him, I left and walked back to Erasmus and the children. I sat on the sand, grabbed an apple from the basket and bit angrily on it. I let the little girls play on my hair and watched the clouds as they unfolded a blue sky. The sun started to feel harsher and biting on my skin. I wished it would rain so the fire of hatred would burn out and the dust on the tired souls would wash out – and then our hearts would be free from the cage of negativity, as we danced through the mist and the endless rainbow of colors.