Flight of Tears

Part Two - Chapter Four

One week later...

With a Bible clutched to his chest, Karamatsu prayed over the old, dilapidated home he had been graciously provided by the people within the small town.

The house was certainly a quaint little building, though behind it (as well as the church, which was separated from the house by a small graveyard) was a tall, chain-link fence, keeping people from falling off of the cliff, into the ocean hundreds of feet below.

"Lord...if this is Your will, and Your will alone, let it be done. I thank you for every breath I have been blessed with in my sinful life. Your mercy never fails, nor does your love. Thank you for the kindness shown towards me through the families in this new town. In your name I pray, Amen," Karamatsu mouthed the words to his prayer, keeping his head bowed as the sound of the nearby ocean echoed through his mind.

The wind rustled the leaves on two tall, sturdy maple trees, which acted as a barrier for the house and graveyard.

"Todomatsu," Karamatsu called out the the young child, who had been running in between and around the graves a little ways away. "May I ask you something?"

Todomatsu stopped running, kicked up a clump of grass, laughed devilishly, then began to run around even faster.

Karamatsu sighed heavily, not knowing how he'd be able to survive with such a disobedient, obnoxiously rude child. But he was willing to give Todomatsu a chance. For what he had seen of the boy, it would appear that he had been given quite a difficult time at his orphanage.

"Todomatsu!" Karamatsu raised his voice a little, attempting to speak with authority (he never did a good job of it). "I need you!"

Todomatsu stopped running, an upset scowl upon his face. He squinted his eyes at Karamatsu, silently questioning the priest. He eventually obeyed, cautiously approaching his adoptive father.

"Would you mind running my Bible back inside the church? I'll fix you a really good lunch if you do." Karamatsu held out the Bible towards Todomatsu. The little boy flinched away a little, as if he were about to be hit.

"Now, now," Karamatsu soothed the young child, his eyes glancing at the purple and yellow marks along the boy's thin arms. "I'm not going to hurt you..."

"Liar," Todomatsu hissed as he gingerly took the Bible, getting away from Karamatsu as fast as he could.

The little boy's frail body swerved athletically around the gravestones, fleeing towards the church. It was as if he was a deer, really. He appeared to be utterly terrified of people, and seemed much happier when he was all alone.

"What did that orphanage do to him..." Karamatsu thought sadly as he kept an eye on Todomatsu until he was safely inside the church.

Turning around, Karamatsu climbed two, old rotting steps that led to a small, porch on the quaint home. The wood creaked beneath his heavy, black boots, which were the only pair of shoes he currently owned.

The snapping of the old wooden boards beneath his feet alarmed the priest, though he was aware of how old such a building was. High expectations for it would have been foolish.

"With time, I'm sure I'll be able to get over everything..." Karamatsu thought to himself as he unlocked the door to his home.

As soon as the priest was inside, he got to work in the small, outdated kitchen. It appeared to have been updated in the past thirty years, at least- but somehow, that only made everything seem so much worse.

With green tile flooring, yellowish stained cabinets, and a white countertop with ominous brown stains on it, Karamatsu struggled to admit that he didn't particularly like this area of the house. It was rather...dirty feeling. The refrigerator itself, was an entirely different story- and the priest had no intentions of even imagining what the pink colored appliance had suffered through over the years.

Pulling roughly on the nasty refrigerator door, Karamatsu was met with an icy, blast of wind, sending shivers down his spine. Or, at least, it felt like that. Refrigerators aren't that cold.

After retrieving a few vegetables, Karamatsu hurriedly slammed the refrigerator door shut (it wouldn't shut unless a large amount of force was upon it).

As the priest began to cook, he felt his heart beginning to ache. There was still so much to get over.

"I need to forget everything already..." Karamatsu thought, throwing chopped up carrots into a pot of boiling water on the stovetop. "I cannot fix the past. It's all over...I'm not supposed to be so upset when everything was my fault in the first place..."

Karamatsu chopped vigorously at an onion, squinting his eyes as they began to burn. He despised the smell of onions, as well was their oniony flavor that would spread over everything. But, as he had observed, Todomatsu seemed to really enjoy onions. Thus, he would do anything to make the young child happy.

"I could be cooking for my own family right now..." Karamatsu thought sadly, setting down his knife, wiping his eyes on the sleeve of his shirt. Shaking his head, the priest tried to push away his negative thoughts. "I'm better than this! I need to get over myself already...Life is going to be good now!"

"But you failed to remind the two people you loved most- how much you loved them," a silent voice seemed to echo through his mind.

Karamatsu dumped the chunks of onion into the pot, his hands beginning to tremble.

Without warning, his legs gave out beneath him as tears began to spill down his cheeks. Such feelings of sadness were not normal for Karamatsu to feel. His heart ached constantly with regret, fear, and just overall disappointment in himself.

"I'm sorry..." Karamatsu muttered as he banged his head again a cabinet in agony, covering his eyes with his hands. He could feel the onion getting to him, but he didn't mind. It felt like nothing compared to the true pain he was suffering. "I'm so sorry I failed you..."