Aldo Nox

Prologue

The grass seems to swallow me, it has grown so high around my house due to my careless negligence of our push mower. When I found a shady spot to lay down, I was surprised by the inches of green blades I saw above my face- at least two. I can smell the dirt without turning my head to the side, it smells wet. Under the shade of the tree the morning dew still sleeps; I don't mind if my hair or dress get dirty anymore. I have learned out neighbors do not like the way I have two teeth protruding out of my mouth, or the way my ears point, or how I decorate them with large earrings, or the purple hues of my grey skin, so it doesn't bother me if they think my dress looks dirty- I can always change my dress.

My Mother is still sleeping in bed, usually it is she who wakes up first, but she has a rare day off from work. She asked me to wake her early as we said goodnight, but she looks thin and pale; I decided she needs her rest. The humans she works for push her too far, but as a maid the house you clean is seen as your own. We would all have white knuckles from scrubbing our own floors, so as a maid even a foreign floor is yours, or so the humans she works for say.

I can feel a bug crawling on my bare leg, apparently when I laid down it was very unladylike, and I left myself partially exposed. I peer over my chest out of curiosity, and discover a spider exploring my leg. I don't fear it, and it is so small I was afraid I would hurt it if I tried to brush it off. So, I let the spider climb on me.

"Thank you," my voice was soft, and when I spoke I felt the spider stop moving, "for the company this morning."

The dew had snuck it's way through my Mother's careful fabric weaving, and I felt the thin underwear I had underneath my dress get damp. Bitterly I rolled my eyes, and I blamed the grass for the inconvenience of a wet dress. It was easier than accepting my own stupidity; it was easier than accepting that my Mother would never make such a mistake, she was a proper lady. She would have brought a blanket outside to lay on.

I watched the sun kiss each leaf on the tree branches above me. The way the light spilled over each leaf reminded me of running water. While I focused on the branches above me, the spider started focusing on leaving my leg. It turned around, and started a new path down my leg. By the time I had realized it was leaving, it had already started dropping its legs onto a strand of grass that kissed the side of my leg. I waited several minutes before moving so the spider would not be harmed.

This time when I laid down in the grass I was in the sun, and laying on my stomach. The ground beneath me had retained moisture, although not nearly as much the ground in the shade, and now that my face was so close to the dirt, it was much easier to smell the wet earth. It reminded me of summer, and the warm nostalgia soothed me. I folded my arms under myself, so my head would be comfortably supported, and I allowed myself to rest there in the sun.

I only noticed my resting turned to sleeping when I was awoken by my Mother. She stood at our back door, furious with me for letting her sleep so late, even though the shadows on the ground suggested only an hour has passed, and morning wasn't quite over.

"Aldo NOX," her honey sweet voice sounded sour with anger, "I GAVE YOU SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS. AND. YOU. IGNORED. THEM."

I stayed still on the ground, hoping she wouldn't be mad if she saw my peaceful sleeping face. She took my fake sleeping as a direct insult, however. And she quickly started stomping to me, telling me I better pray to a Goddess to save me from her wrath, punctuating each disgruntled, angry sentence with a cough.

"ALDO. ALDO, GET YOUR ASS UP RIGH--" and instead of finishing her sentence, she began gagging. This got me to shoot up, just in time to watch my mother collapse on the ground. She gasped for air, gagging profusely, and just as I made my way to move past her to grab medicine- she puked.

And my heart dropped. What caked the grass and the edges of my Mother's mouth was dark blood. She began tearing up, sniffling and scared. I can count one hand how many times I have seen Mother cry. Once she let her sobs loose, I followed suit. Neither of us knew what the blood meant, and we didn't have the money to find out. The fear made my hands feel cold.

I kneeled down beside her, and we fell into each other for comfort.

In that moment when my Mother gripped me and sobbed, I realized she wasn't invincible. At my age I should have realized it long before, but ignorance and idealization covered my eyes with rose colored glasses, and told me my Mother would live forever. That nothing could hurt her.