The day grandpa died is still fresh in my mind. I was ten at the time. As part of our routine, Ludwig (he was five) and I always went to grandpa's room to wake him up. We'd barge in there, pots banging, yelling and laughing like no tomorrow. It was always super fun. Sometimes he pretended that he was still sleeping and ignores us but we could always see the little smirk he tried to hide. Not this time though. Even though me and Ludwig were being super loud, grandpa just laid there, not moving. I thought he was still messing with us so I climbed onto the bed with Ludwig and began shaking him.
"Grandpa!" I said while laughing. I was starting to panic. This wasn't normal. I continued shaking him as Ludwig watched with confusion. As my heart began to beat faster in my small chest, I tried not to think of the worst. Of course I knew people died. It was natural but I never thought it would happen to us. This was family, this was happiness…I didn't realize the tears were falling down my face until I saw them land on the blanket that covers my grandpa's cold body. I stopped moving and stared at the peaceful face. My breathing stopped, my mind went blank. Everything was silent.
I didn't know I was running to my neighbor's house till I heard Ludwig screaming after me. Or maybe it was me screaming. I honestly don't remember anymore. The burning tears blurred my vision and I tripped over loose rocks but on I ran. I finally made it to the door and began banging on it. I kept screaming and screaming till the opened the door. Snot was running out of my nose and it made breathing even harder. Was the air running low? As the door opened, I had a small sliver of hope that I would wake up and this would just be a terrible dream. I hoped that grandpa would be right at the door to greet me and hug my fears away. Reality kicked me in the balls that day. Soon, ambulances came. I forgot I left Ludwig alone. Some kind of brother I am. The paramedics brought him to me outside. His eyes were red and puffy from crying so much. I couldn't even bring myself to smile at him.
I don't remember much after that. Honestly, it's all a blur to me. People moved all over the house, all over our yard and in and out of our lives. No one knew what to do with us. We had no parents to come and get us either. Those assholes dumped us at our grandpa's and never looked back. We never heard from them since. They didn't even show up at the funeral. Not surprising. Me and Ludwig got sent off to the orphanage after that. Sounds fun, right?
Wrong. Totally wrong. Whatever hope I had was murdered in that place. The little dream of a happy family? Gone. Ripped apart and shattered. Each day passed with the same, boring routine. Wake up. Eat. Bathe. Learn. Play. Wait. Eat. Sleep. Over and over and over again. Ludwig and I watched as all the other kids got adopted off, leaving only us two alone at the orphanage. Each and every day I would hold Ludwig and tell him everything would work out in the end. Everything will be perfect like it was before…Each night I tell him to pray for a better day and dream of the life he deserves. With each word I tell him, I feel disgusted with myself. I'm only lying to us. Each day passes and I say less and less. In the end, I barely said anything at all, Now our das worked on silence. I never said anything aloud but in my head I would never stop rambling. I was torturing myself with all these thoughts that we were never going to be adopted; that we will never know the loving touch of a guardian. And each night, I would cry myself to sleep and go into a dreamless slumber. I didn't think things were going to get any worse than this.
But they did.
I also remember the day a man came into the orphanage. We were told to dress extra nice that day; especially since he wanted to adopt two kids. Wow! This was our big chance. I finally felt a smile cross my face. The muscles ached from lack of use. Fixing Ludwig up and tying his shoelaces for him, I kept humming the little song our grandpa used to sing to us. It's an old German song and I never learned the name but I knew grandpa always hummed it when he was happy. Holding his hand, we left our empty room and met the man. He introduced himself as Victor. He was our personal Lucifer. A dashing man, really. His smile instantly made me feel secure. Or so I thought at the time. Victor seemed too good to be true. Right off the bat, we wanted to adopt us both. He simply felt bad for us and desperately wanted children. I tried to contain my joy. Finally! A new chance at life! We packed the few things that we had as Victor signed all the necessary paperwork. Right after, he took us to his big house. And by big, I mean big. It was an old Victorian styled house with a nice yard and beautiful backyard. The neighborhood was great too. Children were outside playing while doting parents smiled and chattered away on their porches. I felt at home, at ease for a while. Glancing at Ludwig back then, I never thought of all the shit we were going to go through. As I walked into the yard and onto the porch I never thought of all the pain that was going to be caused. I didn't think of anything but pure happiness.
Ignorance is bliss.
Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed this. It's a bit...yeah. This idea was based on the Song Hell Above by Pierce the Veil (My favorite song). I'll update soon. Please review and have an awesome day!