The boy sat alone in a dark room.
The world around him simply moved on.
The boy saw it happen, but he did not care to stop it
He had become a separate entity.
Something in the outside.
Outside
The outside was dismal, dark, crushing
He only returned there for the sick pleasure the pain gave him
He knew it was dangerous
He knew the risks
From the outside he watched home, and the world continuing without him
He saw it all and was almost content.
Almost.
He saw it, hell, he looked down upon the world he once knew
But the part of him that belonged there.
It longed to be home.
The boy realized his mistake.
He was one of them
No outsider
He did not belong outside
He could not survive
For outside was a poison
Poison
He saw what his time in this other place had done.
He was between the two worlds.
Neither held their original charm.
He had poisoned himself.
Eaten it like candy.
He hurt for a time.
His hurt came from the outside
He felt happiness
Happiness came from home
Home
Could he still call that place home?
The boy felt as though he was beyond “home”
Not that it would take him back
He was kicked out
Like a problem child
For the warmth it once gave him scalded his skin
The light blinded his eyes
He drifted
A lost child in worlds that did not forgive.
One day he met a friend
This friend was from the outside
The friend smiled at him
Lured him to the outside with the promise of a new home
This new home was a lie.
He was more torn than ever
He realized his friend was more demon than ally
He ran from the demon
He never truly escaped it
He returned to the in between
In between
A cold and dark place
With only an unnatural brightness to show the way
For the boy it was a tower.
Others an asylum, a farm, a city, or an infinite number of things
It was the dividing
And anchoring
Point of the two worlds
An odd place for a nomad such as he
Perhaps he could have made it his home
But stability does not favor this boy
The tower, like all things do, collapsed
The boy returned to his old life as a traveler
Returned
Another friend
This one much more persuasive
It told him to return to the place he still called home
The boy, suspicious yet weary agreed
He felt joy for the first time in years.
Perhaps he had truly returned
Scars remained from the demon, however
The boy realized he must leave, if only to spare his friend from a fate such as his
As he left his friend changed
Not to a demon
No
This friend was some horrible abomination
A joining of the two
It held him captive in home
And the scars shed blood once more
Blood.
The boy, growing tired of his existence
Fought the abomination
The boy was horribly outmatched
Yet he won
For he fought with no regard for himself
Perhaps he would die
Death was too stable a fate for this boy
The boy walked on.
Others
The boy of course met other travelers
He did not trust these strangers
And they did not trust him
For all the travelers had encountered them
And justly feared them
Fear.
The boy feared little anymore.
His life had become directionless
He feared only one thing
A life of solitude
His only companion were the glowing footprints all travelers left behind them
This place was his lifeblood
Without it he would be dead
With it, he could not truly live
5 comments
Hey, read it all. Really liked it, there’s something about it that made it sound like a sick version of a mr seuss tale (heard the voice of the narrator on my head while reading it, lol).
Two things tho, there’s a few parts were there’s something of a noticeable break on an otherwise really “continuous” structure, but that might be me just reading it in a way that it was not intended. The other thing is that in some parts you repeat words from the last line on the current line in order to create a continuity (like with the demon child part). Might be just my idea but there’s some parts were it works and some where it doesn’t (started noticing it from the demon child part), but again, that might be just preference on my end, and like i said, i really liked it, thanks for sharing!
fables of thelost… I liked it tho it made me feel melancholy, it was one of those few stories that I can see, strange
Very good. I agree with Mf though, that the repeating words only seem to work in a couple places.
Thank you all very much, I really appreciate this
I’ve read this about 5 or 6 times since you posted it.. I’m no editor, but I got the general gist of the story. I also liked the feel of the story as well. Keep writing. I liked this a lot.