Big Bruises

Thomas is a young boy living in Europe in medieval times. suddenly the plague hits his town and family. but no-one is there to explain the things happening around him. will he figure it out for himself, or will he make life threatening decisions that put himself and others in danger?

hey everyone, this is the first story i have uploaded so please feel free to read it. dont forget to COMMENT:)

“Just stay here, I am going to go out and find your father.”

I sat down on the ground next to my wooden train and watched my mother run for the docks. This morning, mother was talking to Mrs. Rensford (the shop keeper) and I heard them mention ‘a deathly surprise greeting’. I think that she is planning a surprise greeting for father when he gets home from his big voyage. But he isn’t home yet and mother has gone out to find him. She looked worried, but that is probably just because she is scared that I know about the surprise greeting and will spoil it for father. But she doesn’t need to worry; I am not going to say anything.

I wake up with a striking pain in my back. I roll over to find that my train is beneath me. I rub the sore spot, but the pain doesn’t leave. I have fallen asleep on the floor before, but usually mother or father pick me up and take me to my bed. I sit up and realize that the sky is slowly darkening and that it is quiet. Too quiet. Where is mother and father? Why haven’t they taken me to bed? And then it hits me. The greeting. Perhaps mother and father left me to sleep on the kitchen floor so I don’t get disturbed by the party in the living room. This now makes sense because my room is right next to the living room and I would have woken. But where are they now? As I stand up my brown, prickly jumper gets caught in the stone floor and tears. This make me upset because mother said that we cannot buy anymore clothes until father goes back to work, because we don’t have any spare money.

I check the house but there is no sign of them. Then I remember mother telling me last year, just after father left for his big voyage: “if your father comes back alive and safe, I will dance on the beach for the rest of my life.” So I head for the beach.

The wind is really strong and my knotty brown hair whips around my face and in my eyes. The smell of sea salt fills my nostrils, and I follow the scent to the beach. As my hair clears from my eyes, the ships and sea comes into view. On the way I see my best friend Rowan. He is heading towards me with his mother; his father was also on the big voyage.

“Rowan!” I called out. “Rowan, over here,” I waved my arms above my head so he can spot me out. I don’t think that he can see me, so I do our special call. “Cock-a-doodle-doo!” we made it up one day when we were hiding in the chicken pen but his house. He still seems to not notice me, so I run towards him. As I get closer I notice that his face is really red, around his eyes. Like he has been crying. But it must be from standing in the sun all day.

“Hi,” he sniffles. He doesn’t even look at me. As I get closer to the beach I see a lot of people crowded around the ships. I see my mother and father huddled together. I start to sprint towards my parents.

“Stay away from the beach, stay away from the beach!!!” women are screaming at me. “Stay away from the beach, it is infected.” Infected? Why would the beach be infected? Maybe some witches are down there. Mother always told me to stay away from the witches, because they can do evil things to little boys like me. I slow down and make sure that no witches are near me and slide down the sand slope, to land safety on the sand. I spin around to look for my parents in the crowd and run towards them.

“Thomas! What you doing here? Get in the house, it is dangerous,” my mother is yelling at me and I don’t even know why. I don’t see any witches. All I want to do is see father, but mother is standing in front of him and blocking my view. I step towards the, to reassure her that I am fine, there are no dangers on the beach.