Gohan stepped over to the window, and took a quick glance of the outside world. He felt the cool breeze, and heard the birds singing in the trees. He smiled. It been a long time since he had been outside. Gohan wanted to go out so badly. He loved climbing trees and spying on the animals. But his mother no longer let him do anything fun. He spent most of his time locked away in his room, studying. The only times he came out were to eat or bathe. And that was all. He desperately wanted to play with his baby brother Goten. But Chichi wouldn't let him. He turned his head to make sure his door was closed. Then, he slipped out the window. He would only be out for a moment. Just a moment. Then, he would come back and finish studying.
The sun smiled down on Gohan as he strolled through the woods. He loved the warmth of the sun, having not felt it three years. Birds soared in the cloudless sky overhead. The young boy plopped down in front of large oak tree. He leaned against it, and observed his surroundings. So peaceful, so beautiful...
He thought for a moment about his father. Gohan thought about how he would never see his goofy smile, or ever hear him laugh or say "I love ya', son," ever again.
"I'm sorry, dad," Gohan said quietly with a sigh. "Please forgive me."
He closed his eyes for a moment.
When Gohan opened his eyes, he realized it was nighttime. Oh no, he thought. He rose to his feet, and hurriedly made his way back home. The moon was fat and full. The cool breeze Gohan had felt earlier had turned icy and cold. He shivered, and rubbed his arms. His house was coming into view. Gohan scolded himself for falling asleep. God, I'm so STUPID!
He rarely slept at all anymore.
Suddenly, his foot became tangled in a tree root. He hit the ground hardly, nearly knocking the wind out of him. "Ow!" He slowly stood back up, cringing from the fresh pain. Gohan had not trained for three years. He had grown weak and frail.
He climbed back into his room through his window, and found Chichi standing before him, her face twisted in anger, her arms crossed over her chest. Gohan gasped. Coming back in through his window, Gohan slipped and hit the floor.
"Where have you been?" Chichi asked in a cold, hating voice.
"Uh, mom, I...I," Gohan stammered.
"Well?"
Gohan gulped. "I...I just went outside, mom."
Before he could say anything else, Chichi's hand shot out and connected with Gohan's face. The punishing blow knocked Gohan across the room and into his bookshelf. Chichi's handprint covered the entire left side of Gohan's face. Blood trickled from his nose.
"You know you're not allowed outside, Gohan," Chichi said in the same cold tone.
"I'm sorry, mom," Gohan said in a frightened voice. His eyes wide with fear, he quickly rose up, and backed away. Chichi's eyes fell on the pile of books that had fallen off the shelf.
"Clean up the mess, and go to bed," Chichi hissed, turning and leaving Gohan's room.
"Okay," Gohan said softly, tears running down his cheeks. He began scraping up books, and putting them back in the shelves. Something slid out of one of the books and hit the floor. Gohan paused. He slowly bent down and discovered it was a photograph. He picked it up and examined it.
The photo featured Gohan, who couldn't have been any older than three when the picture was taken, Goku, and Chichi. They all looked so happy. But that was a long time ago.
A very long time ago...
Gohan crumpled the picture up and heaved it across the room. He finished putting the books up and rolled into bed. He then drifted off to sleep.